What vitamin D is good and not good for

On my free Saturday, I walked into Holland & Barrett, the place for better charcoal toothpaste, I've been told, but you can tell me a lot. With a tube in hand, I bumped into a wall of vitamins. Which was good, because I needed those too. Normally, around February, I take a hefty vitamin-mineral supplement to ward off colds and flu waves, but this time I let myself be advised on a custom basis. I needed vitamin C, but also definitely D. So I went home with strips full of small round capsules that reminded me a bit of the sun. The vitamin lady promised me that it would make the fatigue disappear and that it was a must for my hernia. I like to believe in those kinds of things too.

But what does vitamin D actually do?

First things first, of course, it is also possible to get vitamin D without taking it. You absorb it when enough UVB shines on the skin and by eating the right things, such as fatty fish (yummy), eggs, and meat. But even if you are in top condition, you can still struggle with a deficiency. Logically, because in winter our country experiences cloudiness and cold, and sometimes you just don't absorb enough. ‘City dwellers’, as Earl Mindell's Vitamin Bible beautifully calls them, benefit from taking extra vitamin D because they live in an environment with a lot of smog.

In combination with vitamins A and C, D can help prevent colds and fight inflammation (exactly what I need right now). It also ensures that your body stores calcium and magnesium properly, which is good for strong bones and teeth. Vitamin D helps your resistance, your immune system, and contributes to the proper functioning of the muscles. Sounds like a miracle cure.

Help yourself a little

If you don't go outside daily between 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM, it's advisable to take some extra, but it also helps to try to be outside for at least 15 minutes every day. The classic walk after lunch. Oh, and the advisor in the store also advised me to pay attention to fillers when choosing vitamin D. Because you definitely don't need those.

Also eat: sardines, herring, salmon, tuna, and dairy products like quark. And drink: milk.

Oh yes, too much vitamin D is of course not good for you either (which is almost the case with everything that has ‘too’ in front of it), but rest assured, that hardly occurs in the Netherlands.