What is Vitamin D?

Vitamin D is something everyone needs but most people don't get enough of. But what is vitamin D, where is it found, and why is it important for our health? This blog will look at vitamin D, where it comes from, what it does for us, and why we all should have a little more in our diets.

Vitamin D is known as the sunshine vitamin and it occurs in two forms, D2 and D3. D3 converts to other substances which are beneficial to the body. One of those is calcidiol, which is further converted in the kidneys to calcitriol, also known as the bioactive form of Vitamin D.

Calcitriol is a substance that moves through the bloodstream, regulating the amount of calcium and phosphates and contributing to bone health. In addition, calcitriol helps to regulate the immune system and the muscles in the brain. 

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, which means that it's stored in the body. The liver and fatty tissues are where most of the vitamin D is found. It helps to absorb and use calcium to build strong bones. It also helps in the formation of healthy teeth and muscles and is important for immune function.

Vitamin D is critical to calcium absorption in the body. The best way to obtain Vitamin D is through sun exposure on your skin. However, if you live in latitudes where the sun is in short supply during certain months of the year, supplementation may be in order.

Also, if you live a typical American lifestyle where you simply run from your house to your car, from your car to your work, spend all day under artificial lighting, and go home in the dark, chances are good that you are also deficient in Vitamin D.

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that plays an important role in the body's absorption of calcium and phosphorus. The main function of Vitamin D is to regulate the levels of calcium and phosphorus in the blood.

In order to absorb calcium, Vitamin D must first bind with a protein called "Gc-globulin" and be converted into calcitriol by the kidneys.

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that can be found in foods as well as created by the body. Foods that are rich in Vitamin D include fish, eggs, and fortified cereals.

Here are some of the best vitamin d foods:

Salmon: Salmon is a great source of Vitamin D. It contains about 19 micrograms per 3 ounces, which is more than half of the recommended daily allowance.

Fish: Other fish that contain Vitamin D include tuna, mackerel and cod liver oil.

"Vitamin D2 is a fat-soluble vitamin that is also known as ergocalciferol. It can be obtained through exposure to sunlight, it can be found in foods such as eggs, salmon and fortified foods such as milk.

"In the body vitamin D2 is converted to calcidiol (25-hydroxyvitamin D), which can be further metabolized to calcitriol (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D). Vitamin D2 is also a form of vitamin D that can be given to infants who are breastfed."

Vitamin D3 is a fat-soluble vitamin that can be made by the body when skin is exposed to sunlight. It helps regulate calcium and phosphorus levels in the blood, which are important for the development and maintenance of healthy bones. Signs of deficiency include simple bone pain, menstrual irregularities, fatigue and muscle weakness.

You're probably wondering what the difference is between vitamin D and vitamin D3. Well, there are three types of dietary supplements that can be taken to increase your levels of Vitamin D. Vitamin D3 is the most popular form of vitamin supplements; it's also the type that your body can actually produce on its own.

Supplemental Vitamin D has gotten a lot of press in the last few years, some good, some not so good. The concern has been about people supplementing with Vitamin D but not really knowing what levels are adequate and what is too much. For certain people, like smokers, supplemental Vitamin D can actually cause problems.  

Taken at certain levels, Vitamin D can help keep arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) at bay, but too much may tip the scales exactly the opposite, actually causing hardening of the arteries. Hardening of the arteries and arterial plaque come from hardened oils, and excess Vitamin D can contribute to that.  

The best way to combat Vitamin D toxicity is to take Vitamin K2 along with Vitamin D because of the toxicity is due to K2 deficiency.'

Because it’s difficult in many cases to get adequate Vitamin D for bone health, especially if one has eliminated dairy from his or her diet, supplemental Vitamin D can be critical. The only real food source of naturally-occurring Vitamin D is in certain types of fish, but without sunlight, you would have to eat a lot of fish to compensate for your lack of Vitamin D. 

However, many believe that massive doses of certain vitamins will keep them healthy during the cold and flu season, so they take 5,000 and 10,000 IU doses of Vitamin D, some people taking up to 50,000IU per day. The truth is that you are much better off taking 1000IU daily year-round.

Too much vitamin d can cause kidney stones and other health problems.

Please don't take more than the recommended dosage.

Just 20 minutes a day in the sun where the sun is absorbed into your arms is adequate for most to keep up your levels of Vitamin D. Those most in need of supplemental Vitamin D are infants and the elderly, and those with impaired kidney function. During the winter months in some locations, supplemental.

Vitamin D is recommended to maintain immune and neural functions. Also, the darker the skin colour, the less Vitamin D is absorbed by the skin. It is said that black skin requires 10 times the sun exposure of white skin to reach adequate levels of D, and other skin tones along the continuum.

Even tanning white skin reduces the skin’s ability to absorb Vitamin D, and, of course, wearing sunblock everywhere contributes to the problem as well. 

Vitamin D deficiency is a condition in which the body does not have enough vitamin d to function properly. This causes a variety of symptoms such as fatigue and muscle aches.

The main symptom of vitamin D deficiency is the weakening of bones, leading to a condition called osteoporosis. Vitamin D deficiency can lead to the process by which bone density increases (called "bone mineralization") slows, which causes softening of the bones.

The most common side effect of vitamin D is hypercalcemia, which can lead to nausea, vomiting, constipation, weakness, confusion and arrhythmia. Other side effects are kidney stones and low blood pressure.

There are some possible side effects of taking Vitamin D that should be considered before supplementation.

• Kidney stones
• Muscle weakness
• High blood pressure
• Osteoporosis
• Heart disease
• Liver damage