Vitamin D and its health benefits

Overview

What is vitamin D?

Vitamin D (calciferol or sunshine vitamin) is a fat-soluble vitamin produced by our body naturally or that can be obtained from certain foods in the environment.

Facts about vitamin D

• Vitamin D can be obtained from direct sunlight, diet and health supplement. Vitamin D health supplement tablets are available in two kinds- cholecalciferol (vitamin D3 ) and ergocalciferol vitamin D2)
• Vitamin D2 is produced naturally in fungi and plants
• Vitamin D3 is produced naturally in humans and other animals
• Vitamin D is produced in our skin internally when the ultraviolet rays of the sun fall on our skin’s surface
• Vitamin D obtained from diet or sunlight is always inactive inside our body. Within our body, the following reactions are required for its activation-

1. In the liver, the first vitamin D hydroxylation reaction (C-H bond converts to C-OH bond) takes place by the enzyme(proteins to make the response faster) vitaminD-25-hydroxylase to form 25 hydroxy vitamin D or 25(OH)D and is the primary form flowing in our blood.
2. In the kidney, a second hydroxylation reaction forms the active vitamin D (1,25 dihydroxy vitamin D) required for bodily functions such as calcium and phosphorus absorption ¹Facts about vitamin D | Researched based study from Nlm.nih.gov .

Deficiency

Deficiency symptoms of vitamin D

Symptoms in children

• Bone pain
• Muscle weakness
• Joint pains
• Joint deformities

Symptoms in adults

• Extreme muscle weakness
• Muscle pain and stiffness
• Extreme tiredness
• Remaining stressed

Diseases due to vitamin D deficiency

Osteoporosis disease

Characteristics are:

• Weak bones
• Brittle bones

Rickets disease

Rickets occurs in children with following characteristics

• Abnormality in bone development
• Soft and weak bones
• Bone pain
• Bone deformities

Osteomalacia disease

Osteomalacia occurs in adults with following characteristics

• Soft and feeble bones
• Bones bend and crack
• Severe bone pain
• Muscle weakness ²Diseases due to vitamin D deficiency| Researched based study from Nlm.nih.gov

Dosage

How much vitamin D does our body require?

• People between 1 to 70 years of age require around 600 IU(International unit, and one microgram of vitamin D =40IU ) of vitamin D
• While for older people above 70 years, the required amount is 800IU

Sources

Food sources rich in vitamin D

• Sardines
• Herrings (type of small fish)
• Salmons
• Shrimp
• Swordfish
• Red meat
• Beef Liver
• Egg yolk
• Mushroom
• Oatmeal
• Cereals
• Milk (cow)
• Soy milk
• Cheese
• Yogurt
• Orange juice
• Kale (leafy cabbage)
• Cod liver oil (available as a health supplement)
• Canned tuna (fish) ³Food sources rich in vitamin D| Researched based study from Nlm.nih.gov

Benefits

Health benefits of vitamin D

Enhances the body’s immune system

• Prevent infections from bacteria and viruses
• Reduces swelling and redness
• Activating enzymes and vitamin D receptors are present on the surface of white blood cells maintaining the immune system activities.⁴Health benefits of vitamin D | Researched based study from Nlm.nih.gov

Helps form stronger muscles and bones

• Controls and adjust the calcium and keep up the blood phosphorus level.
• Stimulate the intestine to absorb the calcium and helps in mineralization of bones.
• However, the intestine’s unabsorbed calcium is excreted by the kidneys. ⁴ Health benefits of vitamin D| Researched based study from Nlm.nih.gov

Lowers diabetes risk

• Vitamin D lowers blood sugar levels.
• It helps control the hormones; insulin (a hormone that allows blood glucose to enter muscle, liver and fat) and glucagon (a hormone that stimulates glucose production in the liver) ⁵Health benefits of vitamin D | Researched based study from Sciencedirect.com

Lowers risk of certain diseases

• Vitamin D slows down the tumor formation.
• Prevents diseases like arthritis and Parkinson’s disease.

Maintains good oral health

• Vitamin D absorbs calcium and phosphate, essential in building stronger tooth enamel
• It prevents tooth decay
• It re-establishes the tooth enamel layer destroyed due to dietary deficiency.
• It maintains the tooth dentin(a portion of the tooth below the enamel) ²Health benefits of vitamin D | Researched based study from Nlm.nih.gov
• It Enhances the mineral and deposits calcium in the bones

Maintains the mental health

• Enhances the mood and prevents mood changes
• Prevents depression ⁵Health benefits of vitamin D| Researched based study from Sciencedirect.com

Healthy Heart

• Maintains the health of heart
• Prevent heart attacks
• Prevent serious heart diseases by reducing inflammation.

For growth and development

• It increases the testosterone (male sex hormone) and serotonin(a hormone that helps keep a good mood) hormone levels.
• It affects fat cell formation and fat storage
• It helps in good infant health
• Vitamin D absorbs the calcium and phosphorus required to maintain strong bones and teeth in infants. ⁴Health benefits of vitamin D | Researched based study from Nlm.nih.gov

Helps maintain a healthy pregnancy.

• It helps in absorbing the correct amount of calcium and phosphorus required for developing a baby’s healthy teeth and bones as well as in healthy organ development such as heart and kidney.
• It prevents delivering premature babies

Prevent early death

• Adequate vitamin D in the body helps in living a longer life

Prevent multiple sclerosis disease

• Vitamin D slows multiple sclerosis disease (a disease of the spinal cord and brain) progression.
• Lowers the multiple sclerosis disease risk ⁴Health benefits of vitamin D | Researched based study from Nlm.nih.gov

Some newer health benefits of vitamin D

• Reduction of long-term pain
• Giving birth to healthy babies with good birth weight
• Reduction of old age mental decline
• Having less frequent asthma (disease-causing breathing difficulty) attacks
• Reduced common cold infections
• Fast recovery after surgery ⁵Health benefits of Vitamin D| Researched based study from Sciencedirect.com

However, more vitamin D research is required to validate the above newer benefits.

Adverse effects

Adverse effects of vitamin D

Too much of vitamin D intake can lead to

• Nausea and vomiting
• Stomach pain
• Anxiety
• Dehydration
• Weight loss
• Extreme weakness
• Lethargic
• Constipation
• Heart problem
• Kidney malfunctioning

Vulnerability

People at risk of vitamin D deficiency

Home confined people

• Lack of sun exposure causes vitamin D deficiency
• People in indoor jobs often suffer from such deficiency

Growing Age

• Vitamin synthesis decreases with increasing age.
• Aged people over 65 are at increased risk of vitamin D deficiency.
• Sometimes, breastfed babies also suffer from Vitamin D deficiency as breast milk only contains a slight amount of vitamin D

Skin color

• Dark colored skin people suffer from vitamin D deficiency
• In dark colored skin people, vitamin D synthesis is more complex than light colored skin people

People with bowel disease

• Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin; its absorption depends on the intestine’s ability to absorb fat.
• Incorrect fat absorption in bowel disease leads to vitamin D deficiency

People living on vegetables

• Most Vitamin D-enriched food is animal products like eggs and fish, so people with a vegetarian diet will likely suffer from Vitamin D deficiency.

People with severe headaches

• Research has found that people with regular headaches suffer from vitamin D deficiency. However, more research is warranted to confirm the link between headaches and vitamin D.

People with increased weight

• Obese people often have vitamin D deficiency because the body fat obstructs the vitamin D circulation in the blood. But this is true in some cases.

People taking certain medicines

Certain medicines cause vitamin D deficiency. They are

• Certain weight-controlling drugs (orlistat),
• cholesterol-lowering drugs(cholestyramine)
• certain corticosteroid drugs (prednisone)
• Anti-seizure drugs (phenytoin)

Prevention

Prevention of Vitamin D deficiency

• Taking adequate vitamin D in the diet
• Taking daily morning sunlight
• Consuming vitamin D fortified (enriched) food
• Taking multivitamins containing vitamin D.

However, it is always recommendable to consult a physician for enough vitamin D.