19 November: Vitamin D

On this date in 1931, Vitamin D-1 crystals were produced in Germany. 10 things you might not know about Vitamin D.

1. When vitamin A was discovered in 1914 by Elmer McCollum and Marguerite Davis, in cod liver oil, a British doctor named Edward Mellanby did more research after noticing that Dogs fed cod liver oil didn’t get rickets. He concluded that vitamin A prevented rickets. To prove it, he gave dogs cod liver oil from which the vitamin A had been removed, and discovered the dogs still didn’t get rickets, so there must be something else going on. Since a couple more vitamins had been discovered and named in the meantime, Mellanby dubbed this rickets-preventing stuff vitamin D.
2. Our bodies make 90% of our vitamin D from sunshine. This means that, strictly speaking, vitamin D isn’t actually a vitamin, but a hormone.
3. Recent figures show that 13% of women and 9% of men in the UK have low vitamin D levels. It’s not always possible to get enough sunshine in Britain, especially not in winter. People with darker skin and older people are more likely to lack this vitamin.
4. You can get it from food as well, but the number of foods rich in it are relatively small. Oily fish, Milk and Eggs are good sources. Vegans can get it from Mushrooms and tofu.
5. Another name for vitamin D is calciferol.
6. Vitamin D dissolves in fat. Fat helps the body absorb it so it can do its job – so cutting all fats from your diet isn’t such a great idea. Vitamins A, E and K also need fat to help them function. So adding some Olive oil or even Butter to veg isn’t a sin – it’s good for you.
7. So what is vitamin D’s job, exactly? It helps to extract calcium from the food we eat. That is why it’s important for healthy bones and why rickets is a consequence of not getting enough. It can also help prevent osteoporosis and brittle bones.
8. It doesn’t just seem to help with bones. The various sites I consulted while researching this seemed to suggest that vitamin D deficiency can be responsible for almost every health condition known to man – gum disease, muscle weakness, heart disease and dementia. There’s even some suggestion it might prevent against the virus that has broken the world, covid 19, although there’s also a lot of people saying that’s not proven (Not surprising. Big Pharma can't cash in on sunshine, after all, so even if it's true, they don't want us to know).
9. The UK retailer Marks and Spencer adds vitamin D to all its Bread and bread rolls. They do that by exposing yeast to UV light. Yeast, apparently, can make the stuff from UV light just like we do. Two slices of M and S bread can therefore increase your level of vitamin D by 15%. 78% of shoppers surveyed welcomed the move. Well, let’s face it – would you rather take pills or eat a Sandwich? It’s also possible to boost the amount of vitamin D in mushrooms by exposing them to UV light.
10. While we do need the stuff, taking too much is as bad as not getting enough. If you take too much your body might absorb too much calcium, which can lead to nausea, vomiting, muscle weakness, psychiatric problems, pain, loss of appetite, dehydration, excessive thirst, and kidney stones. So if you do take a supplement, don’t exceed the stated dose.

Killing Me Softly

Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.

Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena. 

Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.

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