Vitamin D's Many Health Benefits

Vitamin D is a nutrient that has long been associated with both calcium and maintaining healthy bones. While it is true that vitamin D is required to metabolize calcium and for good bone health, vitamin D plays a number of other crucial roles in the healthy functioning of your body.

Your skin is the primary way that the body produces vitamin D. During spring and summer you can generally make sufficient quantities of vitamin D simply by exposing your arms and face to the sun for about 15 minutes a day. Your body can produce up to 10,000 units just through adequate sun exposure. Vitamin D can then be stored in your fat for the long-term.

Vitamin D helps the body to absorb and control calcium and phosphorous. If your intake of calcium is too low, calcitriol in conjunction with a parathyroid hormone can draw calcium stores from bone. This can then result in bone loss. It is vital for women to build good bone density and to take steps to prevent bone loss. It is particularly vital for women who are perimenopausal and post menopausal to supplement their diets with vitamin D and with about 1500 mg of calcium every day. Maintaining good bone health is also necessary for men since men can also get osteoporosis when they get older as well.

One study has found that vitamin D may prevent falling and reduce the chance of getting a hip fracture. This may happen because vitamin D may be important in building muscle strength, as well as the density of bones. The standard dosage of vitamin D of 400 units doesn't seem to be sufficient to accomplish this and an amount of 800-1000 units may be required for this purpose. It appears likely that calcium, combined with vitamin D, is required for preventing falls.

Those who are dark skinned may not be able to produce enough vitamin D, even at lower latitudes. If you above the age of 60 your skin and/or kidneys may be less efficient at producing vitamin D compared to when you were younger. Additionally, vitamin D receptors may reduce as we age. Obesity can reduce the ability to produce enough vitamin D through sunlight. In the obese, the vitamin D they produce can be held in fat stores and not be available to the body in sufficient quantities. If you take prednisone, you also may need to take additional vitamin D. If you are a person in one of these categories, you may need to take a vitamin D supplement.

Vitamin D May Help Prevent Type-1 Diabetes

There is currently a theory that type 1 diabetes in children and teenagers is an autoimmune response. Supplementation with vitamin D may act to inhibit an autoimmune response of beta cells in the pancreas that can ultimately result in diabetes.

Multiple Sclerosis and Vitamin D

It has been found that multiple sclerosis (MS) has an elevated incidence in people who live in northern latitudes. There is some evidence which suggests that vitamin D in elevated amounts may act to inhibit the autoimmune reactions that result in MS. In those that already suffer from MS, taking sufficient vitamin D is integral to decreasing or minimizing flare-ups of the disease. The exact amount required isn't known and it is vital to have blood levels tested.

Vitamin D and Cancer Prevention

Having too low a level of vitamin D could put women at a higher risk for cancers of the breast and colon, and men at an elevated risk for cancers of the colon and prostate. There is some evidence suggesting that sufficient quantities of vitamin D may inhibit the growth of these cancers.

Vitamin D and Mood

Insufficient levels of vitamin D may be a contributing factor to depression, seasonal affective disorder (SAD) or simply a bad mood. The low energy and mood of seasonal affective disorder could be an effect of both low levels of light and inadequate levels of vitamin D. It is particularly vital to take a vitamin D supplement during the winter, in addition to getting more exercise and as much sunlight exposure as possible.