Vitamin-D Deficiency !! Sunlight & Supplements

VIT-D DEFICIENCY AND SUPPLEMENTS

Vitamin-D is a fat soluble vitamin which is stored in the liver and fatty tissues. The two common forms of Vit-D are D₂ (Ergocalciferol) synthesised by plants & D₃ (Cholecalciferol) which is synthesised by the human when exposed to sunlight. The active form of both the vitamin is Calcitriol.

Though our body has the ability to make Vit-D in spite of this Vit-D deficiency is common in old age, infants, dark skin people, people living in hilly areas and people who have insufficient sunlight exposure.

Signs and Symptoms of Deficiency:              

• Lack of concentration
• Bone pain and deformities
• Easily bone fractures
• Muscles pain and weakness
• Fatigue
• Weight Gain
• Hypertension
• Headaches
• Bladder problems
• Constipation or Diarrhoea

Causes of Deficiency:

• Not taking sufficient animal protein i.e. on the strict vegetarian diet.
• Less exposure to sunlight.
• Dark skin people contain more melanin which inhibits Vit-D formation.
• When Kidneys are not working properly to convert Vit-D to its active form.
• If Body is not able to absorb Vit-D properly from the food.
• Obesity inhibits the release of Vit-D into the blood.
• Use of sunscreen creams/lotions.

Effects of Vit-D Deficiency: Vit-D deficiency leads to many health problems viz-

• Osteoporosis
• Heart Diseases and Hypertension
• Cancer
• Auto-immune Diseases
• Depression
• Insomnia
• Arthritis
• Diabetes-II
• Asthma
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Chronic Pain
• Psoriasis
• Fibromyalgia
• Autism

Sources of Vit-D Rich Foods:         

• Fatty fishes like salmon, tuna etc.
• Beef, liver
• Cheese
• Egg yolks
• Fish liver oils
• Mushrooms

     Vit-D Levels:

≥ 50 =Good level

30-50= Need a Vit-D supplement

≤ 30= Very Deficient and needs Urgent Care.

Vit-D supplements:

10 micrograms of Vit-D is required per day either through diet or with supplements. The Vitamin-D supplement is essential to people having less exposure to sunlight or having vegetarian diet regularly or people with liver or kidney diseases. It is very difficult to find out Vit-D requirement through sun exposure, so it is better to concentrate on the diet. But the fact is that the natural vegetarian foods do not contain enough Vit-D so to prevent Vit-D deficiency it is better to have Vit-D supplements.

Vit-D supplements are generally found in three forms-

• Tablets
• Capsules
• Emulsified oil drops

 Vit-D supplements are also fortified with foods viz-

• Milk
• Breakfast Cereals
• Yogurt
• Orange Juice
• Bread

         Recommended Supplementation of Vit-D

• 0-12 months infants – 400 IU/d
• 1-18 years child and teens-600 IU/d
• Adult up to 70 years- 600 IU/d
• Above 70 years- 800/IU/d
• Pregnant and Lactating women-600 IU/d

Vit-D supplements are inexpensive and available in the market in a multivitamin tablet form. If there is limited sun exposure than 600 IU/d of Vit-D supplementation is necessary for 1 to 70 years of age or 800 IU/d above 70 years of age.

So finally, The natural and recommended form of Vit-D is D-₃ i.e. Cholecalciferol and the supplements are D-₂ i.e Ergocalciferol, which is derived from irradiated fungus or yeast. However, it is better to go for natural sources of Vit-D-₃ inspite of choosing Vit-D-₂ supplements. Too much exposure of the sunlight is harmful to U.V radiations, sunburn and tanning, so, Animal sources of Vit-D may be preferred overexposure to sunlight.

The supplements also interact with other weight loss, cholesterol lowering medicines and steroids. Also, high Vit-D supplementation leads to kidney stones.