Back in the day, Vitamin D used to be associated only with bone health. It's been known for a long time that deficiency of vitamin D causes soft bones known as Rickets in children and Osteomalacia in adults.
However what is now becoming clear is that there is a difference between being deficient in vitamin D (rickets and osteomalacia), and being insufficient in vitamin D. The latter is what I'm going to focus on for today because you may fall in this category.
Before I talk about Vitamin D insufficiency, let me tell you a few things about this amazing, yet humble hormone-vitamin.
Vitamin D...
- Has receptors in almost all your cells and tissues
- Brain, prostrate, breast, colon, immune cells, among others, have receptors for Vitamin D and respond to the active form of Vit D, which helps them control the genes that regulate cellular proliferation. Vitamin D helps reduce the proliferation ('overgrowth') of these cells. This is how come it is beneficial in conditions where cells are growing too fast like psoriasis, cancer.
- The active form of vitamin D (D3 or cholecalciferol), causes your body to produce a substance capable of destroying infective agents including the bug that causes tuberculosis.
- Vitamin D plays a role in controlling your blood pressure.
- Vitamin D plays a role in insulin production and is helpful in management of Type 2 Diabetes.
- Vitamin D helps your heart muscle function properly
And you thought all it did was give you strong bones!
The following conditions have been strongly associated with Vitamin D Insufficiency so if you suffer from any of these, RUN to your GP and get them to test your 'Serum 25(OH) Vitamin D' level TODAY!
It is such a simple thing to correct insufficiency, that it's almost criminal for you to suffer with symptoms that could be due to it. Such as the conditions below:
Increased risk of osteoporosis, fractures
Non-musculoskeletal disorders :
-- Cancer
-- Metabolic Syndrome (including Diabetes, heart disease, fatty liver, high cholesterol, etc)
-- Autoimmune conditions
-- Hypothyroidism
-- Depression
-- Psoriasis
-- Schizophrenia
-- 'Fibromyalgia'
-- Ongoing research into its use in MS but current studies point to possible relationship between insufficient vitamin D and MS
-- Wheezing illnesses
Symptoms Include:
-- Widespread diffuse or migratory pain and fatigue (commonly misdiagnosed as Fibromyalgia, Polymyalgia, psychological, etc)
-- Increased susceptibility to infections
So where do you get Vitamin D from?
Sources of Vitamin D
There are just 3 main sources:
1) Sunlight: (when you see the sun, ie! hello, londoners? :) )
--UV B Sunlight exposure (the very type that's blocked by sunscreen creams, as opposed to UV A sunlight, which is responsible for most skin cancer…): this is THE major source of Vitamin D production of the active hormone, 1,2-dihydroxyvitamin D.
-- Exposure of Face and Arms to sun for up to 30 mins causes your skin to manufacture 2000IU of Vit D
-- Exposure while wearing only bathing suit for up to 30 mins causes your skin to make 20,000 IU Vit D. Do this 2-3 times per week and your body will use what it needs and store the rest ready for use in winter months, when there's no sun.
-- Not feasible to get your optimal amount this way these days though is it?
2) Diet
-- Oily fish (Farmed fish has less vit D than wild fish)
-- Cod liver and other fish oil
-- Egg yolk (small amount)
-- Shitake mushrooms (small amount)
-- You'd have to eat a lot of the above and you still wouldn't get enough vitamin D to keep you out of the danger zone.
3) Vitamin D supplements
--Because these now come in strengths of 1000IU and 2000IU (or more in some cases), this remains the most reliable way to get your levels up and within the normal range.
Some people are more at risk of suffering from vitamin D insufficiency than others.
How do you know you're at risk of suffering from Vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency?
Keep your eyes peeled - the next post will be about this and also about how to treat it. You'll also discover where to find reliable vitamin D supplements for you and your children. I'll also tell you what your normal levels should be, and what levels are 'deficient' or 'insufficient'.
Stay tuned, and ACT on what you now know.
Blessings to ya.
Dr Kem
Health and Peak Performance Author, Speaker, Consultant
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