Vitamin D.
VITD plays an active role in immune function, protein synthesis, muscle function, cardiovascular function, inflammatory response, cell growth and musculoskeletal (MSK) regulation.
It is often difficult to obtain through diet because very few foodstuffs contain the vitamin naturally, the exceptions being the liver of fatty fish, mushrooms and eggs, among others (Yague et al., 2020).
Dietary intake has been reported to account for 10% of daily VITD intake (Koundourakis et al., 2016).
Vitamin D deficiencies have accounted towards a variety of soft tissue and bony injuries for all ages. Especially those under the age of 18 and individuals with darker skin complexes. This is because younger people are growing, vitamins are being used to grow organs and this means less is going towards bone and soft tissues. Individuals with darker skin complexes have more melanin which reduces the ability to synthesize vitamin D from the sun, resulting in a lower 25-hydroxyvitamin D level.
So what does this mean for you, your general health and your fitness health:
Taking a vitamin D supplement as well as a general multivitamin can reduce your injury risk, and improve mood, sleep, general health functions, and cognitive functions.
If you wish to get an official VIT D deficiency diagnosis this is a job for your GP via a blood test. Having said that, people take multivitamins all the time without an official diagnosis. But everyone is different.
Remember you cannot supplement a bad diet. They are called supplements for a reason, they aid a healthy diet.
I do recommend the British supplement website as they don't have all the extra ingredients found in supplements from supermarkets.
However, if they are out of your budget, check out supermarkets and other supplement providers.
Please note: I am a Physiotherapist, not a nutritionist. These supplement recommendations are from what I have found in research and practice.
If you have any further questions please send me an email.
Charlottek@ckphysiotherapyclinic.co.uk