We aren’t talking about your personality, we’re talking about good ‘ole Vitamin D. For years, people thought that as long as you got your daily dose of sun, you’d get your daily dose of the essential vitamin. Unfortunately, with the rise in work from home contractors, as well as how busy our lives have become, getting outside for that essential vitamin isn’t exactly going so well.
While the cholecalciferol is within our skin through synthetization, short periods like a half an hour spent out in the sun could benefit our bodies greatly. For most of our lives lately, humans have been sitting under copious amounts of artificial light, removing the beneficial factors that vitamin D can grant us. Those that like to stay in during the winter suffer far more than others.
Even if you like to go out in the summer, if you’re someone who lathers yourself in sunscreen because it’s essential to protecting your skin, you could be suffering from the inability to let the cholecalciferol synthesize more within your skin. In fact, the higher the SPF, and the more sunscreen you use, the more your body is pushing away this natural vitamin D from the sun. So even if you get out and get some sunshine, your body may not be truly soaking it up.
“But what about food sources?” You may ask, and sure, you can get some sort of vitamins from food, but you might not be getting the full vitamin or the true, natural portion of it. In May of 2013, the USDA had a report that boasted frequency of consumption of milk was largely due to generational differences, and lately, it’s not nearly as much as it used to be.
Whether it’s because of the general public swirling around about what’s actually in milk, or because some people just don’t like it, humans are now getting less vitamin D now than ever. From a decade standpoint, there were far less people consuming milk in the 1970’s than the 1950’s, as well as far less drinking the beverage in the 1990’s than they were in the 1970’s. Twenty years later, we can only imagine what percentage of the population is consuming milk regularly in comparison with the already-low number from the 90’s.
The Importance of Vitamin D in Performance
When you were younger, we’re sure you saw athletes promoting to drink milk or consuming something healthy because it’s what athletes do. Who wouldn’t want to be as healthy as an athlete? It’s no surprise that athletes who perform inside suffer the most from vitamin D deficiencies, as they aren’t soaking up the sun with how much time they spend honing their craft.
Those that don’t regularly consume a supplement containing vitamin D may hinder their athletic performance, as it plays a great part in strengthening the body and energizing. It’s no secret that today’s athletes are not only consuming lower amounts of vitamin D, but they aren’t exposing themselves to natural vitamin D like athletes had done once before.