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Doctor’s clever trick to check if you are getting enough Vitamin D using your shadow
Vitamin D has many essential functions in the body, so it’s vital that you get enough each day, and you can use your shadow as a guide.
The body creates Vitamin D from direct sunlight on the skin while outdoors and the size of your shadow can determine whether you are getting enough.
Shadow trick for Vitamin D
Dr. Natasha Fernando, Medical Director at�home blood testing service Medichecks, explains that all you need to do is look down at your shadow on the ground when you are outside on a sunny day.
If your shadow is shorter than you, that means you are getting Vitamin D from the sun, but if your shadow is longer than you or you have no shadow at all, youre probably not getting enough.
As explained by the Health and Food Supplements Information Service (HSIS), our bodies produce Vitamin D when ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun strike the skin, triggering vitamin D synthesis.
However, this can only happen when the sun is high enough in the sky for the UV rays to get through the atmosphere to us.
Looking at your shadow is a simple way to determine whether the sun is high enough for Vitamin D synthesis to occur.
The time spent in the sun, amount of cloud cover, time of day, person’s skin color and amount of skin that is exposed also affects the levels of Vitamin D that are made.
What do we need Vitamin D for?
Vitamin D is one of many vitamins and minerals that we need to stay healthly.
Most importantly, it helps the body absorb calcium, which keeps the bones strong and healthy, MedlinePlus reveals. A lack of Vitamin D can cause bone diseases like osteoporosis and rickets.
The vitamin is vital for your muscles too, playing an essential role in�growth and helping the muscles move. Your nerves also need Vitamin D to carry messages between your brain and your body, and it helps fight off bacteria and viruses in your immune system.
How to get enough Vitamin D
We get most of our Vitamin D through the sun, but you can also get it from your diet and supplements. Foods that naturally contain Vitamin D include egg whites, saltwater fish and liver, but it’s also in some fortified foods including cereals and milk.
Most adults aged 19-70 years should get 600 international units (IU) of Vitamin D per day, through a combination of these methods.
If you live in a dark place, particularly in the winter, it can be difficult to get enough Vitamin D from the sun, so you may require supplements. If you always wear clothes that cover up your skin when outdoors, that can also stop your body from making Vitamin D.
However, it’s also important not to get too be in the sun too much as this can put you at risk of skin cancer. Speak to your healthcare provider if you are concerned that you may not be getting enough Vitamin D.
Dr. Natasha Fernando is�a practising GP with over 12 years of experience in the NHS who completed her medical training at the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London.
