The Importance of Vitamin D and why we are lacking it

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Vitamin D deficiency is fairly common in the United States. Even if you eat foods that are rich in vitamin D, generally they don’t have enough of the vitamin to benefit your health. Let’s start at the beginning, vitamin D isn’t the same type of vitamin as A or B, it acts quite differently. It’s a specific type of steroid hormone. Naturally, our bodies obtain vitamin D from the sun. It’s always important to get at least 20 minutes of sun exposure a day, but too much is risky.

Vitamin D deficiency threatens all types of people of all skin types and ages. This deficiency is so common that chances are you are most likely lacking vitamin D. Some signs that you may be vitamin D deficient are often feeling sad, being 50 years old or older, having naturally darker skin, being overweight, having higher muscle mass, achey bones, frequent head sweats and gut trouble.

Serotonin is a hormone that effects mood levels. It has a direct relationship to light, for example, when you are in bright light, the serotonin in your body increases feeding your brain with the hormone and positively effecting your mood. When you are in dim light, it decreases. So naturally, being in the sun and getting vitamin D helps control mood levels and keep you positive.

With age comes more health problems. So it’s important to take care of your body. When you hit your fifties, your skin slows in response to soaking up vitamin D from the sun. An easy fix for this is to take vitamin D supplements.

African Americans or other people who have naturally darker skin are ten times more likely to have vitamin D deficiency than someone with pale skin. Having darker skin, acts as a natural sunblock from UV rays, so naturally it’s harder to absorb the vitamin you need.

People who are overweight or have more muscle mass are also at a higher risk for vitamin D deficiency. This is because vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin. This also translates into people with more muscle mass and higher body weights. So taking an additional vitamin D supplement will help get the extra nutrients for your diet.

Achey bones, fatigue and head sweating are all common symptoms of vitamin D deficiency. Sweating heads can be found in newborn babies who don’t have enough vitamin D. If this happens in your child or baby, be sure to talk to a doctor as soon as possible.

Lastly, because vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, your body struggles with the absorption of fats. Vitamin D deficiency has shown a direct relationship with gut conditions like Crohn’s, celiac and non-celiac, gluten sensitivity and inflammatory bowel disease.

Our bodies need high levels of vitamin D to function correctly. It’s important to aim for higher amounts of vitamin D in the body, than the average amount because vitamin D deficiency is still a recent discussion in the medical world. If you aim for higher amounts of vitamin D, you will be working towards the goal that doctors are recently discovering is the healthiest amount.

The ways to obtain vitamin D is through the sun, vitamin D rich foods and dietary supplements. Some of the most common foods with vitamin D are cod liver oil, salmon, mackerel, tuna, sardines, raw milk, chocolate milk, eggs, caviar, mushrooms, deli ham, sushi, tofu, swiss and ricotta cheese, soy milk, salami, sausage, oysters, orange juice, oatmeal and shrimp. But, because many of these foods don’t contain enough vitamin D to be therapeutic it’s important to take vitamin D supplements also.

Among helping any of the symptoms above, vitamin D also fights cardiovascular disease, autoimmune diseases, infections, DNA repair and metabolic processes. Just remember, vitamin D deficiency is fairly new territory for the medical field, doctors nationwide are adjusting their thoughts about vitamin D and realizing the importance of it in our diet to keep us healthy. So remember, include a vitamin D supplement in your daily routine and you’ll experience the world through a different light.
Works Cited
“Health Benefits of Vitamin D – Glutathione Pathway.” Glutathione Pathway. N.p., 06 Jan. 2015. Web. 22 Nov. 2015. http://glutathionepathway.com/health-benefits-vitamin-d/.
“7 Signs and Symptoms You May Have a Vitamin D Deficiency – Simply Loving Living.” Simply Loving Living. N.p., 29 Dec. 2014. Web. 22 Nov. 2015. http://www.simplylovingliving.com/7-signs-symptoms-may-vitamin-d-deficiency/.
“35 Foods High in Vitamin D to Keep You Healthy & Young.” Bembu. N.p., 18 Feb. 2013. Web. 22 Nov. 2015. <http://bembu.com/vitamin-d-rich-foods>.
“Top 10 Vitamin D Rich Foods – DrAxe.com.” Dr Axe. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2015. http://draxe.com/top-10-vitamin-d-rich-foods/.
About the Author
Julio Yacub is the president of Green Organic Supplements, Inc. Green Organics Supplements has become one of the renowned producers of supplements with the best ingredients, the right extract potencies, and ingredient in perfect synergy. Green Organic supplements has become synonymous of excellence with a philosophy of care in mind, founded on quality and control, something very difficult to achieve and practice.

Julio Yacub
About the Author
Julio Yacub is the president of Green Organic Supplements, Inc. Green organics Supplements has become one of the renowned producers of supplements with the best ingredients, the right extract potencies, and ingredient in perfect synergy. Green Organic supplements has become synonymous of excellence with a philosophy of care in mind, founded on quality and control, something very difficult to achieve and practice.