Is vitamin D the secret to staying injury free?

As the UK continues to embrace daily exercise, natural health experts share another key reason to supplement vitamin D.

Article powered by BetterYou.

Over 60 per cent of the adult population is now considered ‘active’, an increase of 1.5 per cent year-on-year, with people admitting to undertaking at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity every week, according to Sport England.

Despite this time of great uncertainly, people are finding fun and creative ways to get moving, with over 60 per cent of adults saying it is more important to be active now, compared to before the coronavirus crisis.

Armed with the knowledge that increasing amounts of Brits are addressing their activity levels and are forming new exercise habits, International High Jump Athlete, Beth Partridge, discusses the impact this can have on our overall health and how a simple vitamin hit may just be the secret to keeping us injury-free. 

“Vitamin D is vital for many processes within the body and may be crucial for recovery and staying injury free. It is important, not only for its role in bone function, but it can also help to reduce the risk of autoimmune and chronic diseases”, explains Beth.

“There are various factors that can impact the amount of vitamin D an individual naturally absorbs from sun exposure and this can be dependent on time spent outdoors and sunscreen use, as well as skin pigmentation and diet.

“Our bodies endure a high state of stress when exercising regularly or at a high-intensity compared to those that do not exercise or those that have a lower volume of training. This, coupled with a higher energy requirement, means that the body can be at an increased risk of injury.

“Due to the nature of the lifestyle, it can be reasonable to suggest that vitamin D may be of greater need to an individual who undertakes a lot of physical exercise”, Beth continues.

“Playing a significant role in muscle structure and function, adequate vitamin D levels can help to reduce the risk of inflammation of the body, impaired muscle function and infectious illnesses, with optimal levels often resulting in improved health markers among those that are highly-active.

“For those that train regularly, a vitamin D deficiency may result in musculoskeletal discomfort, viral tract infections and stress fractures, all of which will have an impact on performance due to the time lost to illness or injury.

“From a dietary perspective, oily fish such as mackerel and salmon, egg yolks and fortified cereals or milk are the best sources to maximise your vitamin D intake. However, it can be difficult to obtain adequate levels from natural sources alone, so supplementing is the best way to ensure good health.

“With research suggesting that vitamin D deficiency can impact immune function, bone health and inflammation, I would recommend supplementing with vitamin D year-round to enhance your ability to exercise and ultimately improve performance. 

“For me, the best way to supplement is using an oral spray. This is the easiest way to ensure you have a consistent and measured daily amount without potentially damaging your skin through excess UVB exposure from sunlight.

“Vitamin D can often be overlooked and many of us are unaware that we may be deficient, so I would advise testing your levels using a simple at-home test kit, as maintaining optimal levels could be crucial when trying to maximise physical activity and training availability all-year-round”, Beth concludes.

BetterYou, the experts in effective vitamin D supplementation, is on a mission to eradicate vitamin D deficiency once and for all. The brand is helping to raise public awareness, encouraging people to test their levels to make sure they are supplementing appropriately.