Vitamin D deficiency is a growing health problem in Australia and worldwide. Studies suggest approximately 30-40 per cent of Australians are deficient in this important nutrient, which our bodies receive by absorbing sunlight through the skin and eyes. Foods such as fish, eggs and dairy products also contain Vitamin D but the sun is still the main source.

Increased awareness of skin cancer has made Australians reluctant to spend time in direct sunlight unprotected, but it seems many Australians, believe it or not, just don’t get enough sunshine for optimum Vitamin D absorption.
Insufficient levels of Vitamin D have been linked to prostate cancer, osteoporosis, allergies including anaphylactic peanut allergies, asthma, multiple sclerosis, Type 2 diabetes, shingles and inadequate serotonin uptake, resulting in clinical depression. Deficiencies during pregnancy can lead to health problems for newborns, and lack of Vitamin D is also believed to be a factor in premature mortality for the elderly and institutionalised. Doses of Vitamin D have also been shown to aid in conditions leading to blindness, including macular degeneration.

I know about Vitamin D deficiency from personal experience. Two years ago, I moved house. I experienced the kind of exhaustion all of us feel after a house move, but the difference was that no matter how well I ate, or how much I rested, the bone-deep weariness persisted for months afterwards. The Brisbane floods, followed by a series of personal and family losses, also took their toll and I found myself completely burnt out and in a very deep depression. I spent many a day just lying on the sofa, escaping into dreams of sunbathing on my favourite rock ledge on Mykonos. Our bodies tell us what we need, if we have ears to listen. I wasn’t listening – I was just so tired.
I had urged my elderly parents to have their Vitamin D levels checked – a friend’s mother had become very ill with shingles and after much investigation, dosing up on Vitamin D had helped her immeasurably.

Still, I didn’t make the connection for myself. I was exhausted and very unwell, but I honestly thought I had just been pushing myself too hard and everything had finally caught up with me. At the time, I thought the deficiency was more prevalent in the elderly. It didn’t occur to me that I might also be lacking this important nutrient.
As it has in so many other areas of my life, Greek mythology provided a ‘light-bulb moment’. In the course of my research for another Neos Kosmos column, I came across a small passage in the translation of Apollonius Rhodius’ Argonautica which helped me to join the dots.

In the tale of the Greek gods’ great war against the giants (or Gigantes), all the gods were conscripted to fight. Hephaestos, the brilliant God of the Forge, fell to the ground completely exhausted during the battle at Phlegra. Though his bravery was beyond question and he had fought long and hard, Hephaestos was lame, and the battle had taken every ounce of his energy. I knew how he felt.
Just as Hephaestos thought he could endure no more, Helios, the Titan Sun God, came to the rescue. Lifting the exhausted blacksmith into his blazing chariot and taking him upwards into his sunny realm, Helios revived Hephaestos and restored his health. My mind spun in circles on reading this.

The message was clear: Sunshine rescued and revived the exhausted. Helios the Sun, restorer of sight to the blinded Orion, was the King of Vitamin D.
Helios as Sun God preceded Apollo as the Bringer of Light, though sometimes the two are confused. As I read that passage, I felt the energy of both – I suddenly ‘saw the light’. I went to my doctor and asked him to check my Vitamin D levels. Sure enough, a simple blood test revealed dangerously low numbers, which my doctor assured me could be remedied by communing with Helios (i.e. sunbathing) for a short interval morning and afternoon, and taking a prescribed course of Vitamin D supplements. It’s been a slow process, but Helios is doing his work.
If you feel like Hephaestos did on the battlefield – as though you have not a drop more energy to give – make an appointment to check your Vitamin D levels. Helios might just come and rescue you, too.

* Joanne Lock is an independent writer and editor based in Brisbane. To read more of her work or to contact Joanne, please visit www.joannelock.com or message @Tweetmags on Twitter.