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Everyone wants to stay healthy and have enough vitamins in their body. Vitamin D is also known as the sunshine vitamin.
You might be wondering why: it’s because your body produces it when you’re exposed to the sun. If you don’t have time to get out in the sun and get this vitamin, you can also get it from foods and supplements.
Vitamin D is essential for several reasons, including maintaining healthy bones and teeth. This vitamin also helps protect against diseases such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, and type 1 diabetes.
Read on to learn about the main health benefits of taking Vitamin D.
1. It’s good for your bones
Everyone wants to have strong bones, and Vitamin D plays a key role in regulating calcium needs. It also helps maintain important phosphorus levels in the blood. These are important factors if you want to maintain healthy bones.
Vitamin D is needed to absorb calcium in the intestine and also to salvage calcium that may be excreted by the kidneys.
Vitamin D deficiency in children can lead to rickets, a disease that causes bones to soften and give the appearance of bow legs.
Deficiency of this vitamin in adults can lead to osteomalacia, or softening of the bones. It can also lead to osteoporosis, a bone disease seen in postmenopausal women and older men. (See: Vitamin D: The Root of Oral Health)
2. Your risk of developing diabetes is limited
There are several observational studies that claim that there is an inverse correlation between blood levels of Vitamin D in the body and the risk of unwanted type 2 diabetes.
For people with type 2 diabetes, low amounts of this vitamin can negatively affect insulin secretion and glucose tolerance.
3. It helps fight some diseases
Some studies have shown that Vitamin D helps fight several diseases. This vitamin is said to help curb the threat of multiple sclerosis.
Vitamin D also helps to reduce the chances of developing heart disease. If you hate catching the flu, you’ll be happy to know that Vitamin D can help reduce your chances of getting the flu.
4. It helps combat depression
If you suffer from depression, consider vitamin D. Research shows that it can help stabilize mood and relieve depression. Studies have shown that people with depression saw some improvement in their symptoms when they took vitamin D supplements.
5. It can help you lose weight
If you want to lose weight and prevent heart disease, consider adding a vitamin D supplement to your diet. Ask your doctor what supplements may help you.
For example, one study found that people who took daily calcium and vitamin D supplements lost more weight than those who took a placebo supplement. Scientists involved in the study said that the extra calcium taken along with vitamin D played a role in the appetite-suppressing effect.
6. Pregnant women can benefit from vitamin D
Pregnant women with limited vitamin D intake are at higher risk of developing preeclampsia and needing a Caesarean section. Low vitamin D intake has also been linked to gestational diabetes and bacterial vaginosis in pregnant women.
Vitamin D should be taken with caution, as taking large amounts during pregnancy can increase a child’s risk of developing food allergies in the first two years of life.
7. Prevents cancer development
Vitamin D plays an important role in regulating cell growth. It also helps with communication between cells. Research suggests that calcitriol, the hormonally active form of vitamin D, may inhibit the progression of cancer.
It does this by slowing the growth and development of new blood vessels in cancerous tissue, limiting cell proliferation and metastasis, and increasing the rate of cancer cell death. Vitamin D affects over 200 human genes, and without sufficient amounts of Vitamin D, these genes can become impaired.
8. Symptoms of Vitamin D Deficiency
Do you have the following symptoms?
- Frequent illnesses and infections.
- I feel tired.
- I have pain in my bones and back.
- A mood characterized by being depressed.
- Decreased ability to heal wounds.
- Hair removal.
- Muscle pain.
If this deficiency continues for a long period of time, it can lead to obesity, neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, osteoporosis, high blood pressure, chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, and fibromyalgia.
If you think you may be deficient in Vitamin D, ask your doctor to test you. Vitamin D is important, so you need to get enough of it. You can take it in pill form or Vitamin D liquid.
About the author:
I am Stacey Keaton, a professional writer dedicated to enlightening people about various matters of daily life. I share my knowledge, opinions, and advice in a wonderful way that people will enjoy. Though I love writing about various topics like lifestyle, business, information technology, my passion is health/fitness. Through my healthcare writings, I hope to provide people with honest insights into life to help them lead a healthy life.
