Vitamin D plays a vital role in bone metabolism and can be regarded as one of the main hormones in our bodies, an essential nutrient that protects bones and regulates growth, amongst other functions. It plays a fundamental role in the intestinal absorption of calcium and phosphorous, the main components of bones.<\/p>\n
Most vitamin D is produced by our skin from exposure to sunlight<\/strong> \u2500ultraviolet B radiation\u2500 and only a small part is provided from our diet. The foods with the highest amount of vitamin D are oily fish (herring, salmon, sardine, mackerel), offal (liver), egg yolks and certain foods that have been enriched with added vitamin D (milk and cereals).<\/p>\n Vitamin D is important, not just for bones, but for many other organs<\/strong>, including the pancreas, the brain, the heart, the small intestine and the immune system. It has been shown that a vitamin D deficiency can be related to a number of health problems, mainly affecting bones, as well as others like auto-immune diseases, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, obesity, cardiovascular and intestinal diseases, even the development of some types of cancer, such as breast, colon and prostate cancer.<\/p>\n Exposure to ultraviolet radiation provides the production mechanism with more than 90% of vitamin D a person needs.<\/strong><\/p>\n But this radiation is also responsible for causing damaging effects on the skin, including sunburn, photoageing, hyperpigmentation and skin cancer.<\/p>\n To prevent this damage, everyone, whatever their skin phototype may be, should use photoprotection, which includes staying out of the sun during the peak hours of the day, wearing sun protective clothing and applying sun creams.<\/p>\n