Most people living in the UK understand the importance of taking vitamin D during the winter months, due to the lack of sunlight. According to the NHS, the vitamin helps regulate calcium and phosphate, both of which are important nutrients for healthy bones, teeth, and muscles.

The government recommends taking a daily supplement throughout autumn and winter, as the weather means people can't make enough vitamin D from sunlight between October and March. However, not everyone knows there are different types of vitamin D, and a nutritionist has recommended people look for one particular type.

Kristen Stavridis, a nutritionist and author of The Fibre Fix: How to Eat More Fibre to Supercharge Your Health, shared the recommendation on her popular TikTok account @Nutritionistkristen. Posting tips for her 196k followers, Kristen said: "I'm a nutritionist and here's everything you need to know about vitamin D.

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"The first thing is every single person in the UK needs to take vitamin D from the month of October to March. I'm not trying to sell you a vitamin D supplement; that is just a fact, and it is what is recommended because you cannot get enough vitamin D from your food alone."

She continued: "When you're looking for a supplement, you wanna be looking for a vitamin D3 supplement. It has been shown to be a lot more effective in raising vitamin D levels in your blood, and you'll see on some vitamin D supplements that they will have with vitamin K, which can potentially help the absorbency of that vitamin D and make it a bit more effective as a supplement.

"When you're looking at supplements, you do not want more than 100 mcg or 4,000 IU because when you just take too much, because of the fat-soluble vitamin, it can actually cause you harm. The recommended amount per day is 10 micrograms or 400 international units, so make sure it has at least that."

Kristen also advised taking your supplement with food. "When you're taking vitamin D, you wanna make sure you're actually taking it with a source of food that has a healthy fat, so maybe avocado on toast, or your protein oats with a bit of egg on the side, or protein oats with almond butter, and you're taking your vitamin D supplement around meal times," she explained.

The NHS says: "If you choose to take vitamin D supplements, 10 micrograms a day will be enough for most people. 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."

According to LloydsPharmacy, vitamin D2 and D3 are the two main types of vitamin D. While vitamin D2 is found in plants and fungi, vitamin D3 is found in animals and animal products.

Advice on the pharmacy's websitesays: "Supplements containing vitamin D3 are thought to be more effective than those containing vitamin D2, so if you have the option of choosing between the two, it's best to go for vitamin D3. If you're vegan, you'll want to stick to vitamin D2."