Vitamin D is an important vitamin that many people over look. I don’t know about you, but I have been hearing more about vitamin D in the recent days with covid. Vitamin D plays a major role in bone health, immune health, and reducing inflammation.
Many people have low vitamin D levels today because people get outside less time than they used to. Also in the mid-west, people don’t get as much sun in the winter months. Vitamin D is actually a hormone that your body makes. Your body makes vitamin D from cholesterol, but it needs sunlight for this process. And because so many people don’t get as much sunlight, many people are deficient in this area. According to webmd.com, 40% of Americans are deficient in vitamin D. Another reason vitamin D is so important, is because it is needed to absorb calcium. As we age, we really need to make sure our body is absorbing all of the nutrients it can for optimal health.
Here are a few benefits of Vitamin D:
- Helps reduce inflammation
- Improves mood and sleep
- Reduces cancer cell growth
- Improves immune health
- Is great for bone health
- Strengthens muscles
- Can help treat hypertension
- Can help battle depression
- Can possibly aid in weight loss
How can you get more vitamin D into your diet?
- Eat fatty fish like tuna, salmon, and sardines
- Eat mushrooms
- Dairy products
- Orange Juice that is fortified with vitamin D
- Supplementation
If you need to supplement vitamin D due to low levels, you will need to use vitamin D-3. I take a vitamin D-3 supplement in the winter because I am not out in the sun as much. I found out several years ago that I had a low vitamin D level and had to supplement daily for quite a while. However, now I only do it during the winter months. I like the Orthomolecular liquid vitamin D-3 with vitamin K-2. Vitamin K-2 helps the absorption of D-3.
Research has shown in the recent months that those with low vitamin D levels tend to struggle with covid more than those who have normal levels. Vitamin D is a crucial piece to having a healthy immune system.
You might want to talk with your doctor to see if your vitamin D levels are low. Here are a few symptoms of low vitamin D levels:
- Bone pain
- Mood changes
- Muscle weakness, muscle pain, or muscle cramps
- Fatigue
- Frequent sickness
I hope this information has been helpful to you. Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin so you want to make sure you talk to your doctor and find out your levels before adding this into your daily routine. Building a strong, healthy immune system is so important and vitamin D is a key component.
Stay healthy,
Erika