A Neglected but Critical Nutrient
In our fast paced world today we tend to overlook our nutritional needs and then wonder why we develop the resulting health issues. Not too many generations ago people weren’t as sick as they are today. Doctors supported individuals when emergencies or accidents occurred but when it came to general maintenance of health…they were just there as needed. Viruses and illnesses were present, but heart disease, diabetes, and other lifestyle-driven conditions were rare, if they existed at all. Today people are more familiar with yearly wellness check-ups, learned of a health condition developed in a friend, or a loved one or are following the trending health-trick that promises to add years to their life.
Generations ago, people lived generally healthier lives. There were occasional outbreaks of illness that would hit locations and were responsible for large pockets of sickness and sometimes death, but when it came to individuals getting sick from diseases that are growing in numbers today (like heart disease, cancer or diabetes for example), it was very rare. The difference between health today and the health of the population long ago is our current poor dietary intake of nutrients, minimally active lifestyles, toxins and, I would argue, stress.
Let’s discuss the nutrient that many people are deficient in. It is vitamin D. This fat-soluble vitamin can be manufactured in our skin and can be found in smaller concentrations in some foods . However, before we get into sources, we need to discuss the importance of this multi-purpose wonder nutrient to our health.
The roles this vital nutrient plays are as follows:
It is very important for bone health, including the hardening of bone, which is necessary to avoid breaks. It is also a vital nutrient to help us absorb our calcium and promotes the balance of calcium and phosphate in the bones.
When it comes to circulatory issues, vitamin D is necessary in preventing blood clots and helps reduce blood pressure, both of which can contribute to heart attacks if D-levels aren’t maintained in a healthy range.
Vitamin D also has a large part to play in the health of the pancreas in maintaining proper beta cell function, which controls insulin secretion and maintaining the life of the pancreas.
Vitamin D supports optimal immune function by stimulating immune cells, called phagocytes, to ingest foreign invaders. Along with this important function, vitamin D has anti-carcinogenic properties through stimulating a process called apoptosis, which is programmed cell death and it also suppresses a tumor-induced process that promotes cancer cell growth. Vitamin D also lowers inflammation in the body.
Skin is not only where vitamin D is manufactured, it is also a beneficiary of the vitamin’s good works. Vitamin D helps prevent over-growth of skin cells by influencing the maturity of cells that “eat” overgrowing skin cells.
Where do we obtain this wonder nutrient? Vitamin D is made in our skin when we have met certain requirements: unwashed, unprotected bare skin while in the sun during the peak of the day. This behavior is discouraged today due to the cases of skin cancer increasing with excessive sun exposure. Amazingly, the body will not make too much vitamin D, even if you get severely sunburned. There is a biochemical mechanism that shuts off production when the appropriate levels are reached. As we in the Northern Hemisphere head into autumn, a time when the days are shorter and the sun isn’t high in the sky for very long and temperatures drop, vitamin D levels will naturally begin to reduce within our tissues. In countries where cloud cover is the norm and temperatures are colder year round, vitamin D levels tend to be low resulting in more risk for conditions associated with low levels.
We can also get some of our vital vitamin D from specific whole foods, like fish and others, though not nearly as much as we make within our tissues. Some food sources include: cod liver oil, fatty fish like herring and salmon, but in lower quantities in egg yolk, milk and dairy products. These animal/fish sources are in the active form of vitamin D called cholecalciferol or D3.
There are some vegetarian sources, but these sources are inferior and insignificant. The form found in plants and fungi is called ergosterol or vitamin D2. These sources are mushrooms, spinach, yeasts, and some varieties of cabbage.
In 2008 a German report on nutrition stated that as many as 91% of women and 82% of men don’t eat enough vitamin D-rich foods. Though we are more than a decade beyond this publication, people are not getting enough vitamin D in their diets today, nor are they getting the sun exposure that is required to synthesize this critical nutrient in the skin. There are several prominent diseases that the majority of people are afraid of developing which would not be a problem if they were sufficient in vitamin D.
Diseases that are associated with low vitamin D serum levels include:
Cancers such as prostate, breast and colon
Diabetes
Cardiovascular disease
Osteoporosis
How do you know if you are deficient? Unless you are outside for 10-15 minutes per day when the sun is at its highest, or are taking a vitamin D3 supplement, you are probably deficient. When the weather starts to get colder and the days are shorter, your vitamin D levels begin to wane. This is a nutrient that is depleted as time goes on without intentional supplementation with sun, food, or supplements.
Some symptoms of deficiency include:
Fatigue/tiredness, sleep disturbances, weakness
Increased susceptibility to infections
Bone weakness, decreased bone density
Cardiac problems such as calcification of vessels
Poor calcium absorption
Increased nervousness and/or irritability in children
Increased risk of type 1 diabetes as well as reduced insulin secretion
Infertility
There is no reason to be deficient in vitamin D, but the majority of people are. Most don’t know what the symptoms of deficiency are and are unaware of the nutrient and its benefits. If you need help in determining your levels and/or supporting your health with the appropriate form of vitamin D, reach out today and ask about how I can help you test and then improve your levels safely. Let’s work together to help you manage your levels of vitamin D to support optimal health before your health begins to suffer.
