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Importance of Vitamin D

Owner
Audrey
Vitamin D can also be called the “sunshine vitamin.” It is the least expensive and the most efficient nutrient.

Benefits of Vitamin D

  • It helps in strengthening our bones and teeth.
  • It is also effective in protection against cancer, TB, diabetes, arthritis, the flu and even the common cold.

Sources of Vitamin D

  • Some foods which are rich sources of vitamin D include dairy products, predominantly fortified milk, the meat of oily fish, such as tuna, salmon, sardines and mackerel, dark green leafy vegetables, including spinach and broccoli, dry cereal or cereal grain bars as well as a variety of nutritional supplements.

But it has also been observed that strict vegetarianism results in the deficiency of vitamin D. Diets associated with milk allergies and lactose intolerance are also deficient in this vitamin. The scarcity of vitamin D also occurs because of inadequate diet, not in proportion to the bodily requirement or increased losses through bodily excretion, impaired absorption and utilization by the body where the kidneys cannot convert vitamin D into its active hormonal form. Hence you should take a proper balanced diet.

  • Sunshine is the natural reservoir of vitamin D. when the body is exposed to sunlight, then the cholesterol type compounds of the body gets converted into vitamin D. An adequate dose of the nutrient can be produced with just 10 to 15 minutes of exposure to the sun's rays.

According to studies, the people living in more temperate and colder climates are unable to attain sufficient amounts of this vitamin. Same is the case with people throughout the industrial world. But inhabitants of the tropical regions are expected to have appropriate levels of vitamin D. It is not difficult to enrich your body with this vitamin, especially when a natural source is at hand. You just need to take out 10-15 minutes from your busy schedules to equip your body with this nutritious vitamin.

The deficiency of this vitamin is harmful not only for the kids but for adults as well. Without sufficient amount of this vitamin in the bodies of the children, they are more prone to a bone disease known as rickets. In this disease, the body fails to properly mineralize bone tissue that results in soft bones and skeletal deformities. Prolonged exclusive breastfeeding without vitamin D supplementation is no good for children. Hence they must be exposed to sunlight for sometime so that their body can gain this essential nutrient.

Adults too will have to suffer because of the deficiency of vitamin D in their bodies. In their case, the shortage of this vitamin can lead to osteomalacia. It not only results in muscular weakness but also a weakened skeletal structure. The inadequacy of this vitamin also enhances the risk of developing all forms of cancer.

Hence to strengthen you bones, your teeth’s, your immune system and to avoid the risk of cancers, ensure a healthy intake of vitamin D in your daily diet or at least expose your body to the sun's rays for some time everyday.

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