Fortified milk to combat vitamin D deficiency

Plans proposed to add vitamin D to food products after research shows dangerously low levels of nutrients in British people

Milk - Woman drinking milk - Calcuim - News - Marie Claire
Milk - Woman drinking milk - Calcuim - News - Marie Claire
(Image credit: Rex Features)

Plans proposed to add vitamin D to food products after research shows dangerously low levels of nutrients in British people

In a mass health drive, vitamin D could be added to several food products such as milk, in order to boost the levels of the nutrient in our bodies.

Research is currently showing that up to 40% of Britons have dangerously low levels of the vitamin in their blood, which could be detrimental to their health.

‘It is widely recognised within government circles that we have a problem now that needs to be addressed,’ said Ann Prentice, chairwoman of the government’s scientific advisory committee on nutrition (SACN).

Scientists have now not only established a link between low levels of vitamin D and bone disorder rickets, but also between the development of bowel and breast cancer, as well as degenerative diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and dementia.

The results due to be published this month will confirm that the vitamin is crucial for the healthy working of hundreds of genes controlling basic body functions.

‘Vitamin D is known to be vital for a wide range of body function,’ affirmed Dr Susan Lanham-New, head of nutrition sciences at Surrey University.

It is usually found in oily fish, eggs and meat, although most of our absorption comes from sunlight during the summer months.

However, due to warnings over skin cancer, in the last decade people have been lathering up with sunscreen, which has partly contributed to the widespread vitamin D deficiency.

The filters in the sunscreen remove UVB, which are the invisible light rays responsible for causing sunburn, but which are also critical for producing vitamin D.

Having food products such as milk fortified with vitamin D seems the only way to ensure that Britons are having their recommended daily allowance.

Britain will be following in the footsteps of Finland and Canada who have already taken steps to combat their deficiency adding the additive to their own food products.

FOR MORE HEALTH STORIES CLICK HERE

Natalia Lubomirski
Natalia is a health journalist with 14 years experience in the publishing industry. She has worked for a number of well known magazines and websites including Marie Claire, Woman&Home, Top Sante, Boots and The Telegraph.  She likes to think she practices what she preaches when it comes to health and fitness. Her athletic prowess began early. A keen fencer for 13 years, she wielded an epée for Olympic Team GB during her teenage years. She likes to think she made sword-fighting cool before Game of Thrones came along! While working on her sporting performance with the team, she also participated in a lot of nutrition and psychology training, When it comes to time off, you’ll most likely find her up a mountain somewhere. It seems holidays have become a time for climbing several thousand feet, rather than chilling out. She’s now hiked eight of the major mountain ranges across four continents – including the Appalachians, the Smokies, the Sierra Nevadas (she spent her honeymoon hiking to the top of Half Dome), as well as hitting the summits of Snowdon, Pen-Y-Fan (Brecon Beacons), Table Mountain in South Africa, the Blue Mountains in Australia and the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. She’s also passionate about all things health, particularly vaccinations, and will happily jump on her soap box at any given opportunity to talk about their benefits to anyone who will listen!