Vitamin D is a fat-dissolvable nutrient that is normally present in a couple of nourishments, explains Dr. Daniel Monti, MD, MBA (founding director and now chief executive officer of the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health- Jefferson Health). Many know that vitamin D is the”sunshine vitamin,” (your body makes vitamin D when exposed to sunlight ) and that it is crucial for preventing the winter blues, but did you know that it’s also essential for each and every cell in your body? It’s true! Does vitamin D produce a positive outlook but it’s loads of additional benefits and is an important vitamin for brain health, mood, skin, and immune function?
Indications of a Vitamin D Deficiency
A simple blood test at the physician’s office can determine your vitamin D level (a healthy range is between 50 and 80).
Past the blood test, below are some common signs of a vitamin D deficiency that study supports and we have seen in our clientele.
Frequent colds and germs
Low disposition
Carbohydrate cravings
Low energy
Muscle pain
Bone pain
Always tired and needing more sleep
Osteoporosis
If you can relate to any or all of these symptoms, you could benefit from a vitamin D supplement — or if you reside in the northern latitudes you might also benefit since sunlight is poorer and rarely hits your skin when you’re covered from head to toe with coats, scarves, and mittens.
If we are subjected to ultraviolet-B light from sunlight or artificial sources, our bodies produce vitamin D3, or cholecalciferol photochemically within our skin.
Food sources such as fatty fish, eggs, and meat also offer D3. But, once vitamin D enters the body, it is then transported via the blood to the liver where it’s converted to the prohormone calcidiol.
Calcidiol is then converted by the kidneys or organisms from the immune system to calatinol. Calatinol circulates as a hormone and regulates mineral concentration in the blood (like calcium).
All this has much to do with the function of important body functions: the neuromuscular and immune systems in addition to gene proliferation. This is the reason behind the connection between lack and cancers.
Why Are We Vitamin D Deficient?
There are a few reasons why many so lots of people now experience chronic vitamin D deficiency.
Skin Pigmentation
Individuals who got the most sun exposure since they lived in hot regions of the world developed excess melanin (a darker skin pigment) to block burning while lighter-skinned people could create vitamin D (and a sunburn) more quickly. This system worked well when in the time when people lived in the same basic area their entire lives.
More Time Inside: With all the conveniences of modern living (and working so we can make that living!) , our generation spends a whole lot of time indoors. The most plausible statistic I could find comes from an EPA- funded study in the 90s that analyzed 10 areas over the contiguous United States. They found when it is all said and done we spend about 90% of our time inside… and all that time inside has more downsides for our wellbeing than just the absence of vitamin D.
Use of Sunscreen/Lack of Sun
If we do happen to get outside, better lather on the sunscreen, right? Not so fast! The chemicals in sunscreen have been linked to cancer.
Compounds in sunscreens can also be found to make free radicals from the body and create an estrogenic effect.
Low Magnesium/Vitamin K
Because of modern farming practices that result in poor soil quality, a lot of our food contains lower levels of magnesium. Consequently, many people are deficient in magnesium in addition to vitamin D.
Magnesium and also vitamin K assist trigger it in the kidneys and liver, so without enough of these the body might not metabolize the vitamin D that you take.
