Sunshine spray
AUTUMN’S here and the days will soon be darker with the clocks going back this weekend. It’s that time when we can easily feel out of sorts with minor illnesses affecting our lives. It’s easy to believe that it’s all in our imagination and just a reaction to the weather. And yet there’s more to it than that. Our bodies need the sun and its essential UVB rays, vital to stimulate the production of vitamin D.
The resulting lack of vitamin D has been linked with depression and migraines while studies show that it is vital for a healthy immune system and healthy bones.
Vitamin D’s role in ensuring an effective immune system protects us from colds and more serious diseases including multiple sclerosis and diabetes as well as a number of cancers, including breast cancer.
The Government’s latest National Diet and Nutrition Survey reveals that most people in Britain – children, adults and particularly the elderly – are deficient in vitamin D.
In a revolutionary ruling last year, Public Health England recommended that everyone in the UK take a vitamin D supplement in autumn and winter to counteract not only the lack of sunshine but also our increasingly indoor lifestyles.
The Department of Health even suggests that at-risk groups (pregnant and breastfeeding women, children under five, those over 65, those with low or no exposure to the sun and those with darker skin) take a vitamin D supplement all year round.
This is not a deficiency we can simply eat our way out of. It is estimated we only get 10 per cent of the vitamin D we need from food. There is little or no vitamin D in UK milk and dairy products. Few foods are reinforced with vitamin D but you will find small quantities in baby milk, margarine, egg yolks and liver.
Vitamin D has traditionally been available in tablet form but development in conjunction with Cardiff University has created a new way of taking it that guarantees superior absorption.
BetterYou, a company at the cutting edge of health supplements, has devised an oral spray that delivers the vitamin through the soft tissue of the inner cheek in the mouth directly into the bloodstream. This means swift results, close to that of intravenous administration.
An oral spray offers ultimate convenience – it can be used on the go and doesn’t need to be taken with water or food. This simple daily spray is not only something to help us recover from daily health problems, it’s an important method of prevention too.
BetterYou has a range of DLux vitamin D oral sprays: for children, for pregnancy (packed with other vitamins and health essentials) and two regular versions in differing doses depending on your needs – there’s even a vitamin D home testing kit to work out what these are, distributed by BetterYou on behalf of the NHS.
With the days drawing in and a long winter ahead, now’s the time to look after ourselves, giving our bodies the golden glow of the sun with an added treat of vitamin D.