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The benefits of… Vitamin D
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An estimated 42% of Americans are deficient in vitamin D? Deficiency in D has many negative effects on your body’s health. Vitamin D is not actually a vitamin it is a hormone-precursor (pro-hormone) that metabolize minerals and bone growth.
Benefits of Vitamin D
Vitamin D is found in some foods, but Vitamin D is also found in sunlight.
Vitamin D is one of 4 fat-soluble vitamins and is found in three primary forms — D1, D2 and D3. Have you ever heard people say that they get their 15 minutes of sunshine in each day, so they aren’t deficient? Many associate Vitamin D with the sun, because when sunlight hits the skin, often vitamin D can be created. The body has the ability to naturally produce vitamin D when it is exposed to UV rays (you know…the rays sunscreen blocks). UV can also be harmful. People who live in tropical environments are can also have Vitamin D deficiencies and require foods or supplements with Vitamin D to avoid health problems.
What does Vitamin D do in the body?
Vitamin D is a prohormone that helps our immune system function properly and keeps our body’s inflammation at bay.
Many people think of calcium when you think of “strong bones”. Actually, Vitamin D is an incredibly important part of skeletal strength. Vitamin D is also critical in helping the body absorb and use calcium, phosphorus and magnesium. These are essential nutrients in building healthy bones.
Vitamin D is important for supporting the immune system, nervous system and brain, helps regulates insulin, supports cardiopulmonary health, and has an epigenetic effect on cancer. Vitamin D has an amazing effect on inflammation and the immune system’s ability to handle it. Another powerful effect vitamin D has is on depression, especially Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition states: “Scientists and nutrition experts at the 13th Vitamin D Workshop held in 2006 agreed in a consensus statement that “about half of the elderly in North America and two-thirds of the rest of the world are not getting enough vitamin D to maintain healthy bone density, lower their risks for fractures and improve tooth attachment. Such vitamin D insufficiency also decreases muscle strength and increases the risk for falls and is even associated with increased risk for colorectal and other major cancer”.
Possible Warning Signs of Vitamin D Deficiencies
How do you know if you are deficient? Let us share with you a few ways to tell if you or your family member might be deficient.
Fatigue
Aches and pains
Severe bone or muscle pain
Stress fractures, especially in the lower body
General sense of feeling under the weather
Getting sick often
Back pain
Depression
Slow wound healing
Hair loss
Mood changes
Who is at higher at risk for vitamin D deficiency.
The elderly
Being overweight/obese
Not eating fish or dairy, eating a vegan diet
Darkened skin tones
Living in an area with little year-round sun
Staying indoors most of the day
Heavy use of sunscreen
What else could Vitamin D help with?
Depression
Studies show that vitamin D may help with mood disorders such as depression in some patients. One study showed that higher doses of vitamin D reduced depression symptoms. Taking Vitamin D supplements are a low-cost and relatively low-risk way to try to reduce depression symptoms, especially those suffering from seasonal depression.
Boost weight loss & fights disease
One study showed it reduces the risk of heart disease.
Another showed that vitamin D can aid in reducing the chances of getting the flu.
Vitamin D has also been shown to reduce the risk of multiple sclerosis.
A research study showed that a calcium and vitamin D supplement helped participants lose more weight than those who took a placebo. A similar study showed that it improved overweight participant’s heart disease risk markers.
FOOD with Vitamin D
Increase your Vitamin D with specific foods such as:
Wild Mushrooms (3.5 ounces contains approximately 2300iu)
Salmon (3.5 ounces contains approximately 525iu)
Canned Tuna (3.5 ounces contains approximately 265iu)
Fortified Dairy milk (1 cup contains approximately 120iu
Fortified Soymilk (1 cup contains approximately 110iu)
Fortified Orange juice (1 cup contains approximately 100iu)
Egg yolk (1 egg contains approximately 35iu)
While it is preferable to obtain nutrients from food, vitamin D is not widespread in our food supply. Therefore, supplements are often the easiest for increasing your vitamin D levels. Infants need vitamin D supplementation when they are born, as their levels reflect mom’s levels, which are often suboptimal. Breast milk has very little vitamin D which would further their deletion.
Sign and symptoms of Vitamin D Deficiency
If there isn’t enough calcium or vitamin D intake, the body “borrows” calcium from the skeleton to keep the levels of calcium in the blood regulated.
Osteoporosis Vitamin D aids in the absorption of calcium, to avoid problems of disease like osteoporosis. Being deficient in Vitamin D increases the chances of fractures due to low bone density.
Rickets or Osteomalacia An insufficient level of vitamin D can also lead to soft bones, which is known as osteomalacia or rickets in children.
Tooth Decay Don’t forget…teeth are bones too! Health teeth are the product of great nutrition and hygiene.
TESTING
Blood tests should be done to determine Vitamin D deficiency. A micronutrient blood test can evaluate the body regardless of age to provide a baseline for how individuals should support their body with food and supplementation produces.
Vitamin D-3 also known as Cholecalciferol, which is a fat-soluble vitamin known for it’s benefit to support the immune system, bone and muscle strength.
A (2) gummy serving size is the equivalent of 17.24 cups of fortified milk. For more information about Vitamins D, please visit our blog call Nourishing Life.
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Citations and additional sources of information:
https://www.cantonmercy.org/healthchat/42-percent-of-americans-are-vitamin-d-deficient/
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vitamin-d-deficiency-symptoms
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/15050-vitamin-d–vitamin-d-deficiency
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-2796.2008.02008.x
Erratum: Assessment of Relationship between Vitamin D Deficiency and Pain Severity in Patients with Low Back Pain: A Retrospective, Observational Study. Anesth Essays Res. 2018;12(4):970.
Kostoglou-Athanassiou I, Athanassiou P, Lyraki A, Raftakis I, Antoniadis C. Vitamin D and rheumatoid arthritis. Ther Adv Endocrinol Metab. 2012;3(6):181–187.
S. Bartlett, U. Haque. Relationships among vitamin D, disease activity, pain and disability in rheumatoid arthritis. Clin Exp Rhuem. 2010 Vol.28, N°0 – PI 0745, PF 0747
Anglin RES, Samaan Z, Walter SD, McDonald SD. Vitamin D deficiency and depression in adults: systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Psychiatry. 2013;202(2):100-107.