\n<\/p>\n
What does that look like in real life? Instead of providing a \u201cprescription\u201d of UV exposure, simply be less avoidant of the sun, said Dr Chu. \u201cI’d say go out in the mid-morning or late afternoon, make it short and regular, with a decent bit of skin uncovered.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
And you\u2019ll need direct sun; being in the shade cuts down UVB a lot, he said. This isn\u2019t an excuse to forgo sunblock. You should still use sunscreen properly and top up if you sweat a lot \u2013 rather than hoping incidental exposure covers you, said Dr Chu.<\/p>\n
But scratch all that if you\u2019re fair-skinned, or have a personal or family history of skin cancer; you\u2019re better off taking supplements, said Dr Chu. \u201cYou can replenish Vitamin D with a tablet safely and cheaply. You cannot undo photodamage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yes, your diet can also contribute to your Vitamin D need, said Dr Phuan. If you\u2019re sun shy, you may be better off supplementing your diet with Vitamin D-fortified foods, such as drinking two eight-ounce glasses (about 240ml per glass) of fortified milk or orange juice each day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFoods high in Vitamin D include fatty fish, such as salmon or trout. Foods fortified with added Vitamin D are another source,\u201d said Dr Phuan. \u201cThese include milk, yoghurt, some plant milks such as soy, almond and oat milk, and some cereals. Some mushrooms are treated with ultraviolet light, which gives them more Vitamin D (look for the ‘Vitamin D’ label).\u201d<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re thinking of taking supplements, Dr Suezaini said that most healthy adults need about 600IU a day, while those above 70 may need about\u00a0800IU daily. \u201cThose clearly deficient may need higher doses for a period of time, but this should be guided by a doctor,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Over-dosing with over-the-counter Vitamin D is no light matter. Excess Vitamin D can lead to hypercalcaemia, which means the calcium levels in your blood are higher than normal. Severe cases, though rare, can cause issues such as kidney failure, abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia), unsteady gait and\/or confusion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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What does that look like in real life? Instead of providing a \u201cprescription\u201d of UV exposure, simply be less avoidant of the sun, said Dr…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":89561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dam.mediacorp.sg\/image\/upload\/s--ZmjU9cTA--\/c_crop,h_1125,w_2000,x_0,y_63\/c_fill,g_auto,h_676,w_1200\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1\/mediacorp\/cna\/image\/2026\/09\/24\/vitamin-d-deficiency-singapore-levels-sunlight-supplements_7.jpg?itok=IB6RwPct","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[30948,5401,22,30947],"class_list":["post-89560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-news-sg-global","tag-deficiency","tag-levels","tag-singapore","tag-vitamin","wpcat-2-id"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=89560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/89561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=89560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=89560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=89560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}