Today we are going to look at that wonderful Vitamin, Vitamin D, produced by the body and the sun, it is one of the essential ingredients for a healthy body. A deficiency in vitamin D can lead to problems with our bones and joints and was discovered in fact when researchers were looking into nutritional deficiency diseases in the early 20th century.
Vitamin D was discovered by scientists who were looking to cure rickets, a disease of the bones in children which causes them to be weak and soft. Once discovered a food fortification programme was implemented and rickets became a relic of the past.
From there a deeper look at vitamins was beginning to take place and scientists defined vitamins as organic chemicals that are obtained from dietary sources as the body itself cannot produce them. Vitamins play a vital role in the body’s metabolism but only tiny amounts of them are required.
Vitamin D is not actually one chemical, but many, and the natural form is produced in the skin when a form of cholesterol meets the ultraviolet rays from the sun. The energy from the UV rays reacts with the cholesterol to produce Vitamin D₃ which is then carried to your liver, transformed into ‘hydroxyvitamin D’ and then finally reaches the kidneys where it becomes the active form of Vitamin D, also known as ‘calcitriol.’
So, Vitamin D is the label for the combination of chemicals and steps along the way in turning the cholesterol found in the skin, into the required chemicals the body needs to maintain healthy bones.
In contrast, most dietary supplements use plant sterols, (as in cholesterol), exposed to UV light to create the almost identical Vitamin D₂, which then goes through the same process in the liver and kidneys before becoming the active form of Vitamin D we are looking for.
Vitamin D plays an essential role in allowing your intestines to absorb calcium. Without vitamin D the body can absorb 10-15% of calcium taken in by the diet, but with vitamin D in the mix that increases to 30-40% absorption.
It is the lack of vitamin D in children, which means their bones don’t gain enough calcium which makes them soft and weak creating the problem of rickets.
Low levels of vitamin D lead to low stores of calcium in the bones, increasing the risk of fractures and breaks, and leading to a rise in cases of osteoporosis, or ‘thin bones.
Vitamin D binds with receptors in the intestines allowing the intestines to absorb calcium efficiently. But similar receptors have been found all over the body from the prostate to the heart, muscles and endocrine glands. And whilst research is still new and underway, it seems good things happen when the body has enough vitamin D to bind to all these receptors, but at the moment, most of us don’t.
When our daily lives and work were out in the fields with sleeves rolled up and our faces and bodies were bathed in sunlight, our bodies received enough exposure to turn the cholesterol in our skin into useable vitamin D in our bodies. As society’s needs and habits have changed our exposure to sunlight has lessened dramatically and so our vitamin D production has dropped dramatically too.
Skin pigmentation plays a role in UV absorption, so those with darker skin colours can be at a higher risk too, especially if they are spending less time in the sun, there isn’t enough time for the UV energy to penetrate deep enough and react with the cholesterol in the skin.
Deficiencies are also common in patients with intestinal disorders that limit fat absorption, and those with liver and kidney problems where vitamin D goes to be transformed into its active form.
There are also certain medications that can reduce the availability or activity of vitamin D, and even in healthy people old age has been found to be a factor contributing to vitamin D deficiencies.
So, the question comes down to, what can we do to make sure we have enough vitamin D in our bodies.
Sunlight
Exposure to the sun is at the top of the list. But we run into a secondary problem. We know overexposure to the sun causes damage on a cellular level and greatly increases the risk of skin cancer. Yet our bodies need sunlight to produce Vitamin D.
Rather than being stuck in a catch-22, let us look at it from the perspective of balance. When the sun is high and bright, during the strongest part of the day, 10 am – 2 pm, it is good to make sure that we limit our direct exposure to sunlight. Wear clothing that covers the body, and wear sunscreen if you have to be exposed to the sunlight.
When the sunlight is softer, in the early morning and early evening, half an hour in the garden exposed to the sun’s rays can offer enough UVB light to provide the body with its vitamin D needs.
Simple things we can do is take a walk once a day, in the morning or evening, and ensure we get some sunlight onto your skin.
The alternative is to say, well it’s really rather complicated trying to manage my skin health with my vitamin D production, so we can simply ensure we are always wearing sunscreen and protecting our skin from the sun, and use supplements to ensure that our bodies receive that first stage of vitamin D and then the livers and kidneys can do the rest.
Supplements and diets
Would you believe there are only two natural foods that contain vitamin D? Fish and egg yolk? Plants don’t produce or store it, and neither do animals. So, if you are looking to get a natural source of vitamin D into your diet, fish and eggs are the only options, but we must be careful as both are highly fatty foods and can have their own health problems in excess.
The safest, and easiest solution, are supplements. Supplements use plant sterols exposed to UVB light to create the precursor for Vitamin D, known as Vitamin D₂.
Whilst there is still debate among the best dosage per person per day, the general consensus is that most supplements have enough vitamin D, and whether they truly have enough or not, they are a source of vitamin D that your body needs and requires.
Health Screenings
Health screenings are able to measure the quantity of vitamin D in your body and inform you as to whether or not you have a deficiency of Vitamin D, or other vitamins and minerals your body requires.
Our health screenings are discrete, confidential and professional, carried out by our warm and caring staff to help you understand your health better, and allow us to inform you of all the ways we can assist you in being the healthiest version of yourself you desire to be.
If you are interested in knowing more about Vitamin D and your body’s general health and well-being, book in with us today and let us see what we can do to help make your health as optimal as possible.
