Vitamin D !

[Tim Wescott]

Vitamin D !

Findings from a review on vitamin D showed the various health benefits provided by vitamin D and the consequences of vitamin D deficiency. Without vitamin D, the small intestine would only be able to absorb 10 percent to 15 percent of our dietary calcium intake, which could lead to osteoporosis. Other health consequences of vitamin D deficiency include:


Common cancers
Multiple sclerosis
High blood pressure
Psoriasis
Type 1 diabetes
Rheumatoid arthritis

Exposure to sunlight supplies us the majority of our vitamin D our bodies require. Darkly pigmented skinned people are the exception because they require 10 to 15 times exposure to the sun to get the same effect as lighter skinned people.


For those people who don’t get adequate amounts of sunlight, experts recommend a minimum of 1,000 IU vitamin D to maintain healthy levels in their blood. A high number of vitamin D deficiency cases have been found in infants who are solely breastfed from adults who have darker skin or lower exposure to the sun. Vitamin D has also often been misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia.


Many studies have shown how effective sunlight is with producing vitamin D in the skin. Since few foods contain vitamin D, sunlight provides us with most of the vitamin D we need.


Vitamin D deficiency has been becoming a growing epidemic across the world and is contributing to many chronic debilitating diseases.

[Tim Wescott]

What are the sources of vitamin D?

Food sources

Fortified foods are the major dietary sources of vitamin D. Prior to the fortification of milk products in the 1930s, rickets (a bone disease seen in children) was a major public health problem in the United States. Milk in the United States is fortified with 10 micrograms (400 IU) of vitamin D per quart, and rickets is now uncommon in the US.

Exposure to sunlight

Exposure to sunlight is an important source of vitamin D. Ultraviolet (UV) rays from sunlight trigger vitamin D synthesis in the skin.

Season, latitude, time of day, cloud cover, smog, and suncreens affect UV ray exposure. For example, in Boston the average amount of sunlight is insufficient to produce significant vitamin D synthesis in the skin from November through February.

Sunscreens with a sun protection factor of 8 or greater will block UV rays that produce vitamin D.

Vitamin D supplements are often recommended for exclusively breast-fed infants because human milk may not contain adequate vitamin D.

Vitamin D and Bone Health

It is estimated that over 25 million adults in the United States have, or are at risk of developing osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by fragile bones. It results in increased risk of bone fractures.

Rickets and osteomalacia were recognized as being caused by vitamin D deficiency 75 years ago; their prevention and cure with fish liver oil constituted one of the early triumphs of nutritional science. The requirement for vitamin D has been pegged to these disorders ever since.

Having normal storage levels of vitamin D in your body helps keep your bones strong and may help prevent osteoporosis in elderly, non-ambulatory individuals, in post-menopausal women, and in individuals on chronic steroid therapy.

Researchers know that normal bone is constantly being remodeled (broken down and rebuilt). During menopause, the balance between these two systems is upset, resulting in more bone being broken down (resorbed) than rebuilt.

Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with greater incidence of hip fractures. A greater vitamin D intake from diet and supplements has been associated with less bone loss in older women. Since bone loss increases the risk of fractures, vitamin D supplementation may help prevent fractures resulting from osteoporosis.