5 Common Signs of Vitamin D Deficiency

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5 Common Signs You Are Vitamin D Deficient

1. Feeling Depressed
Researchers have found that individuals with low Vitamin D levels are as much as ten times more prone to falling into depression.

2. Feeling Moody
Serotonin is affected by Vitamin D levels. This imbalance can leave you feeling moody and depressed.

3. Achy Bones
Vitamin D deficiency causes a problem absorbing calcium properly. This leaves the skeletal system feeling weak and often times bringing about a throbbing pain radiating from the bone.

4. Constant Fatigue
Feeling tired no matter how much sleep you get? This is a sign of Vitamin D deficiency, often misdiagnosed as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

5. High Blood Pressure
Vitamin D plays a huge role in cardiovascular health. It helps to regulate blood pressure, so when you aren’t getting enough Vitamin D, your blood pressure will often rise.

Risk Factors of Vitamin D Deficiency

Age Puts You At Risk

An estimated 95% of US seniors are thought to be Vitamin D deficient. This is because individuals over the age of 70 produce about ⅔ the Vitamin D as compared to a younger individual during the same time spent in the sun.

Weight Puts You At Risk

Vitamin D is fat-soluble, leaving overweight individuals at risk of losing the majority of Vitamin D produced in the skin before it can be properly absorbed and utilized. This leaves overweight individuals at a higher risk of Vitamin D deficiency than someone who is at a healthy weight.

Skin Pigment

Think of skin pigment as the body’s natural UV protection, the darker the pigment, the more difficult it is to achieve optimal Vitamin D levels. Individuals with darker complexions need to spend more time in the sun to achieve the same amount of Vitamin D production as a fairer skinned individual.

Geography and Season

Depending on where you live and what time of year it is, the amount of Vitamin D produced from sun exposure can vary widely. This makes it extremely important for individuals living in the Northern Hemisphere to supplement Vitamin D levels during the winter months.

The Importance of D

With thousands of studies done on Vitamin D, it has proven to be an integral part of our overall health, impacting virtually every bodily system.

Integral to the health and function of the immune system, individuals with autoimmune diseases can benefit greatly by supplementing Vitamin D levels.

Cardiovascular disease is also affected greatly by Vitamin D levels. Individuals with a D deficiency are at a 50% increased risk of suffering from a heart attack. It is also important to help reduce hypertension, risk of suffering a stroke and atherosclerotic heart disease.

Vitamin D plays a role in our DNA health and our cellular metabolic process. This has a profound effect on the health and function of our cells and body as a whole. Improving Vitamin D levels can help to prevent age related health complications and reduce overall body toxicity, potentially adding years to your life!

Test Your D Levels

Getting tested for Vitamin D is easy and available through almost any medical professional. Ask your physician about the 25(OH)D test, also known as 25-Hydroxyvitamin D.

Ideally you want to get tested twice per year to monitor levels. Once in the middle of summer and once again in the middle of winter. This gives you a good baseline for both high and low levels.

Author: Jeffrey Sutton contributes to numerous online health sites and publications. Having spent years specializing in natural health supplements with an emphasis on Glutathione, Jeffrey recently formulated the Glutathione enhancing supplement GSH Gold.

Sources for this article:

ISCD.org

MayoClinicProceedings.org

GRC.com – PDF

MedicineNet.com

Jeffrey Sutton