Why You (YES YOU!) are Vitamin D Deficient

Do you work in a building?

Do you live in an area where it's been raining a lot and you haven't seen the sun in a while?

Do you wear sunscreen every time you go out?

Do you fear skin cancer like a person living in 14th century Europe fears the bubonic plague?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are probably vitamin D deficient!

For those of you unfamiliar with vitamin D, it is divided into two types: D3 and D2. D2 is more or less useless to humans and usually found in plants and fungus, so for all intents and purposes, references to vitamin D will specifically refer to D3.

So! Back to why you are deficient...

The reason for this is because vitamin D is one of the only nutrients (the only?) that your body synthesizes solely from your skin's reaction with sunlight. It's also interesting to note that because D3 is produced in the body, it isn't actually a vitamin so much as it is a hormone! Ah the constant references to hormones in this blog tickle me silly. Are you beginning to see a pattern behind why hormonal balance is so important to our bodies regardless of our health goals?

Anyways, I digress.

Vitamin D3 is a very important nutrient/hormone precursor because of its vital role in bone health, calcium absorption, and the prevention of osteoporosis. In addition to bone benefits, vitamin D3 also plays a wide role in overall health and immunity as well as your sense of well being. Symptoms of deficiency can include any of the following:

-Depression,

-Fatigue,

-High Blood Pressure,

-Bone Pain,

-And in the case of severe deficiency, Rickets.

What's more is that deficiency has also been linked to obesity, insulin resistance and heart disease. Not to mention that because it is so centrally involved in calcium absorption, and calcium has been shown to promote fat loss, it ties in nicely with the theme of this blog. (Yeah, I bet you were wondering why I was writing about this.)

I first became aware of this deficiency after a routine blood test I took with my doctor. Of course, I was deficient. But it wasn't until I did a little research that I realized what a common and easily preventable deficiency it was. The current recommended daily intake of D3 (400-600IU) is so low that people taking these amounts through a multivitamin are still possibly not getting enough. The new revised recommendation has been upped to 2,000 IU. For people taking calcium supplements, it's also important to make sure that your calcium supplement has D3 paired with it. Because of the importance of D3 in the function of the body's absorption of calcium, you're basically spinning your wheels if you're taking calcium while being D3 deficient.

Overall, if you're experiencing any of the above symptoms, especially depression, it's important to consider whether your body has micronutrient deficiencies before considering pharmaceutical products such as antidepressants. A great little resource to use is SpectraCell Laboratories. These clinics go to the extreme and measure specific micronutrient and vitamin deficiencies in your body. Sessions run around $300 but give you valuable information on what your body might be missing.

Stay healthy people!