The all-rounder for your body
How can I easily get more energy in the winter and prevent the winter blues?
During the dark winter days, many of us feel less energy and motivation to exercise. Less daylight, shorter days, cold weather, and a different biorhythm can play a big role in this.
Especially reduced exposure to the sun often leads to lower energy levels. This is partly due to the power of sunlight and Vitamin D3, which your body can only produce through sunlight. For a bit more energy, it’s therefore wise to supplement with Vitamin D in winter. I personally always do this in winter! I notice that it helps me stay fit throughout the winter (better immunity), prevents the winter blues, and reduces joint pain. It also helps prevent chapped lips and dry skin.
Why should you always get your sun from a bottle in winter?
Vitamin D is not just a vitamin, but also a hormone. A Vitamin D deficiency negatively affects many functions in your body. Vitamin D3 is important for your immune system, mood, muscle strength, hormonal balance, bone health, and insulin sensitivity.
There is a small amount of Vitamin D3 in food, but that means you’d have to eat a lot of butter and fatty fish. You only get about 10% of your Vitamin D needs from food. The rest must come from the sun!
In the Netherlands, however, the sun is strong enough to produce Vitamin D3 in the skin from May to September, between 12:00 and 3:00 PM. In winter (during daylight savings time), the sun is too low for that!
The sun’s strength (UV index) must be ≥ 3 to produce Vitamin D3 in the skin (check the UV index on rivm.nl), and your shadow must be shorter than your height. Additionally, you need to spend at least 20–40 minutes in the sun without sunscreen to produce enough Vitamin D3. Sunscreen blocks the absorption of Vitamin D through the skin.
From September to May, it’s therefore advisable to supplement with Vitamin D3. However, if you often go on vacation in the winter, you don’t need to do this every day (since you’re storing Vitamin D), but if you spend a lot of time indoors and didn’t get much sun exposure during the summer, it’s wise to take extra Vitamin D. Also, if you have darker or olive skin, cover your hair, hands, and head, are pregnant, or over 50, supplementation is recommended.
If you often suffer from the winter blues (tired, mood swings, down, etc.), Vitamin D is a great support to help you feel a bit more cheerful and energized. If your immune system is low, Vitamin D is also great to supplement!
How to best take Vitamin D3:
Always take Vitamin D3 together with magnesium for optimal effectiveness. These two work together in your body. It’s also better to take Vitamin D3 with Vitamin K2 for proper absorption.
Magnesium is the first mineral we deplete when we are stressed. When you combine all our modern stress factors with the fact that our soils nowadays contain almost no magnesium, you’ll see that most of us have a deficiency of this important mineral!
Measuring is Knowing
Do you ever check your blood levels? You can do so with a home test or at your doctor’s office. If your levels are below 80 mmol, it’s advisable to supplement with Vitamin D. An optimal Vitamin D level is between 80 and 120 mmol. Personally, I prefer to keep it above 100. The same for my clients!
Extra tip: make sure you don’t wear sunglasses too much in the summer/winter. This dims the light, preventing your body from producing enough protective substances like melanin. Our eyes send a signal to our brain to produce more melanin. This substance protects our skin from harmful UV radiation. Therefore, only wear sunglasses when driving, biking, or in the snow. Additionally, this also improves your sleep quality when you are exposed to enough real daylight instead of artificial light (fluorescent tubes, etc.).
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