How to boost your vitamin D levels
Meet Rachel, our Lead Performance Nutritionist who supports our scholars and performance teams to ensure their diets are optimised for training and overall wellbeing.
Rachel got into Sports Nutrition after completing her undergraduate degree in Human Nutrition. She went on to complete a Master’s degree in Sports Nutrition having played competitive sports for most of her life and is currently completing her PhD in Energy Availability!
In this blog, Rachel provides her top tips on how to boost your vitamin D levels through food and supplements.
Why do we need vitamin D?
Vitamin D is essential for bone health, muscle recovery and immunity and therefore for athletes to feel and perform optimally. Our primary source of vitamin D is exposure to sunlight. However, during the winter months in the UK, sunlight is not strong enough for us to meet vitamin D requirements. This leaves individuals at risk of deficiency and comprised muscle recovery, bone health and immunity.
Sources of vitamin D
Vitamin D can be found in small amounts in foods such as oily fish and eggs, however, the amounts are typically too small to meet demands. Therefore, it is recommended that most individuals in the UK supplement vitamin D during the winter months (between October and March).
Individuals, particularly those with health conditions, should check with their doctor or healthcare professional prior to supplementing. You can check out the NHS page here for more advice and information.
Considerations for Athletes
If you are an athlete that is supplementing, you need to be aware of Clean Sport and checking your supplements. You can be tested at any time, and if found to have anything in your system that goes against the World Anti-Doping Code (2021), it could potentially cost you your whole career! Find out more about how you can check your supplements here, and don’t take any risks.
Find out more about our sport nutrition services and how we help our athletes build the best nutrition plans to help them perform.
