Did your doctor recommend you increase your intake of Vitamin D? If yes, you must want to know the benefits of Vitamin D for your body.
Vitamin D is a vital nutrient known for its role in bone health and immune function. It’s also referred to as the Sunshine Vitamin, as your body can make it when exposed to sunlight. According to the National Institute of Health records, this is the most effective way most people meet their daily Vitamin D requirement.
There are only selected foods that contain Vitamin D naturally, including eggs and fatty Fish like Salmon, but many other sources like milk and orange juice have been fortified with the nutrient. Over the years, with more research, medical professionals and researchers have been putting a lot of emphasis on Vitamin D as it has numerous health. The benefits range from healthier bones to protection against heart diseases. To know more benefits, continue reading the article.
1. Prevent Bone Diseases
According to the results of various research, it is clear that Vitamin D aids in the absorption of Calcium in the body. Without Vitamin D, the body won’t have enough Calcium active form, the hormone calcitriol, as per NIH.
Absorption of Calcium allows your body to maintain the required level of Calcium and phosphate. Both help promote the growth and maintenance of healthy and strong bones. Therefore, getting enough Vitamin D in any form, including Vitamin D tabs, is vital for keeping bone diseases like Rickets, Osteomalacia, and Osteoporosis at bay.
2. Improve Symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder
Although Vitamin D’s role in managing clinical depression is still unclear due to limited research, researchers believe that person’s Vitamin D level plays a vital role in the risk of seasonal affective disorder or seasonal depression.
Numerous researches on the effectiveness of Vitamin D as a depression treatment have had mixed results, but recent studies show promise. A study published in July 2022 in Food Science and Nutrition journal found that daily Vitamin D intake may help reduce depression symptoms.
3. Protect against Respiratory Infections
Increasing the intake of Vitamin D may help you in reducing respiratory infections like cold and flu. Recent research reveals that Vitamin D deficiency may worsen symptoms of Covid-19. Another study published in 2022 in the journal Expert Review of Anti-Infective Therapy revealed that supplementing with Vitamin D may protect against outcomes related to Covid-19.
4. Reduce Heart Disease and Stroke
Numerous researches have linked adequate Vitamin D to reduced heart disease, stroke, and heart failure risk. However, all these researches did not establish whether Vitamin D alone was responsible for such outcomes.
5. Can Reduce the Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Many cell models’ studies reveal that Vitamin D can help increase insulin sensitivity, boost beta cell function, and lessen inflammation. These are all potential benefits for managing type 2 diabetes.
Also, in recent years there has been growing evidence that Vitamin D deficiency can contribute to the development of diabetes.
Supplementation with Vitamin D can restore insulin secretion as a researcher has found an indirect effect on insulin secretion, potentially by a calcium effect on insulin secretion. Moreover, Vitamin D contributes to the balancing of extracellular Calcium, ensuring normal calcium flux; hence, low levels of Vitamin D may reduce Calcium’s ability to affect insulin secretion.
Other potential effects of Vitamin D on diabetes include improving insulin action by stimulating expression of the insulin receptor, improving insulin responsiveness for glucose transport, having an indirect impact on insulin action potentially via a calcium effect on insulin secretion, and improving systematic inflammation by a direct impact on cytokines.
How Is Vitamin D Different from Other Nutrients?
According to Robin Foroutan, RDN, an integrative dietitian at the Morrison Center in the U.S., Vitamin D behaves much less like a Vitamin and much more like a hormone. It means Vitamin D acts as a messenger despite being a participant in metabolism, according to the Food and Nutrition Board (FNB), and potentially affect everything from how organ function to weight.
How Much Vitamin D Is Enough?
As per the FNB guidelines, the recommended daily allowance of Vitamin D is 600 international units for a person of age between 1 to 70 years. For a person over the age of 70, it is 800 IU, and for infants, it is 400 IU.
However, getting that much Vitamin D through diet and sunlight alone is not easy. On average, the amount of nutrient that an individual receives from food and drink rarely exceed 204 IU per day among males and 168 IU per day in females. Moreover, drinking milk fortified with Vitamin D will only get you 95.6 IU in 8 ounces, as per the U.S. Department Of Agriculture (USDA), and the same amount of almond milk contains only 63.6 IU.
This is the reason you have to consume Vitamin D supplements. Yet a study published in July 2022 in The New England Journal of Medicine suggests that Vitamin D supplements may not be effective in people who do not have Vitamin D deficiency. If you feel your body has a deficiency of Vitamin D, you must consult your health care provider, as treatment recommendations vary widely.
Remember that there can be too much of a good thing with Vitamin D, which is why the FNB recommended an upper limit of 4000 IU per day in supplementation for people above age 9 and up to 3000 IU for infants and children up to age 8. The NIH says that consuming beyond the recommended dosage can increase the risk of death, cancer, and cardiovascular disease.
Conclusion
Vitamin D is a vital nutrient that can help your bones and keep them strong while potentially lowering the risk of heart disease. Besides, there are numerous benefits, as mentioned above. But you must ensure taking it in a limited amount as further investigation is needed on its other effects. You can consult your health provider before taking any Vitamin supplements.
