December is the month with the shortest day of the year and the least amount of natural daylight, which is a crucial resource needed for our bodies to be able to manufacture Vitamin D.
We need Vitamin D, it is vital to our wellbeing and is instrumental for a range of functions, including musculoskeletal health, psychological wellbeing, circadian rhythms and a strong immune system.

We can obtain vitamin D from foods such as egg yolks, oily fish, red meat & liver though our amazing body actually creates its own vitamin D through the exposure of bare skin in natural light.
The amount of exposure time needed is dependent on the colour of your skin, the darker your skin the more time you will need, for example fair skin can gain sufficient amounts in as little as 10-15 minutes, however those with darker skin will need significantly more and in some cases may benefit from supplementing their intake to ensure they are getting the right amount. Vegans may also need to supplement this vitamin. Primarily though seek your daily top up outdoors in the daylight and fresh air as often as you can.

As many of us are working from home right now, we’re not even absorbing the natural light we would normally get from our daily commute, so it’s even more important to make a conscious effort to get outside in the daylight at some point each day and if you combine a 20-30 minute brisk walk, you’ll efficiently be getting both your daily exercise and your vitamin D requirements met together, both of which will help fend off the December blues, which in extreme cases to those who are exceptionally sensitive to the diminished light, can trigger the onset of a depressive syndrome known as S.A.D or Seasonal Affective Disorder.

With all that said then, I’m putting my laptop down right now and popping out to get my own quota before sundown!

– This article has been published in the December edition of Life Magazines – http://www.lifemagazines.co.uk