As I mentioned in previous posts, my sleep schedule is pretty screwed up as I’m sleeping for a large proportion of the time that the sun is out. It doesn’t give me a lot of time to be outside when it is light. I’ve been concerned about this, especially since it’s pretty drab during these Vancouver winters anyways. My worry is the lack of vitamin D in my body. The natural and most logical solution is to just go to bed earlier but if you known me for any length of time, I tend to avoid common sense options like that. Instead, I’ve started taking vitamin D supplements. I am certainly not taking a lot of vitamin D, about 800 IU which is well below the maximum recommended intake for several countries. I know that you can also get vitamin D from natural food sources. For example, fatty fish like salmon and tuna contain the vitamin, as does eggs. The supplements just make it easier.
The lack of vitamin D can lead to bone problems or in severe cases, rickets, but in a developed country, that is very, very unlikely. I’d like to know how low my vitamin D levels were before but it’s good to know it won’t be a problem at all going forward. On the subject of vitamins, I wonder how many of you pronounce that word, vit-ta-mens, like British people do. It sounds fancier that way.