Vitamin D deficiency – 7 less known Facts.

When you envision a warm, nice and relaxing Vacation, does it have a SUN and a Beach? That tanned skin and FINALLY that long pending dose of Vitamin D. Pheww… We were all taught in School that the source of Vitamin D is SUN. While no one told us that sunshine is not enough… Vitamin D Deficiency is common and yet most under diagnosed and under treated deficiency in the world. Here are top 7 less Known facts:

1. Vitamin D Deficiency could lead to serious life conditions like diabetes, cardio-vascular diseases and even Cancer. It can also contribute to rickets, osteoporosis and infections such as tuberculosis.

With most of the people being unaware of the deficiency it makes it harder to control the long terms impacts of this deficiency.

2. Ability of your skin to absorb Vitamin D from sun is based on the skin colour of your Ancestors: People with darker skin tone have the natural sunscreen that prevents them to absorb and synthesize Vitamin D in the same amount as People with fairer skin. When early humans who originated in Tropical regions migrated northwards, skin lightning occurred as an adoption to lower sun exposure, while Melanin (natural sunscreen) remained in the skin to prevent the absorption of UV radiations.

3. Vitamin D regulates Calcium and Phosphorus balance in your Body. This balance is very important for Bone mineralization and remodelling. Low calcium levels in your body could force body to start extracting the same from your bones , making then weak and brittle over the period of time

4. Vitamin D helps build your Immunity against infectious diseases: Skin exposure to sunlight is an effective Therapy for treating Mycobacterium infections of the skin. Electric Arc lamp used to treat skin related TB has been one of the most significant discoveries pertaining to this association.

5. Metabolic Syndrome – Collective term used for Hypertension, obesity, dyslipidemia and glucose intolerance is associated with deficiency of calcium and Vitamin D. Supplementation of both nutrients have shown benefits in optimizing glucose levels.

6. It’s not only SUN you need: Countries with low sun incidences like Norway, shows lower frequency of Vitamin D deficiency when compared to countries with higher sun incidences like Eastern European countries. This could be supportive of meeting the Nutrient needs through diet

7. Cultural and Ethnic backgrounds impacts our Nutrients intake: The vitamin D synthetic is directly dependent on exposure of bare skin to the Sun. Social and religious norms could dictate clothing habits and hence reducing the exposure. Vegetarianism is another example where nutrients need via diet are not fulfilled as most of the food items rich in Vitamin D comes from Animal products.

There is a Solution: Grind these three together…

Fix your diet: Vegetarians – Use fortified foods. Mushrooms! Milk and Milk products Non vegetarian have heaps of options that include: Eggs Fatty fish Tuna Beef Liver Pork Ricotta Cheese Add correct supplementation: Two different forms of vitamin D are used in supplements and fortified foods. Vitamin D2, which is vegan and Vitamin D3. Some research suggests that vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 are absorbed equally well although other studies suggest that vitamin D3 is better absorbed. If you are treated for a vitamin D deficiency, you may find that your health care provider recommends taking a higher dose of vitamin D2 than of vitamin D3 to compensate for possible differences in absorption. Embrace sun: These values are approximate.

• Light-skinned: 10 to 15 minutes
• Dark-skinned: 20 minutes
• Elderly: 30 minutes

In Most cases Vitamin D levels are restored to their optimum levels with 3 steps except when Genetics have a part to play in metabolising vitamin D in your body. To Summarize: It’s important to spread Awareness about Vitamin D deficiency in order to prevent the long term damage caused by it. Even though the deficiency is hard to predict due to large no. of factors that could impact its metabolism like age, sun exposure, latitude, season, skin prototype, type of clothing and use of sunscreens, it’s important to ensure that at one point in time, the Nutrients need of your body are met by combining one or more of (sun exposure, diet and supplementation)

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