Vitamin D

hand touching the sun with sunflower

We don’t get enough sunshine in Ireland, so we don’t get enough sunshine Vitamin D - essential for good health. Avonmore Super Milk has the vitamin D, extra calcium and other key nutrients your family needs to grow healthy and strong.

Vitamin D helps to absorb and utilise calcium in the body which is important for bone health. Without vitamin D it is thought that we can absorb no more than 15% of the calcium we consume.(1)

Vitamin D is known as the ‘sunshine vitamin’ because it is mainly produced through the action of sunshine on our skin.

In Ireland the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vitamin D for 18 – 64 years old is a range between 0 - 10µg depending on how much sunlight you are exposed to.

In Ireland 74% of adults and 88% of primary school children had an average daily intake of vitamin D that was less than half of the RDA range of 5µg (2, 3).

There are two main reasons for the low levels of vitamin D, the lack of sunshine in Ireland and the fact that only a few foods naturally contain vitamin D.

  • Due to Ireland’s northerly latitude (51-55°N) very little UV light reaches the country between October and March (6 months) resulting in very little skin production of vitamin D. The vitamin D stores we make in summer have to last through winter and it has been suggested these stores are not sufficient (4).
  • Very few foods naturally contain vitamin D, salmon, tuna, mackerel and fish liver oils are among the best sources.

Osteoporosis affects 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men. It is well known that calcium and vitamin D can play an important role in reducing the risk of osteoporosis.

Adequate intake of calcium and vitamin D is crucial in childhood and adolescence when peak bone mass is attained. It is thought attaining a high peak bone mass is a good way to reduce the risk of osteoporosis in later life (5).

In children rickets is the consequence of severe vitamin D deficiency. Rickets which is characterised by severe bowing of the legs and swelling of the wrists and ankles was largely eradicated in Europe. However, some reports have suggested that a number of cases of nutritional rickets have re emerged in Ireland in the last few years (6).

As well a being important to bone health emerging science is indicating a role for vitamin D in a number of health outcomes including cardiovascular disease, immune function, diabetes and some cancers but further research is required to understand these links (1, 7).

A 200ml glass of Avonmore Super Milk provides you with 40% of your Recommended Daily Allowance (5µg) of Vitamin D. Enjoy Avonmore Super Milk as part of a healthy balanced diet.

1. Holick MF. Vitamin D deficiency. N Engl J Med (2007) 357 (3): 266-281.
2. Hill et al. Vitamin D intakes in 18–64-y-old Irish adults. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2004) 58, 1509–1517.
3. Kiely et al. Irish Universities Nutrition Alliance. (2005). National Children’s Food Survey.
4. Cashman et al. Estimation of the dietary requirements for vitamin D in healthy adults. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. (2008) 88 (6): 1535-1542.
5. Heaney et al. Peak Bone Mass. Osteoporosis International. (2000) 11:985-1009.
6. Kennedy, A. Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children. (2006). Crumlin, Dublin.
7. Holick, MF. Sunlight and vitamin D for bone health and prevention of autoimmune diseases, cancers, and cardiovascular disease. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, (2004) 80 (suppl): 1678S-88S.