FAQ with Dr. Claire McGartland
We asked our Registered Nutritionist, Dr. Claire McGartland, to answer a few of our questions about Vitamin D and how important it is in our diet.
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 us to absorb calcium in the body and is essential for the development and maintenance of healthy bones. Without vitamin D it is thought we can absorb no more than 15% of calcium we consume.
The main source of vitamin D in the body is through the action of ultraviolet rays from the sun on the skin. In addition although to a lesser extent Vitamin D is available from some foods sources and supplements. Food sources of Vitamin D include; fish liver, fish liver oils, oily fish, egg yolks, and fortified foods such as margarine, and milk such as Avonmore Super Milk
A 200ml glass of Super Milk provides you with 40% of your recommended daily allowance (RDA) of Vitamin D, which is based on 5µg per day (European RDA).
There are two types of vitamin D, the vitamin D we ingest through foods or supplements like Super Milk and the vitamin D our body makes through exposure to sunlight. It is difficult to compare the two types of vitamin D, but we know exposure to sunlight is the best way to make vitamin D. However, foods such as Super Milk which are fortified with vitamin D can play an important role if we don’t get enough sunlight.
Studies have shown that low Vitamin D levels are common in healthy Irish people especially during the late winter months, which means dietary sources of vitamin D become very important.
There are two main reasons for the low vitamin D levels in Ireland. Firstly, Ireland’s northerly latitude means not very much UV light reaches the earth’s surface reducing the production of vitamin D on the skin, especially during the winter months. Secondly, few foods sources commonly consumed in Ireland naturally contain vitamin D, making it difficult to obtain vitamin D from food.
Vitamin D can be stored by the body but it is thought that the vitamin D stores we make during the summer are not sufficient to see us through the winter months, when we can make very little, if any vitamin D from the sun.
It is important for children and adolescents to eat a varied and balanced diet. Vitamin D plays an important part in the diet at this time because it is a period of rapid growth of the skeleton which increases the need for vitamin D. Super Milk also contains calcium and protein which are important for healthy bones.