Vitamin D: Your Daily Dose of Sunshine
Vitamin D is one of the essential vitamins you can get directly from nature. It helps you to absorb calcium properly and to promote bone growth. It's a standard practice that newborns should be exposed to early morning sun every single day. This is so the vitamin D production in their bodies is stimulated. This is important for proper growth and healthy bones. Young children are also encouraged to go out and play in the morning and get their daily dose of sunshine.
Vitamin D to Combat Melancholy
Some studies show that vitamin D travels to your brain, specifically to the receptors linked to the area of depression. This part explains the effect we get from the sun, which boosts our mood. This makes us more active on sunny days than rainy days. There is a direct link between the amount of this vitamin in one's body and one's mood. Vitamin D alleviates depression as it boosts the level of monoamines in your body. These monoamines are mostly present in antidepressants. Although there is no full explanation why this vitamin has such an effect on the brain, some researchers conclude that sun energizes beta-endorphins, making you happier and more energized.
Vitamin D Benefits
The Calcium Sidekick
Aside from being the vitamin of happiness, vitamin D plays a vital role in the body’s calcium absorption. Primarily, its role is to keep your bones, teeth, and nails strong and healthy. It also works on regulating the amount of calcium in your body. When there's enough of it, vitamin D ensures that the calcium is properly assimilated by the body.
The Knight that Shields Our Body
This vitamin protects your body against diseases, making sure that all cells are functioning well. It nourishes all the cells in your body, enhancing your immune system too. Because of vitamin D, there is a lesser risk of cancer. Other than cancer, this vitamin also protects you against diseases, such as type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis.
Vitamin D Deficiency
Some people who spend most of their time indoors say that they have a low risk of being vitamin D deficient because they take it as part of their diets. That means consuming food that contains this vitamin. But what you should know is that vitamin D is not an ordinary vitamin.
In a research done by Dr. Michael Holick, he mentioned that this vitamin is a steroid hormone, which one should naturally obtain through sun exposure. D deficiency can affect adults of all ages, especially those who are fond of applying sunscreen lotions. About 95 percent of US senior citizens are actually D deficient because they don’t spend so much time outdoors. The best way to know you are D deficient or not is to see a doctor and have a blood test. Also, watch out for these symptoms.
- Depression
- Darker Skin
- Getting Older
- Muscle Pains
- Head Sweating
Head sweating is one of the most visible signs of D deficiency. For adults, excessive sweating is not a good sign, especially if one is in a room with moderate temperature and not physically exerting themselves.
Risks of Vitamin D Deficiency?
People should always watch their vitamin D levels because D deficiency is not a joke. There are a lot of alarming complications caused by it.
- Heart Attack
- Prostate Cancer
- Weaker Bones
- Dementia
Forgetfulness, disturbed thinking, and behavior. Experts remain unsure about the connection between this vitamin and dementia. Supposedly, vitamin D may help in clearing plaques in one's brain, thus enhancing its function. Studies say that people with D deficiency are more likely to be diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
How to Get Vitamin D?
Get out. Soak up the sun. It's the best source of vitamin D that you can get for free. Don't worry about not having sunscreen to protect you. Getting this vitamin does not require you to stay under the sun's heat for more than an hour.
Eat smart. There are a lot of foods that naturally contain this nutrient. It's about time for you to know all these and make them part of your daily diet. Some examples are hard-boiled eggs, tofu, sardines, salmon, and tuna.
Take supplements. Taking supplements such as Daily Greens makes sure you are getting the right vitamins and minerals your body needs to function properly.
Ultraviolet Lamps. Ultraviolet lamps and bulbs also help. Make sure to use old-fashioned low-pressure UV sunbeds though.