Sunlight and Vitamin D

 
Today we had our local annual Scottish Wildlife Trust lunch in Stirling, always an enjoyable event and a chance to catch up with old friends.
 
Well, the conversation got around to Vitamin D deficiency in northern climates, something that can lead to SAD, seasonal affective disorder.
 
Now we know we are all urged to go out of doors for half an hour for sunlight a day but that is not easy if you live in a city or have endless days without any sunshine, fairly common in Scotland.
 
In fact there has been some suggestion in the media recently that we should all take vitamin D supplements in the UK.
 
So I was interested to hear that at least two people in our immediate group this lunchtime were taking this supplement with remarkable success. One said the increase in energy and mood was noticeable within days.
 
What do you think?
 
Oh yes and we had a very interesting talk on wild orchids- they have the most amazing sex life and  influenced Charles Darwin's groundbreaking work on The Origin of Species.


Photo: view of the Campsie Hill from Sheriffmuir.