Vitamin D is important for bones, teeth, the immune system, brain health, and regulating inflammation. The body produces vitamin D in response to sunlight exposure.
Sources of vitamin D
People often get vitamin D from sun exposure, But many can't rely solely on sun exposure to produce vitamin D, especially during winter, when sunlight isn't as strong, so some may need vitamin D supplements.
Vitamin D can also be obtained from a variety of dietary and natural sources. Sunlight is the most effective natural source since exposure to ultraviolet light allows the body to produce vitamin D. As for dietary sources, fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, and sardines are excellent choices that provide high amounts of vitamin D. Cereals, milk, and orange juice are examples of fortified foods that are additional healthy food sources. Yolks and cheese also have smaller amounts of vitamin D. Incorporating these foods into your diet, along with regular sun exposure, can help maintain healthy vitamin D levels and support overall health.
Symptoms of vitamin D deficiency
Vitamin D deficiency is the condition of having insufficient amounts of vitamin D in your body. It can cause health issues like osteoporosis and muscle weakness. You may not be experiencing any symptoms and doctors don't frequently check vitamin D levels, so many people are deficient without realizing it.
Possible symptoms include
- Muscle pain
- Bone pain
- Increased sensitivity to pain
- Tingling or “pins and needles” sensation in the feet or hands
- Muscle weakness in parts of the body close to the trunk, such as the upper arms or thighs
- Swaying while walking, due to muscle weakness in the hips or legs
- History of bone fractures
- Muscle spasms or tremors
- Bowing of the legs (when the deficiency is severe)
Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium and phosphorus, which are important for bone health. When a person is severely deficient in vitamin D, they are unable to absorb calcium from food properly; adequate levels of this vitamin are important to absorb enough calcium from food. Healthy vitamin D levels help optimize the absorption of phosphorus from your diet.
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Vitamin D test
A vitamin D test is used to determine if you have enough vitamin D in your body to support normal body functions. An insufficient level of vitamin D is called vitamin D deficiency. Mild vitamin D deficiency can be referred to as insufficiency.
A vitamin D test measures the amount of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in your bloodstream. Your body absorbs vitamin D when it's exposed to sunlight or when eating fortified foods - it's stored in fat cells until needed for use. Your liver and kidneys transform this inactive vitamin D into 25-hydroxyvitamin D, the active form your body requires.
Vitamin D and other vitamins
Vitamin D and Calcium
Vitamin D promotes calcium absorption in the intestines, which is important for maintaining bone density and strength.
Vitamin D and Vitamin A
Both of these vitamins are fat-soluble and contribute to a healthy immune system and skin.
Vitamin D and B vitamins
B vitamins, especially B12 and B6, affect energy metabolism and cognitive function. They don't interact directly with vitamin D, yet keeping adequate levels of both can help improve overall health and support the benefits of vitamin D.
How is vitamin D deficiency treated?
The aims of treatment and prevention of vitamin D deficiency are the same: to reach and then maintain an adequate level of vitamin D in your body. You may consider eating more foods that contain vitamin D and getting more sunlight.
Eating more vitamin D-rich foods isn't usually enough to treat a vitamin D deficiency; your doctor will likely recommend supplementation therapy.
The dose of vitamin D recommended by doctors may vary, depending on the severity of your deficiency, your age, your weight, and whether you're pregnant or breastfeeding. Prescription-strength doses and supplements are available. Some prescription doses are given weekly rather than daily.
You can also get vitamin D through our products:
1- intravenous vitamins to strengthen hair and prevent hair loss
3- intravenous vitamins for weight loss
4- vitamins after intravenous obesity operations
Types of vitamin D supplements include:
Vitamin D₂ supplements
which are derived from a plant source
Vitamin D₃ supplements
come from an animal source.
Calcidiol is a medication that is a form of vitamin D₃. It can be prescribed when a patient has a health condition that results in malabsorption, such as cystic fibrosis or celiac disease.
Also, it is essential to ensure that you obtain enough calcium. People who have adequate levels of both vitamin D and calcium can reduce their risk of fractures, but this does not happen when people only have adequate levels of vitamin D and insufficient levels of calcium. Depending on other health conditions, your doctor may also prescribe medications to help strengthen your bones and reduce your risk of osteoporosis and fractures.
Who is most prone to vitamin D deficiency?
Aside from the medical conditions that can lead to vitamin D deficiency, biological and environmental factors that put a person at risk for vitamin D deficiency include
Age
Your skin's ability to produce vitamin D decreases with age, so people over the age of 65 are at the highest risk of vitamin D deficiency. Infants are also at risk of not getting enough vitamin D, especially those who are fed only breastmilk.
Skin color
It's harder for dark-skinned people to produce vitamin D from sunlight than light-skinned people, so people with darker skin are at higher risk of vitamin D deficiency.
Mobility
People who are housebound or rarely leave their homes (for example, people in nursing homes and other facilities) cannot use sunlight exposure as a source of vitamin D. Thus, they are at higher risk of vitamin D deficiency.
What is vitamin D toxicity?
Taking large doses of vitamin D supplements usually causes this condition. Vitamin D toxicity is rare, but it does occur with very high doses. It usually develops over time, as excess vitamin D can accumulate in your body.
The upper limits for vitamin D include the amount you get from your total vitamin D intake, including food sources and vitamin D supplements.
Foods containing vitamin D contain small amounts of it, so you're unlikely to get much of the vitamin from your diet. Your skin also secretes vitamin D when you're exposed to sunlight, but this doesn't cause toxicity.
The dose at which vitamin D supplements become toxic is not yet clear, but it needs to be very high - much higher than the amount most doctors usually prescribe. Research shows that taking 60,000 International Units (IU) of vitamin D daily for several months can cause toxicity.