Vitamins and minerals are nutrients your body needs in small amounts to work properlyA person holding a multivitamin tabletA person holding a multivitamin tablet(Image: PA)

The National Health Service (NHS) is reminding people to stay on top of their vitamin intake during the winter months, as days are shorter and nights are longer. Vitamins and minerals are nutrients your body needs in small amounts to work properly and stay healthy.

Most people should get all the nutrients they need by having a varied and balanced diet, although some people may need to take extra supplements. One vitamin that is important for people to take from October onwards is vitamin D.

Vitamin D helps regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body. These nutrients are needed to keep bones, teeth and muscles healthy. The NHS says: “From October to March we can’t make enough vitamin D from sunlight, so to keep bones and muscles healthy, it’s best to take a daily 10 microgram supplement of vitamin D. You can get vitamin D from most pharmacies and retailers.”

Guidance from the NHS says that a lack of vitamin D can lead to bone deformities such as rickets in children, and bone pain caused by a condition called osteomalacia in adults. Government advice is that everyone should consider taking a daily vitamin D supplement during the autumn and winter.

People at high risk of not getting enough vitamin D are all children aged one to four, and all babies (unless they’re having more than 500ml of infant formula a day) should take a daily supplement throughout the year.

From about late March or early April to the end of September, most people should be able to make all the vitamin D they need from sunlight. The body can make all the vitamin D it needs from sunlight.

Vitamin D is also found in a small number of foods, this includes:

oily fish – such as salmon, sardines, trout, herring or mackerelred meategg yolksfortified foods – such as some fat spreads and breakfast cerealsliver (avoid liver if you’re pregnant)

Children from the age of one and adults need 10 micrograms (mcg) of vitamin D a day. This includes pregnant and breastfeeding women, and people at risk of vitamin D deficiency. Babies up to the age of one need 8.5 to 10 micrograms of vitamin D a day.

However, taking too many vitamin D supplements over a long period of time can cause too much calcium to build up in the body (hypercalcaemia). This can weaken the bones and damage the kidneys and the heart.

The NHS warns: “Do not take more than 100 micrograms (4,000 IU) of vitamin D a day as it could be harmful. This applies to adults, including pregnant and breastfeeding women and the elderly, and children aged 11 to 17 years.

“Children aged one to 10 years should not have more than 50 micrograms (2,000 IU) a day. Infants under 12 months should not have more than 25 micrograms (1,000 IU) a day.”