Vitamin D deficiency has increased in the UK in recent years and with our busy and largely indoor modern lifestyles it is likely that many of us are not getting sufficient sun exposure.

Fifteen minutes of sun exposure is equivalent to approximately 10,000 IU of Vitamin D - this will be stored by the body and used over the winter months.

In the winter months many (perhaps the majority) of us are deficient in this important Vitamin.

The last few years have seen increasing numbers of studies that link Vitamin D deficiency with a myriad of serious health conditions.

Vitamin D deficiency linked to bone fractures

The American Medical Association Journal recently published studies that confirmed Vitamin D supplements aided in the prevention of hip and non-vertebral fractures compared with subjects taking only calcium supplements.

The elderly more likely to be admitted to nursing homes

Studies in the US have shown that Vitamin D deficiency is widespread among nursing home residents (not to mention other and younger people).

Among the elderly, Vitamin D deficiency accelerates age-related decline in health. Older people are also at an increased risk of being admitted to a nursing home, a 2006 study shows. They were also more likely to be:

• Incontinent

• Less mobile

• Cognitively impaired or depressed

• Suffering from arthritis

Blood sugar levels closely associated with levels of vitamin D

Researchers in Australia added to the growing evidence that sun avoidance may have helped cause the epidemic of type 2 diabetes. The Australians' findings were straightforward and powerful. The higher your vitamin D level, the lower your blood glucose. (Clinical Endocrinology (Oxf). 2005 June)

Women with the lowest vitamin D levels had five times higher risk for breast cancer

A study published in the European Journal of Cancer, May 2005 showed that women with levels of Vitamin D less than 20 ng/ml were more than FIVE times more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer than women with levels above 60 ng/ml.

Severe Vitamin D deficiency is associated with chronic pain

Researchers in England found that 88 percent of their patients with chronic pain had levels of Vitamin D less than 10 ng/ml. Another study carried out in Switzerland showed that many patients treated for chronic pain with Vitamin D experienced complete remission of pain.

Vitamin D deficiency has also been linked with Parkinson's Disease, Prostate Cancer, Colon Cancer and Multiple Sclerosis

So enjoy the sun, take up its benefits, but make sure this is from safe exposure.