Vitamin D is critical for a normal functioning immune system so pay attention to these warning signs.
Vitamin D has been getting quite a bit of attention over the past couple of decades as research has proven its importance to many aspects of overall health. “Along with magnesium and zinc deficiencies, vitamin D is one of the most important nutritional deficiencies we face,” says Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, MD.
Many people in America are tested for vitamin D levels at their annual physicals, and a large number of them are prescribed a supplement when results indicate they are deficient in this important hormone.
Of course, this is not a problem unique to Americans. It’s estimated that about one billion people worldwide have a vitamin D deficiency.
Before we go on, let’s clear one thing up — vitamin D isn’t actually a vitamin. It’s a fat-soluble hormone that our bodies are able to make on their own but if we can’t make enough we need to turn to supplements to meet daily requirements.
You can use biofeedback to see the nutritional state of your body by utilizing the Formazione di feedback su nutrizione e omeopatia program offered with the Indigo Biofeedback machine.
Vitamin D: A Public Health Crisis
The most recent data we have that speaks to the prevalence vitamin D deficiency is NHANES data from the Second Nutrition Report, which says that an estimated 42% of Americans are vitamin D deficient. As a result, many healthcare practitioners (whether they practice traditional or integrative medicine) recommend that their patients take a vitamin D supplement.
As with most vitamin deficiencies and overall health studies, there were differences between race and ethnicity. We know that the amount of melanin in the skin affects vitamin D production. For example, the black population involved in the study had a vitamin D deficiency prevalence rate of 82%. Hispanics followed as the second most severe group, at 69% prevalence. People with darker skin need a greater amount of sun exposure to make the same amount of vitamin D that people with lighter skin do, because darker skin protects against too much sun exposure and sunburn.
The “normal” range of vitamin D in the blood is between 20 and 80 ng/mL. However, most practitioners will agree that the low end of that “normal” range is nowhere near sufficient. Even the “acceptable” range of 30 – 50 ng/mL is less than ideal. The majority of practitioners want their patients’ vitamin D levels to be between 60 and 80 ng/mL.
Because the sun is the primary (and best) source of vitamin D, a good portion of the country has trouble getting enough sun exposure for our bodies to produce the amount of vitamin D it needs. Those who live in sunny southern climates are sometimes able to get enough of this essential vitamin, but that only really constitutes half of the country. Residents of northern states that experience cloudy springs and autumns, and then cold, snowy winters often have difficulty getting their necessary vitamin D fix.
Given that food sources typically don’t have a significant amount of vitamin D, it’s difficult for many people to make up for the low numbers or the deficiency through diet alone. So even when people are trying to increase their levels naturally, it’s unlikely that this method will work to any worthwhile degree.
Furthermore, the other major driver in low vitamin D levels is the push for Americans to wear sunscreen whenever they leave their house — there is SPF in most facial lotions and even some makeup. Of course, that’s a good thing in many respects. Sunscreen blocks damaging UVA and UVB rays from penetrating the skin and increasing the risk of skin cancer.
However, the fact that sunscreen blocks the absorption of UVA and UVB rays is exactly the problem when it comes to making vitamin D. The body uses UVA and UVB to produce its own vitamin D, but if the skin can’t absorb the ultraviolet light, it can’t make the vitamin. For this reason, Teitelbaum disagrees with the assertion that we should avoid the sun entirely. “Most of our vitamin D comes from sunshine.”
If vitamin D were less important to our overall health, it might not be considered a public health crisis. But vitamin D is vital, and this all-too-common deficiency has important ripple effects.
Vitamin D Deficiency Symptoms
Vitamin D deficiency often goes unnoticed because the symptoms can be quite subtle and can be explained in other ways, such as insufficient sleep, stress, or overexertion. However, it is easily diagnosed with a blood test and can be combined with the regular bloodwork conducted during a routine annual physical.
The most common symptoms of vitamin D deficiency are:
- Frequent illness
- Fatigue
- Lower back pain
- General sadness or low mood
- Bone loss or brittleness
- Hair loss (more than usual)
- Unexplained muscle pain (not from exercise or strain)
- Impaired wound healing
- Skin issues
What Does Vitamin D Do for Our Bodies?
Supports Bone Health
Vitamin D is crucial for our bodies in many ways — the biggest of which may be bone health. Vitamin D is necessary for the body to absorb calcium, which is what helps keep bones strong and healthy. Without enough vitamin D, the body may not be able to absorb the calcium it needs from the foods we eat to maintain healthy bone structure. Over time, this pattern can lead to brittle bones.
Supports Muscle Health
In addition to supporting strong bones, vitamin D supports muscle health. Researchers have been studying this for the better part of the past couple decades.
Even back in 2010, the idea that the “sunshine vitamin” could affect skeletal muscle was well established, with the medical research community citing recent findings in their own papers: “Vitamin D status is positively associated with physical performance and inversely associated with risk of falling. Vitamin D supplementation has been shown to improve tests of muscle performance, reduce falls, and possibly impact on muscle fiber composition and morphology in vitamin D deficient older adults.”
In 2018, a case study was conducted with a 51-year-old woman who “complained of muscle pain in all large muscle groups.” She told researchers that she had calf pain after only walking one block. They conducted a “timed up and go” test (TUAG), which measures the time it takes for a person to get out of a chair, walk three meters (almost 10 feet) across the room, and return to sit in the chair.
Prior to vitamin D supplementation, her TUAG time was 14 seconds — a time abnormally slow even for her age group. After taking 1000 IU (25 mcg) of vitamin D3 for a period of time long enough to pull her serum level up within the normal range, “her symptoms of weakness and muscle pain had completely resolved. She could stand, walk across the room and return to her chair [TUAG time] in approximately seven seconds.”
Supports Immune Health
Vitamin D helps support our immune system. While the medical community largely agrees with this assertion, the exact way in which it supports immunity requires additional research. What we do know is that vitamin D deficiency has been linked to multiple ailments — meaning that many patients experiencing specific diseases also had a vitamin D deficiency.
“Vitamin D is critical for a normal functioning immune system,” says Dr. Paul B. Dean, MD. Dean is a board certified dermatologist at the Grossmont Dermatology Medical Clinic in San Diego and a former Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer with the CDC. “People who are immunocompromised by having low vitamin D levels are at an increased risk for a variety of illnesses and infections.”
It’s important to note that vitamin D deficiency does not cause disease. The implication in the data says that sufficient serum levels of vitamin D support the body’s natural ability to fight off diseases. Therefore, if a person’s levels are low, they may not be able to fight off particular infections or diseases. Coupled with poor nutrition, lack of quality sleep, and high stress (i.e. most Americans), a vitamin D deficiency can cause a host of problems.
Supports the Nervous System
The final major role vitamin D plays in the body involves the central nervous system — it helps carry messages from the brain to the rest of the body. In a 2019 review, researchers set out to clarify how exactly this might work (or not work).
Researchers concluded that “the studies reviewed show that [vitamin D] contributes to cerebral activity in both embryonic and adult brain, helping the connectivity of neural circuits responsible for locomotor, emotional and reward-dependent behavior.” However, they also noted that more research is necessary to understand the effects of vitamin D supplementation in brain disorders.
Causes of Vitamin D Deficiency
There are many common causes for a vitamin D deficiency, such as:
- Being indoors often, especially between 10 am and 3 pm.
- Regularly applying sunscreen.
- Living in a colder climate where your skin must be covered to protect against the cold, even when the sun is out.
- Not consuming enough fortified foods, which have been specifically formulated to include supplemental vitamin D. (Breakfast cereals and cow’s milk are typically fortified with vitamin D, as are many milk substitutes, such as oat milk and almond milk.)
Additionally, even if you are consuming fortified foods, it’s likely you won’t be able to get all the vitamin D your body requires. “There is minimal to no vitamin D in most foods,” says Dean. He recommends fortified milk, of course, but says it’s simply not possible to get the required amount of vitamin D from food sources alone. Dean says the sunshine (or a supplement) is imperative.
Increasing Vitamin D Levels
Soak Up (Some) Sun
Perhaps one of the most popular ways is to get out into the sun. It’s called the “sunshine vitamin” for a reason! If you’re planning to get a vitamin D boost from the sun, remember to limit your exposure. All it really takes is about 15-20 minutes a day of unprotected exposure — ideally over a large portion of your body. However, even if only the arms and legs are exposed, that’s plenty. After those 15-20 minutes are up, you can put on some sunscreen.
Dietary Sources of Vitamin D
Vitamin D is not particularly potent from food sources (nor is it present in many foods at all), as Dean stated. Examples include:
- Cow’s milk
- Almond milk
- Oat milk
- Any other milk substitutes that specifically say they’re fortified with vitamin D
Other dietary sources of vitamin D include:
- Fatty fish (mackerel, salmon, tuna)
- Beef liver
- Egg yolks
Vitamin D Supplements or Multivitamins
Supplements are a reliable source of vitamin D, especially for those who live in cold climates. In fact, for a significant portion of America, taking a vitamin D supplement is the only way to keep their serum levels where they need to be for optimum health.
“All of my patients and associates are reminded to take daily doses of D3 in the range of 4000 to 5000 international units [100-125 mcg],” says Dean. In his opinion, taking a vitamin D supplement is an excellent way to make sure his patients are maintaining optimal levels because it’s “simple, easy and very inexpensive.”
Vitamin D for Optimal Health
Vitamin D is critical for many different functions in the body. Deficiencies are so problematic that it’s now considered to be a public health crisis. Getting serum levels checked is very simple and is often combined with regular bloodwork. And as Dean pointed out, solving the problem is quite easy and relatively inexpensive.
Post provided by Emerson Ecologics.
