What Does Vitamin D Do?
So, what does vitamin D do? This is a very important question many people ask and it is imperative to know vitamin d facts for your health.
You need vitamin D for your bones, deciding on whether you need to take a vitamin D supplement or get it from the sun, can make all the difference. Without vitamin D, your bones can become brittle, thin or misshapen.
When taken with calcium, a vitamin D supplement can help older adults from osteoporosis.
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, meaning it is stored in the body. Therefore, you only need this particular vitamin in small doses. Vitamins A, E and K are fat-soluble vitamins as well. So don’t overload your body on any of these vitamins either!
Vitamin D is needed in the body for its use of calcium and phosphorous. Phosphorus is a mineral in the body, and is present in bones, teeth and combines with calcium to form calcium phosphate. It is also present in every cell in the body and body fluids.
The amount of calcium absorbed from the small intestine is because of vitamin D, and it also helps form and maintains bones, and can help with stronger fingernails.
Having a deficiency of vitamin D, can contribute to osteoporosis by reducing calcium absorption. It has been proven, even if you have an adequate calcium intake, the calcium may not be absorbed effectively, because of low levels of vitamin D. This study was done by researchers at the Harvard Medical School.
Vitamin D in the body
- help regulate the immune system and neuromuscular system (nervous system and muscles working together)
- life cycle of cells
Your body will make vitamin D itself, but only after the skin has had exposure to sufficient sunlight. This can be difficult for some people, who drive to work in the mornings and leave in the evenings, people who just don’t like to be in the sun, women who wear veils, older adults, people who have darker skin, as dark skin actually absorbs less sunlight, and people who have difficulty absorbing fat.
In these cases, you need to obtain vitamin D from other sources.
The average daily amount recommended is 200 IU of vitamin D daily, adults over 50 need around 400 IU daily, and for people over 70, it is recommended you increase that to 600 IU.
IU meaning ‘international unit’, the amount determined by biological methods and not a chemical analysis.
The multivitamin I am taking at the moment, has 200 IU of Vitamin D. If you are taking a supplement as well, check to see how much you are getting on a daily basis.
Vitamin D Foods
Very few foods in fact contain this essential vitamin. Fish with a high fat content such as; sardines, salmon, herring and mackerel, is good. Not so good, if you don’t like fish, or do like it, but only eat it occasionally.
Eggs are another good source; actually vitamin D is in the egg yolk, and only in small amounts.
Meat is good, again, not so good if you are a vegetarian.
Cod Liver Oil.
Foods fortified with vitamin D
Many foods have vitamin D added, milk, skim milk, margarine, yoghurt, and cheese. This can be a problem if you are intolerant to the casein and lactose in milk.
Many synthetic minerals and vitamins such as vitamin D, are added to various foods that are canned or packaged.
Can you have too much vitamin D?
It is easy to get too much if you are getting your source of vitamin D from cod liver oil, or some other supplement.
Symptoms are constipation, nausea, confusion, abnormal heart rhythm and kidney stones.
It is virtually impossible to get too much from sunlight or fortified foods.
Some weight loss drugs may inhibit vitamin D absorption.
I take a vitamin d supplement, as I almost never see the sun, and I always put a mineral sunblock on before I go out the front door.
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