Vitamin D is an essential nutrient for our health. It plays an important role in helping our bodies absorb calcium which is needed to maintain healthy bones. It also helps strengthen our immune system, fight off viruses and battle fatigue.

Increasingly, it’s been linked to good mood – with a vitamin D deficiency associated with anxiety and depression.

What Are The Symptoms Of A Vitamin D Deficiency?

If you’re feeling any of these symptoms, you could be low in vitamin D:

  • Fatigue – a feeling of constant tiredness
  • Weak immunity – easily catching coughs and colds
  • Low mood 
  • Aches and pains in muscles and joints

How To Restore Vitamin D Levels Quickly

The three best and fastest ways to increase your vitamin D level are:

  1. Go outdoors and feel the sun on your skin
  2. Eat Vitamin D-rich foods
  3. Take Vitamin D supplements
  4. Get a Vitamin D shot

1. Go outdoors and feel the sun on your skin

Vitamin D is known as the ‘sunshine vitamin’ because our bodies can create it when our skin is exposed to direct sunlight.  The trick is to spend 10 to 20 minutes in the sun (without sunscreen)  every day between 10 am and 4 pm when the sun is strongest. The UVB rays from the sun kickstart a chemical process that produces D3 – a form of Vitamin D that our bodies can store.

However, if you plan to stay longer than 20 minutes in direct sunlight, use sunscreen to protect yourself.

2. Eat Vitamin D-rich foods

The best food sources of vitamin D are Cod Liver Oil, oily fish such as trout and salmon, and mushrooms.  It’s also found in eggs, fortified cereals, and low-fat dairy foods. You can see that vegetarians and vegans need to be particularly mindful of where their vitamin D comes from, and supplementation is often recommended. Vitamin D is fat–soluble, which means it is best absorbed when taken with food that contains fat. 

3. Take Vitamin D Supplements

Vitamin D can be taken on its own or as part of a multivitamin. Both D2 and D3 will help raise your levels, with D3 considered more stable and with a longer–lasting effect.

The NHS recommends that every adult takes a daily 10 microgram supplement, available over the counter at all pharmacists.  This recommendation is particularly important for those over 60 years old as the body’s ability to absorb Vitamin D from the sun and food diminishes as we age. 

Read more on The Difference Between Vitamin D, D2 and D3.

4. Get a Vitamin D Shot

Getting a Vitamin D shot means Vitamin D is entering the body via intramuscular injection. This way, it instantly enters the bloodstream for maximum absorption. This makes Vitamin D shots the most potent and rapid doses of Vitamin D you can get.

Some patients feel instant results while some feel improvements as early as the next day!

During the pandemic, Vitamin D deficiency was brought to the forefront of the news. Those with deficiencies were urged to get Vitamin B injections from a trusted and registered source.

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How Long Does It Take To Restore Vitamin D Levels?

Recipients of Vitamin D shots have attested to feeling better almost immediately or as soon as the next day.

Sunshine will raise levels of active Vitamin D within about 8 hours – depending on the strength of the sun and your level of absorption.

Vitamin D3 supplements are thought to raise vitamin D levels in the bloodstream in around 24 hours. However, it takes up to 7 days for this to be converted into the active form of vitamin D – which is what a blood test will pick up.

The time it takes for Vitamin D levels to rise after taking it in food form is harder to calculate. However, as Vitamin D is stored in the body, it follows that a diet rich in this vitamin will be beneficial to keep levels steady.

What Is A Healthy Vitamin D Level?

Vitamin D is measured as the concentration of the active form – hydroxyvitamin D – in the blood serum. 

  • A concentration of 50 nanomoles per litre (nmol/L) or more is healthy
  • A concentration between 30 and 50 nmol/L is considered low and inadequate
  • A concentration under 30 nmol/L means vitamin D deficiency

Conclusion

Sun, diet, and supplements combined should normally be enough to keep optimal Vitamin D levels for most of us.  However, if you’re seriously deficient in Vitamin D, you may need further help to raise your levels quicker.

We can help you boost your health and well-being with Vitamin D Shot available in our clinic in central London.

This treatment can only be done on prescription and by suitably qualified GMC-registered practitioners.  Here is what you can expect in 3 simple steps:

  1. A blood test to determine Vitamin D levels.
  2. Medical consultation with a GMC-registered doctor – to establish whether the treatment is needed.
  3. The treatment will only take 5-10 minutes.

Some of our patients report feeling a lot better almost immediately; others feel the improvements later or the following day.

For further information call our friendly team on 020 3095 0002 or email info@ivboost.uk