Vitamin D Is Important Because It
- Helps prevent bone fracture
- Supports immune, brain, and nervous system
- Supports lung functioning and cardiovascular health.
- Improves mood as well!
These were the benefits of Vitamin D to our body. Nowlets see the problems due to the deficiency of Vitamin D-
- Weaker bones, prone to breaking
- Rickets can be developed in children, which prevent their bones to grow properly and delay their growth. It may also result in causing the problem to their immune system
- Adults, on the other hand, are prone to osteomalacia and osteoporosis, which are the key culprits for low bone density and make them weaker and brittle
- Increased chances of cardiovascular conditions, autoimmune problems
- Chances of neurological diseases
How Does Sunlight Provide Us With Vitamin D
Vitamin D is naturally present in our body, but in an inactive form. The ultraviolet light radiated by the sun’s rays activates vitamin D in its D3 form for use.
It must be remembered that, for example, skin exposed to ultraviolet light in indoor environments, such as through a window, does not produce this action.
When you do not have regular exposure to sunlight, you may have problems absorbing vitamin D. In these situations, special attention must be paid to diet, which can be complemented with supplements containing vitamin D to maintain adequate levels in our bodies.
How Important Is Vitamin D Facts You Need To Know
For many, the winter can be cold with short, dark days. This season often raises concerns about vitamin D, sometimes called the sunshine vitamin. Interest in vitamin D has exploded in recent years and for good reason.
What is Vitamin D?
Vitamin D is technically not a vitamin because humans have the capacity to produce it themselves through exposure to sunlight. Vitamin D is biologically inert and must undergo two chemical processes in the body for activation. The first occurs in the liver and converts vitamin D to a prehormone called calcidiol. The second occurs primarily in the kidney and forms the physiologically active hormone calcitriol. Consequently, when we dont get enough vitamin D, we will not have enough calcitriol inside our tissues , and not having enough of a hormone can be very bad news.
Vitamin D is important in prevention and treatment of a range of conditions including asthma, heart failure, and autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and inflammatory bowel diseases.
Human DNA contains more than 2,700 binding sites for calcitriol, including sites involved in virtually every major human disease. The presence of these binding sites suggests that calcitrioland therefore vitamin Dis very important all over the body.
How Do We Get Vitamin D?
Insufficient Sun Exposure
The Shadow Rule
Should You Supplement Vitamin D?
5 Facts About Vitamin D
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Beware Of Vitamin D Deficiency
Many factors can affect your ability to get a sufficient dose of vitamin D through the sun alone. These factors include:
- Being in an area with high pollution.
- Using sunscreen.
- Spend more time indoors.
- Live in large cities where buildings prevent sunlight.
- Having deep skin. .
These elements contribute to vitamin D deficiency in an increasing number of people. Therefore it is important to get some of your vitamin D from sources other than sunlight.
Symptoms of vitamin D deficiency may include:
- Regular illness or infection.
Why Is Vitamin D So Important For Your Health
Internal Medicine World Report
Vitamin D is one of the most important vitamins for our overall health, but many people in the United States, as well as worldwide, are not getting enough of this vitamin. And the only way to know if youre getting enough of this vitamin is by doing an expensive test. And everyday it seems, new studies show new reasons why this vitamin is so important to our health.
Although vitamin D can be stored in your body fat until it is needed, the problem is that its not so easy to get enough vitamin D into your body.
The main job of vitamin D is to keep the right amount of calcium and phosphorus in your blood?these are the 2 nutrients that work together to make your bones strong. If you dont have vitamin D in your body, only a small amount of the calcium from your diet can be absorbed by your body, and only a little more than half of phosphorus is absorbed. Without enough calcium and phosphorus being absorbed in your body, your bones would become brittle and break easily.
Until recently, experts believed that the main role of vitamin D was to keep our bones healthy and prevent them from breaking up. But new research has shown many other reasons why this vitamin is so important for our health.
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How Is The 25
Your doctor will tell you not to eat anything for four to eight hours before the test.
The 25-hydroxy vitamin D test requires a common blood test. Your healthcare provider will draw blood from a vein in your arm using a needle. A quick finger prick will more than likely provide enough for a blood sample in children and infants.
Results will depend on your age, sex, and the testing methods used. Results can also slightly vary from lab to lab.
According to the , levels of vitamin D are measured by the 25-hydroxy level in nanomoles/liter or nanograms/milliliter . The results can indicate the following:
- deficiency: less than 30 nmol/L
- potential deficiency: between 30 nmol/L and 50 nmol/L
- normal levels: between 50 nmol/L and 125 nmol/L
- high levels: higher than 125 nmol/L
If your vitamin D levels are low and youre having symptoms of bone pain, a doctor may recommend a special scan to check bone density. Doctors use this painless scan to evaluate a persons bone health.
Low blood levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D usually mean one of the following:
- you arent eating a balanced, complete diet
- your intestines arent absorbing the vitamin properly
- youre not spending enough time outside to absorb adequate vitamin D levels through sun exposure
Some evidence links vitamin D deficiency to a higher risk of certain cancers, immune diseases, and cardiovascular disease.
High levels are rarely due to consuming too much of the vitamin through foods or sun exposure.
- excessive bleeding
If You Didnt Get Enough Vitamin D As A Child Your Growth May Have Been Stunted
Vitamin D is associated with conditions that affect the normal development and maintenance of our skeleton, according to a 2013 report published in BioMed Research International. As children, were constantly growing and our bones are continuously developing. Without enough vitamin D in childhood, though, a condition called rickets occurs, which is the softening and weakening of bones in children. This can also create low levels of calcium and phosphorus because vitamin D promotes the absorption of these nutrients.
Boston University School of Public Health cited a study that found over 79 percent of children with low levels of vitamin D had stunted growth. Underweight children were two times as likely to have low vitamin D levels, and boys were 1.6 times more likely to be stunted than girls.
Rana Mokhtar, public health researcher and the lead author of this study, told the univeristy, “The effect of vitamin D in improving growth parameters in children beyond the scope of rickets has largely been overlooked, even though there is a clear mechanism of action for vitamin Ds effect on skeletal growth.”
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Food Sources Of Vitamin D
“Vitamin D naturally occurs in egg yolks, beef liver, fatty fish like salmon, tuna, swordfish or sardines and fish liver oils. Unfortunately, vitamin D isn’t naturally occurring in lots of foods, which is why some foods have vitamin D added to them. Vitamin D is added to cereals, dairy and plant milks and orange juice,” Tolentino says.
Even though you can get vitamin D from food, it’s difficult to get enough from that source on its own since the amount of vitamin D in most foods is pretty small. “It’s not that easy to get your daily recommended intake of vitamin D through food. We’re just not eating large quantities of most of these foods. How much beef liver or sardines are you realistically eating every day?” Tolentino says.
Why Is A 25
Your doctor may request a 25-hydroxy vitamin D test for several different reasons. It can help them figure out whether too much or too little vitamin D is causing bone weakness or other abnormalities. It can also monitor people who are at risk for having a vitamin D deficiency.
Those who are at high risk of having low levels of vitamin D include:
- people who dont get much exposure to the sun
- older adults
- babies who are breastfed only
- people who have had gastric bypass surgery
- people who have a disease that affects the intestines and makes it difficult for the body to absorb nutrients, such as Crohns disease
Your doctor may also want you to do a 25-hydroxy vitamin D test if theyve already diagnosed you with a vitamin D deficiency and want to see if treatment is working.
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Vitamin D Strengthens Your Bones
Vitamin D is famous for its bone-building and strengthening powers. vitamin D promotes absorption of calcium in your gut, which ultimately allows for normal mineralization of your bones,Jackie Newgent, RDN, culinary nutritionist and author of The Clean & Simple Diabetes Cookbook, tells Health. Basically, the calcium that benefits your bones wouldn’t be able to do its job without vitamin D. You need vitamin D for bone growthand to prevent bones from becoming brittle. When teamed with calcium, it can help prevent osteoporosis, a disease that signifies that the density and quality of bone are reduced, she adds.
What Happens When You Take Your Daily Vitamin D3
When you take a Vitamin D supplement, the vitamin passes from your bloodstream into your liver.
From here, it goes to the kidneys where it turns into calcitriol.
It is then released back into your bloodstream and can now enter your bodys cells where it attaches to Vitamin D receptors.
At this point, it can get to work regulating the minerals calcium and phosphorous. Clever stuff!
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If Your Cuts Are Slow To Heal You May Need More Vitamin D
We need proper nutrients for many reasons, wound healing being one of them. Vitamin D, in particular, is required in higher amounts when dealing with a cut, according to a report published in Advances in Skin & Wound Care. The skin needs more vitamin D because it helps to protect against infection and begins the repair process.
A study published in the Evangelical University of Curitiba sought to understand the relationship between vitamin D deficiency and wound healing. The study consisted of 26 patients with leg ulcers and the same size control group without ulcers. Testing showed the individuals who had ulcers on their legs were deficient in vitamin D compared to the group that didnt have ulcers.
The same study also divided the ulcer group into two sections, treating half with a placebo and the other half with vitamin D for two months. Those who were in the vitamin D treatment group saw their ulcers decrease over time while the placebo group didnt have a very significant change to their ulcers.
Vitamin Ds Role In The Body
Vitamin D is most known for its role in bone health. It supports calcium absorption, and helps to maintain adequate calcium and phosphate levels in the blood. This allows for normal bone mineralization, bone growth, and bone remodeling throughout different stages in life. Vitamin D helps to prevent the disease rickets in children and osteoporosis in adults.
Vitamin D also plays an important role in the bodys immune system, managing inflammation, cell growth, neuromuscular function, and glucose metabolism. Preventing or correcting vitamin D deficiency can be protective in many ways.
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Fact: Vitamin D Supports Eye Health
Vitamin D is important for your eye health and its anti-inflammatory properties may help in conditions such as age-related macular degeneration, dry eyes, myopia and diabetic retinopathy.
This study showed that vitamin D supplements reduces inflammation and improves the symptoms associated with dry eye syndrome. It also stimulates tear secretion, which keeps eyes moist and reduces the risk of infections.
Vitamin D3 is a crucial nutrient for eye health as it reduces inflammation, improves tear function and may reduce the risk of macular degeneration, dry eyes and diabetic retinopathy.
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Vitamin D And Your Health: Breaking Old Rules Raising New Hopes
Vitamin D was discovered in 1920, culminating the long search for a way to cure rickets, a painful childhood bone disease. Within a decade, the fortification of foods with vitamin D was under way, and rickets became rare in the United States. But solving the problem of rickets was only the beginning of research into vitamin D. Research results suggest that vitamin D may have a role in other aspects of human health.
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Healthy People Wont Reduce Their Fracture Risk By Taking Calcium And Vitamin D Supplements Sarah Leyland
We know that healthy people living in the community wont reduce their fracture risk by taking calcium and vitamin D supplements, Leyland says. However, people who may not be getting enough such as those who are housebound or live in sheltered accommodation can benefit from these supplements.
Still, researchers havent found clear evidence of that, either. One meta-analysis examining the prevention of fractures in community, nursing home and hospital inpatient populations concluded that vitamin D alone is unlikely to prevent fractures in the doses and formulations tested so far in older people. And some evidence suggests that high doses can actually result in an increased number of fractures and falls. One randomised study found that high-dose monthly vitamin D supplements increased the risk of falls among the elderly population by 20-30% compared to those on a lower dose.
D for disease
There is also conflicting research on the relationship between vitamin D and other diseases, even ageing.
One main claim is that vitamin D supplements will boost the immune system. Adrian Martineau, professor of respiratory infection and immunity at The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, who leads a research group on the effects of vitamin D on health, has found that vitamin D plays a role in improving respiratory infections.
One study found that vitamin D helps decrease the risk of respiratory infections though only slightly
Why Is Vitamin D Important
Vitamin D is unique because it’s one of only two vitamins that your body can produce on its own , and you can also get it from other sources like food or supplements. It’s also technically a hormone that regulates how much calcium is in your blood. Unlike other vitamins, it requires conversion in the liver and kidneys to make it an active hormone. “Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that our bodies use to absorb and maintain healthy calcium and phosphorus levels, which are necessary to grow and maintain our bones,” Tolentino says.
You’ve probably heard that vitamin D is important for your bones, but it supports your body in other ways, too.”While we generally associate vitamin D with musculoskeletal health, it actually has several functions in the body, including the role it plays in immune function and reducing inflammation,” Tolentino says.
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Vitamin D Can Help Strengthen Muscles
Along with its bone-building abilities, vitamin D is also influential in strengthening muscles. Lack of vitamin D in the body can increase the risk of having weak muscles, which in turn increases the risk of falls, Lana Nasrallah, MPH, RD, clinical dietician at UNC Health, tells Health. This is especially important for the elderly. Vitamin D may help increase muscle strength thus preventing falls, which is a common problem that leads to substantial disability and death in older adults.
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What Supplement Should I Take If I Am At Risk Of Low Vitamin D
The UK government recommendation stays at a minimum of 10µg vitamin D a day for vulnerable groups like the over 65s, people with darker skin and those who cover a lot of their skin for religious reasons, etc.
They just recommend that you take it all year round, and not just in autumn and winter.
We hope this guide has helped you determine which vitamin D supplement is best for you.
As always, this information cannot replace medical care, so please check with your doctor before trying any new supplements.
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Why Are Vitamins Important To Your Body
Vitamins dont provide energy, like carbohydrates, proteins and fats, but they are essential compounds that help the body grow and function optimally. Thirteen essential vitamins help boost your immunity, strengthen your bones, heal wounds, bolster your eyesight and assist you in obtaining energy from food among multiple other functions. Without adequate vitamin intake, you may feel lethargic, be vulnerable to infection and develop other serious complications that can endanger your health and life.
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When Is The Best Time To Take Vitamins
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While these nutrients are found in varying amounts in food, some people need to supplement with certain vitamins to meet their nutritional requirements.
Normally, most vitamins can be taken at any time of day. That said, some vitamins are better absorbed under special conditions, which is why its good to know how and when to take a supplement to promote optimal absorption.
This article explains how and when to take vitamins.
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