Find out how the “sunshine vitamin” is linked to your cholesterol and stress levels, as well as why it isn’t actually a vitamin at all.

- Vitamin D is known as the sunshine vitamin. With the aid of sunlight, vitamin D is made from cholesterol in the skin, liver and kidneys.

- Vitamin D is actually a hormone not a vitamin. Meaning, the body has to manufacture it.

- As we age, the ability of our bodies to produce vitamin D decreases.

- One reason for there being such high numbers of people with a vitamin D deficiency is because we’re encouraged to stay out of the sun. Sunblock and avoiding too much exposure to the sun is a good thing to prevent skin cancer but it is having an effect on your Vitamin D levels.

- If you are on a low fat or a low cholesterol diet, the harder it is for your body to produce vitamin D.

-Stress causes vitamin D deficiency.  The stress hormone cortisol is made from cholesterol so the more stressed you are the more your cholesterol needs to be used to make cortisol rather than vitamin D.