I am writing this on Father’s Day. There has always been the question of whether I should write this blog or not… but today, in honour of my father, I will.

I lost my Dad earlier this year to melanoma. When he was diagnosed he was given 6 months. He was 57 at the time… Dad was an incredible fighter and lasted eight years. Each year, month and day was an absolute blessing and I am truly thankful. It is rare for anyone diagnosed as terminal to live as long as Dad did.

Like most Aussie blokes, Dad loved the sun. Surfed as a teenager and played loads of golf, football and cricket. He had tanned skin, I never recall him getting sunburnt. I inherited Mum’s fair, freckled Irish skin, but Dad and my sister always had more of a ‘tan’.

In 2015, we live in an age where a large portion of our population is Vitamin D deficient and our best source of vitamin D is from the sun. Vitamin D is actually a hormone that controls calcium levels in the blood – so it’s a bit of a ‘big deal’.

A lack of Vitamin D has been linked to Multiple Sclerosis, Colon Cancer and Osteoporosis. A 2014 study from the University of California-San Diego School of Medicine found that people with low Vitamin D levels were twice as likely to die prematurely! Yikes.

So like most Canberrans I am regularly pulled up for my borderline Vitamin D levels. I always wear a hat – even in winter! Clients in a similar situation ask me what foods they should eat for Vitamin D – but unlike other vitamins and minerals, it’s really hard to replenish low Vitamin D levels from food. Food only makes up approximately 10% of average daily Vitamin D levels.

How to play safe with the sun & manage your vitamin D

1. Take a sensible approach to sun exposure: In the warmer months Sept-April spend a few minutes mid-morning or mid-afternoon in the sun. This might mean having your morning or afternoon tea outside, or doing some errands at this time. The fairer you are, the less time you need. If you are dark skinned you need much greater exposure. Over winter, this exposure is 2-3 hours of midday winter sun spread across the week. So rather than having a sunny snack, it’s a sunny lunch a few times each week, or a regular Lake Burley jog!
2. Exercise daily: Pretty good message for a number of reasons. Daily exercise is a great way to ensure you get a little sun and keep yourself fit.
3. Get a tan from a can: If you’ve got a special event coming up and you don’t want to look pale, there are some amazing products on the market. Don’t lather yourself in coconut oil and roast yourself in the sun for a bit of colour. It’s not worth the risk.
4. Eat calcium: To make your bones strong, calcium and Vitamin D need work together, not independently.
5. Eat foods rich in Vitamin D: Foods like eggs, liver, oily fish and mushrooms contain vitamin D. Certain dairy products, juices and cereals are also fortified with vitamin D. Remember their Vitamin D content isn’t huge, so don’t rely on food alone.

To minimise your risk of Vitamin D deficiency you need to be smart, especially if you have a desk job! That doesn’t mean baking yourself in the sun, but rather using seasonal guidelines to get a top up of Vitamin D from (my nemesis) the sun. It’s hard for me to ‘make friends’ with the sun, but Dad wouldn’t want me to get sick because I avoided it completely.

Lastly, please get regular skin checks. It just may save your life… Do it for my Dad, Simo… and when you go, post about it on social media and let us all know by hashtagging #doitforsimo.

Eat well, be well…
Lisa Donaldson APD
www.FEEDinc.net
3/4 Kennedy St, Kingson