Vitamin D benefits

What is benefits of Vitamin D

The human body produces vitamin D in reaction to sun exposure. A person can also increase his vitamin D intake by consuming certain foods or taking related supplements.

Vitamin D is necessary for various reasons, including bone and tooth health. It may also safeguard against a variety of diseases and illnesses, including type 1 diabetes.

Generally, we call it vitamin D, actually it is a hormone precursor or prohormone.

Vitamins are nutrients that the body cannot produce, thus they must be obtained through diet. The body may also generate vitamin D with the help of sun-rays.

You're probably aware of vitamin D's function in bone health, which is partly due to its ability to promote calcium absorption.

"Vitamin D insufficiency can lead to osteoporosis or osteomalacia [bone weakening], especially in older people," explains Lona Sandon, RD, assistant professor of clinical nutrition at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas.

Low levels of the vitamin, however, are linked to an increased risk of type 1 diabetes, muscle and bone problems, and, potentially more serious, malignancies of the breast, colon, prostate, ovaries, esophagus, and lymphatic system, according to recent and developing research.

Vitamin D may be just what the doctor prescribed if you want to lower your blood pressure.

Vitamin D should be at the top of your daily supplement routine if you want to reduce your risk of diabetes, heart attacks, rheumatoid arthritis, or multiple sclerosis.

In this post, we'll look at the benefits of vitamin D, what happens to the body when people don't get enough, and how to obtain more of it.

The benefits of Vitamin D

Vitamin D may help with the following things, in addition to its core benefits:

1. Reducing the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS). 

Low vitamin D levels have been related to an increased risk of MS, according to a 2018 review of population-based studies.

2. Vitamin D improves mood and lessen depression.

According to much research, vitamin D has been said to have played a role in mood modulation as well as lowering the risk of depression.

A study of 7,534 adults discovered that those who took vitamin D supplements and experienced negative feelings saw their symptoms improve.

Supplementing with vitamin D may benefit persons who are depressed and have a vitamin D deficit.

Another study linked low vitamin D levels to more severe fibromyalgia symptoms, anxiety, and depression.

3. It may help with weight loss.

People with higher body weights are more likely to have low vitamin D levels.

In one study, obese people who received vitamin D supplements in addition to following a weight loss diet plan lost more weight and fat mass than those in the placebo group who only followed the diet plan.

In a previous study, people who took calcium and vitamin D supplements on a daily basis lost more weight than those who took a placebo supplement.

According to the researchers, the extra calcium and vitamin D may have had an appetite-suppressing effect.

Although current research does not support the claim that vitamin D causes weight loss, there does appear to be a link between vitamin D and weight.

4. Heart disease

The heart is essentially a big muscle, and it, like skeletal muscle, has vitamin D receptors.

Vitamin D regulates immune and inflammatory cells that play a role in cardiovascular disease situations such as atherosclerosis.

The vitamin also keeps arteries flexible and relaxed, which aids in the treatment of high blood pressure.

Almost 50,000 healthy men were tracked for ten years in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study.

Men with the lowest levels of vitamin D were twice as likely as men with the highest levels to suffer a heart attack.

People with the lowest serum levels of vitamin D had a considerably increased risk of strokes and any heart disease event compared to those with the highest levels, according to meta-analyses of epidemiological research.

Taking vitamin D pills, on the other hand, has not been shown to lower cardiovascular risk.

Vitamin D supplementation did not reduce the incidence of heart attack, stroke, or death from cardiovascular disease, according to a meta-analysis of 51 clinical studies.

The VITamin D and OmegA-3 TriaL (VITAL) study tracked 25,871 men and women who were free of cardiovascular disease for a median of five years and took either a 2,000 IU vitamin D supplement or a placebo daily.

When compared to the placebo, there was no link between taking the supplements and a lower risk of serious cardiovascular events (heart attack, stroke, or death from cardiovascular causes).

5. Healthy Bone

Vitamin D is important in the regulation of calcium and the preservation of phosphorus levels in the blood.

These elements are the essential parts for sustaining bone health.

Vitamin D is important for the intestines to activate and absorb calcium, as well as to reclaim calcium that would otherwise be excreted by the kidneys.

Vitamin D deficiency in children can cause rickets, a condition in which the bones weaken and result in a severely bowlegged posture.

In adults, vitamin D deficiency produces osteomalacia, or bone fragility.

Weakness in Muscles and improper bone density are symptoms of osteomalacia.

A vitamin D deficiency can also emerge as osteoporosis, which affects approximately 53 million people in the United States and puts them at risk

6. Immune System Regulation

Because of vitamin D's function in immune system regulation, scientists have pursued two different study paths:

Is vitamin D insufficiency linked to the onset of multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, and other "autoimmune" disorders? 

in which the immune system targets the body's own organs and tissues?

Could vitamin D pills help our bodies fight infectious diseases like TB and the flu seasonally?

Infections and autoimmune syndromes such as rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, and inflammatory bowel disease may be more likely among vitamin D deficient people.

8. Flu risk is reduced.

Some investigations (2018) had revealed that vitamin D has a protective impact against the influenza virus, according to previous data.

The researchers did, however, look at other studies in which vitamin D did not have this effect on flu and flu risk.

More research is needed to confirm the protective effect of vitamin D against the flu.

9. Healthy Infants

Vitamin D deficiency has been related to increased blood pressure in children.

A 2018 study identified a possible link between low vitamin D levels and artery wall stiffness in children.

According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (AAAAI), data suggests a link between inadequate vitamin D exposure and an increased risk of allergy sensitization.

Children who live closer to the equator, for example, have lower rates of hospitalization for allergies and fewer prescriptions for epinephrine autoinjectors. They also may be less likely to be allergic to peanuts.

The AAAAI also highlights an Australian egg intake studyTrusted Source. Eggs are a typical source of vitamin D in the early stages of life.

Children who began eating eggs after the age of six months were more likely to develop food allergies than those who began between the ages of four and six months.

Furthermore, vitamin D may improve glucocorticoid anti-inflammatory actions. As a result of this advantage, it may be useful as supportive therapy for persons with steroid-resistant asthma.

11. Diabetes Type 2

Vitamin D deficiency may have a negative impact on the metabolic pathways that lead to the development of Type 2 diabetes (T2DM), such as impaired pancreatic beta-cell function, insulin resistance, and inflammation.

Higher vitamin D blood levels have been linked to decreased risks of T2DM in prospective observational studies. 

The Nurses' Health Study followed almost 83,000 women who did not have diabetes at the beginning to see if they developed T2DM.

Throughout the 20-year trial, vitamin D and calcium intakes from diet and supplements were monitored.

When the authors compared women with the greatest intakes of vitamin D from supplements to women with the lowest intakes, they discovered a 13% decreased risk of getting T2DM.

When calcium and vitamin D intakes from supplements (>1,200 mg, >800 IU daily) were compared to the lowest intakes (600 mg, 400 IU daily).

The effect was significantly stronger: women with the highest calcium and vitamin D intakes (>1,200 mg, >800 IU daily) had a 33 percent lower risk of T2DM.

For two years, 2,423 adults with prediabetes were given either 4000 IU of vitamin D or a placebo daily in a randomized clinical trial.

At the outset of the trial, the majority of participants did not have vitamin D insufficiency.

Vitamin D blood levels in the supplement versus placebo group were 54.3 ng/mL versus 28.2 ng/mL at two years, but there were no significant differences in T2DM rates at the 2.5-year follow-up.

The lack of effect of vitamin D could be due to the majority of individuals having vitamin D blood levels greater than 20 ng/mL, which is considered an appropriate threshold for reducing health risks, according to the researchers.

Vitamin D supplementation reduced the incidence of diabetes in the patients who had the lowest blood levels of vitamin D at the start of the research.

This is in line with the essential principle that taking more vitamin D may not help individuals who already have appropriate blood levels, but it may help those who have low blood levels, to begin with.

12. Pregnancy in good health

Pregnant women who are vitamin D deficient are more likely to develop preeclampsia and give birth prematurely, according to research.

According to physicians, vitamin D insufficiency has also been related to gestational diabetes and bacterial vaginosis in pregnant women.

It's also important to note that high vitamin D levels during pregnancy have been linked to an increased risk of food allergy in children during the first two years of life, according to a 2013 study.

Vitamin D deficiency Causes

Despite the fact that the body can produce vitamin D, a deficiency can occur for a variety of reasons.

Type of skin: 

Darker skin, as well as sunscreen, reduces the body's ability to absorb ultraviolet B (UVB) rays from the sun. Sunlight absorption is required for the skin to produce vitamin D.

Sunscreen: 

A sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher can reduce the body's ability to synthesize the vitamin by 95 percent or more.

Clothing that covers the skin can also prevent vitamin D production.

Geographic location: 

People who live in northern latitudes or high-pollution areas, work night shifts, or are homebound should try to get their vitamin D from food sources as much as possible.

Breastfeeding: 

Infants who are exclusively breastfed require vitamin D supplementation, especially if their skin is dark or they have little sun exposure.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, all breastfeeding newborns should consume 400 international units (IU) of oral vitamin D every day.

What Vitamin D deficiency Symptoms?

Adults suffering from vitamin D insufficiency may experience the following symptoms:

• fatigue, aches, and pains
• severe bone or muscle pain or weakness 
• bone fractures, particularly in the legs, pelvis, or hips

A simple blood test can be used by a medical professional to identify vitamin D insufficiency.

If you have a deficiency, your doctor may perform X-rays to assess your bone strength.

If you are diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency, your doctor will most likely advise you to take vitamin D supplements. 

having a severe deficiency, they may advise you to take high-dose vitamin D tablets or liquids instead.

You should also ensure that you get enough vitamin D from sunlight and the foods you eat.

The risks of taking too much vitamin D

You can receive too much vitamin D if you take too many vitamin D tablets.

However, because your body regulates the quantity of vitamin D produced by sun exposure, this is unlikely to happen through food or sun exposure.

Vitamin D poisoning can cause your blood calcium levels to rise. This can lead to a number of health problems, including :

• nauseousness 
• lethargy 
• vomiting 
• abdominal discomfort 
• dehydration 
• confusion 
• thirst

Vitamin D foods

Vitamin D is naturally present in some foods and fortified in others. Vitamin D may be found in the following foods):

• salmon, sardines, herring, and canned tuna.
• beef liver
• egg yolk 
• shrimp
• cod liver oil
• Comparing normal mushrooms and those that have been exposed to UV light
• milk (fortified) 
• certain cereals and oatmeal (fortified) 
• yoghurt (fortified) orange juice (fortified)

It might be difficult to receive enough vitamin D each day through sun exposure and food alone, therefore vitamin D supplements may be beneficial.

Recommended Vitamin D Intake

The amount of vitamin D required for proper functioning has been debated. According to recent research, we require more vitamin D than previously assumed.

Some of the major debates regarding vitamin D intake are as follows :

• Standardisation of vitamin D measurement methods 
• Distinction between free and total vitamin D tests 
• Identifying low vitamin D status (insufficiency versus deficiency) 
• Screening versus therapy
• The vitamin D intake for the general public in relation to a certain circumstance (such as pregnancy or nursing) and health concerns (such as kidney failure or osteoporosis)

The acceptable range for blood serum levels is 50–100 nanomoles per litre (nmol/L). You may need more vitamin D that depends on your blood level.

The following are the Recommended Dietary Allowances for vitamin D :

In conclusion

Vitamin D has a multitude of potential advantages. It may lower the risk of certain diseases, improve mood and reduce depression symptoms, and aid in weight loss.

Because it is difficult to procure enough vitamin D through diet alone, you should consult a medical professional and consider taking a vitamin D supplement.

One thing more

Try this Now: Include fish in your diet just few times per week to help increase your vitamin D intake. 

To make a variety of meals, try salmon with a mustard sauce, grilled sardines, or canned tuna on a salad.