Taking vitamin D versus Making vitamin D

Vitamin D3 has had more attention in the last decade, with research recognising how crucial it is to good health. We’ve seen a shift from marketing calcium for bone health to focussing on vitamin D instead, recognising its important role in regulating bone mineral density. It’s not the calcium that puts itself into the bones, it’s the vitamin D which determines this! Doctors are routinely testing for vitamin D and many of us are coming up short.

During the COVID pandemic it was identified as having an impact on severity of the symptoms, as those with low levels suffered more significantly. In those crazy times it was one of the supplements that people were taking by the handful.

Research on vitamin D shows that deficiency is associated with everything from suppressed immune function to autoimmune disease, brain and muscle health - and almost everything in between. On the other hand, studies show that supplementation hasn’t demonstrated the benefits that were expected on conditions with known links to deficiency. So, what are we missing?
It’s easy to think that vitamin D made in our body from sunlight is identical to the molecule we buy in capsules, but, should we be taking vitamin D3 as a supplement? Or, is it better to make it naturally? Have we been too overcautious in protecting ourselves, and thrown the baby out with the bathwater?

This article discusses the huge variety of benefits of making vitamin D. It looks at some of the other beneficial molecules we make when our skin is exposed to sunlight, and the potential issues with taking it as a supplement.