Did You Know That It Is Believed That 3/4 of Teens & Adults In The US Are Deficient In Vitamin D? The So-Called “Sunshine Vitamin” Is Increasingly Being Blamed For Everything From Cancer To Heart Disease To Diabetes.
Are You Deficient In This Very Important Vitamin Too?
Increasing use of sunscreen and long sleeves following the media skin cancer-prevention campaigns have drastically reduced the amount of Vitamin D that our bodies are able to produce naturally via the sunshine. Did you know that using a sunscreen with as little as a factor protection of 15 actually cuts down the skin’s vitamin D production by 99%?
There are relatively few sources of the D vitamin in our diets. - Some good food sources of this vitamin are salmon, tuna, mackerel and vitamin D-fortified dairy products, such as milk.
The classic vitamin D deficiency diseases are Rickets, Osteomalacia, and Osteoporosis. In children, vitamin D deficiency causes Rickets, a childhood disease characterized by impeded growth, and deformity, of the long bones. In adults, vitamin D deficiency can lead to 2 diseases.
Firstly it can cause Osteomalacia, a bone-thinning disorder that occurs exclusively in adults and is characterized by proximal muscle weakness and bone fragility. Secondly, it can cause Osteoporosis, a condition characterized by reduced bone mineral density and increased bone fragility.
A vitamin D deficiency can result from a number of factors including…
- Inadequate intake coupled with inadequate sunlight exposure
- Disorders that limit its absorption
- Conditions that impair conversion of vitamin D into active metabolites such as liver or kidney disorders and body characteristics such as skin color and body fat.
- Rarely deficiency can result from a number of hereditary disorders.
So Who Is At Risk For Vitamin D Deficiency Diseases?
Adults over the age of 50 are thought to have a higher risk of developing vitamin D deficiency. The ability of skin to convert vitamin D to its active form decreases as we age. The kidneys, which help convert vitamin D to its active form, sometimes do not work as well when people age. Therefore, some older adults may need vitamin D from a supplement.
It is important for individuals with limited sun exposure to include good sources of vitamin D in their diets. Home-bound individuals, people living in northern latitudes, women who cover their body for religious reasons, and individuals working in occupations that prevent exposure to sunlight are at risk of a vitamin D deficiency. If these individuals are unable to meet their daily dietary need for vitamin D, they may need a supplement of vitamin D.
Individuals who have reduced ability to absorb dietary fat (fat mal-absorption) may need extra vitamin D because it is a fat soluble vitamin. Some causes of fat mal-absorption are pancreatic enzyme deficiency, Crohn’s disease, cystic fibrosis, liver disease, surgical removal of part or all of the stomach, and small bowel disease. Symptoms of fat mal-absorption include diarrhoea and greasy stools.
The Conditions Associated With Vitamin D Deficiency
- Adrenal insufficiency
- Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
- Allergies
- Autism
- Autoimmune disorders including multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis
- Blood clotting abnormalities
- Bone and muscle pain
- Cancers of the colon, breast, skin and prostate (and 14 other cancers,including melanoma!)
- Deafness
- Depression, schizophrenia and seasonal affective disorder (SAD)
- Diabetes, Type I and II
- Fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue
- Gluten and lectin intolerance
- Grave’s disease
- Heart disease and hypertension
- Infertility, sexual dysfunction
- Immune suppression
- Increased infection
- Insomnia
- Kidney disease
- Liver disease
- Learning and behavior disorders
- Lupus erythematosis
- Metabolic Syndrome, decreased glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity
- Misaligned teeth, periodontal disease and cavities
- Muscular sclerosis
- Myopia
- Obesity
- Osteoporosis, Osteomalacia, Rickets
- PMS
- Psoriasis
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Thyroid dysfunction
- Vision loss
How to Know if You Have Vitamin D Deficiency?
What is a normal, optimal, or deficient level of Vitamin D?
One tool to get an idea of what is “normal” and what is “deficient,” is to look at populations living near the equator where we all evolved from. At or near the equator, the average person has vitamin D levels around 50 ng/ml. All evidence suggests that these are in close range to those of past generations who lived and worked in the sun.
We can think of levels of deficiency ranging to optimum levels in graduations:
- Extreme deficiency: 20 ng/ml (high risk of various conditions)
- Clinically deficient: below 32 ng/ml (increased risk of various conditions)
- Borderline deficient: below 35 ng/ml
- Acceptable: 35-45 ng/ml
- Healthy: 45-55 ng/ml or
- Optimal: 55 ng/ml
- Excess: greater than 100 ng/ml
- Intoxication: greater than 150 ng/ml
The best way to know if you are deficient is to have a yearly (or better, twice yearly) measurement of 25-hydroxyvitamin D as part of your annual physical examination. If you haven’t been to your doctor in the last year make an appointment today. If you have an appointment scheduled, write a note to yourself reminding you to request a vitamin D test.
The test you should ask for is a 25-hydroxyvitamin D test. This test measures levels of calcidiol in your blood and is the only test you should use to determine vitamin D deficiency. There is a second test that measures calcitriol, but the 25(OH)D test is a much better marker for overall health.
According to new research on Vitamin D, another interesting outcome of some of the latest studies about the D vitamin is that a deficiency in it is suspected of being linked to catching more colds. Also according to ScientificAmerican.com, pregnant women with vitamin D deficiencies are more likely than other expectant moms to deliver their babies via cesarean section. So Vitamin D really is an extremely important vitamin that we really should make sure that we get adequate daily amounts of to avoid ill health.
Do You Need A Boost Of Vitamin D?
Research also shows that vitamin D deficiency leads to increased risk of many cancers and heart disease, not to mention lowered immune functioning and sleep dysfunction.
Vitamin D and “Millions of needless deaths”
This does not mean that vitamin D deficiency is the only cause of these diseases, or that you will not get them if you take vitamin D. What it does mean is that vitamin D, and the many ways in which it affects a person’s health.
Health Problems Linked to Vitamin D Deficiency
Vitamin D has been implicated in auto-immune disease too. Diseases like multiple sclerosis may be caused by vitamin d deficiency.
Vitamin D Deficiency Associated With Bone Disease
Deficiency of vitamin D has once again been linked with bone disease.
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