VITAMIN D LAB
2019After moving from a southern to northern climate I became increasingly aware of how this geographic shift impacted my body negatively. From a consistent sunlight schedule to almost zero hours of sun at the peak of the winter months, my “biological clock” - circadian rhythm and vitamin D levels went exponentially down. This lack of sunlight is intrinsically connected with symptoms of the so-called “Winter Depression” or Seasonal Affective Disorder and Vitamin D deficiency.
Vitamin D is a hormone that is naturally produced by the skin when exposed to sunlight. Due to deprivation, most people in the far North take supplements all their lives. Vitamin D can also be absorbed from food that has been fortified. Along with other environmental concerns, the question around dietary and alternate self-sustaining health practices has become increasingly relevant and urgent. According to research, a mushroom exposed to UV light can absorb high amounts of vitamin D. Fungi* are in fact the only non-animal source of food that can produce vitamin D, besides humans and most animals. *Another source of plant-based vitamin D is linchen, which is composed of a combination of algae and fungi.
Only a small serving of mushrooms fortified with vitamin D would be necessary to meet the daily needs of 97,5% of the world’s population. The VITAMIN D LAB project aims to break down the process of self-manufacturing vitamins and present how it could take place in a domestic setting.
What if you could make your own Vitamin D?
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VITAMIN D LAB
Dimensions: 120 x 40 x 100 cm
Material: Plywood, stainless steel, acrylic, UVB light,
mycelium (fungi Shiitake + Oyster)
Collab with Rikard Pedersen from the Swedish mushroom farm Saxtrop Svamp
And with the scientist Mattias Andersson, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Research area: enrichment of fungi with Vitamin D
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