The Role of Vitamin D and the underestimated importance of maintaining healthy Vitamin D levels has been discussed for many years but has gained more attention through the recent years and severe viral infections.
We probably all know more or less the obvious benefits of healthy vitamin D levels in our bodies such as:
Bone and Muscle Health: Vitamin D is essential for calcium absorption, promoting bone strength and reducing the risk of conditions like osteoporosis and fractures. It also supports muscle function, which can improve balance and reduce fall risks, especially in older adults.
Immune Function: Vitamin D helps regulate immune responses, reducing inflammation and the risk of autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. It may also lower the likelihood of respiratory infections, particularly in individuals with deficiencies
Mental Health and Cognition: Low vitamin D levels have been linked to seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and cognitive decline. Supplementation might alleviate mood disturbances during darker months
However, Vitamin D - not really being a classic Vitamin but rather acting like a hormone in the body- holds many other important keys to health. Influencing many processes in the body, a deficiency seems to open doors for many acute and chronic health issues like:
Akute and chronic respiratory infections
Hormonal imbalances
Osteoporosis
Insulin Resistance
Diabetes
Metabolic Syndrome
Cardiovascular Disease
Gestacional diabetes (pregnancy diabetes) and Glucose intolerance
Studies have shown that Vitamin D deficiency can activate pro-inflammation-cytokines in your immune system, whereas it has been shown that in patients with a high level of vitamin D in the body anti-inflammatory-cytokines are being activated. That means a low Vitamin D level in your body can set your immune system into inflammation mode, which is, probably amongst other contributing factors, what seems to have caused severity of viral infections.
Hormonal Imbalance- not only in women…
Inflammation is not only a problem when it comes to immune response but also affects many other areas in the body like for example the hormonal system. Hormonal imbalance that causes symptoms has a root cause (yes even in perimenopause and menopause!!) and vitamin D deficiency is one of them, as Vitamin D is crucial in regulating the menstrual cycle through its impact on estrogen but it also seems that Vit D has influence on the pituitary which is a hormonal gland in our brain that stimulates (amongst other mechanisms) our thyroid and ovaries. Not only playing a role in menstrual disorders in women (like polycystic ovary syndrome) but also in female fertility and pregnancy but is also equally true for male reproductive health!
How do i get to have healthy vitamin D levels?
First of all we have to understand the natural sources of Vitamin D. We all know the main source is sunlight shining onto our skin enabling the body to produce Vitamin under the skin. Unfortunately there are some factors that will negatively influence this process:
PROBLEM: covering the body: the more skin is covered the less surface to actually receive UV rays on your skin, and I am not talking only about clothes but also sunscreens. Even though too much sun can harm you, too little also does.
SOLUTION: exposing as much skin as possible for 10 minutes during the highest sun position (noon) will give you a chance to properly absorb the UV light that you need.
PROBLEM: the winter sun’s position is not a s high as the summer sun, creating a much smaller angle of UV rays and making adequate absorption impossible.
SOLUTION: still try to get sunlight at noon and makes sure you add nutrition high in Vit D and or supplement.
One other aspect is that you have dark skin, you will not absorb as much UV light as someone that has quite fair skin. So someone that tans easily is in advantage towards sunburn but will not get as much Vitamin D through sun-exposure.
It is also obvious that even in southern Europe with 300 days of sun, it is hard to maintain healthy vitamin D levels during the winter. And science shows that Vitamin D deficiency has become a major problem - even though medicine does not seem to raise much awareness unfortunately.
How do people in northern Europe maintain their health you may ask? Well it is known that traditional food in the northern countries is very high in fatty, cold water fish. However modern nutrition everywhere has decrease the intake of Vitamin D through food sources.
So is supplementation the answer??
Well, there has been a lot of controversy around this subject, as obviously it is hard to give an overall statement on anything in medicine really- we are individuals with very different lifestyles and circumstances.
A good start is always to test your Vitamin D levels in your blood. It is a quick an inexpensive way to get clarity. There is only one problem: the current recommended levels that most laboratories give you is between 30nmol/l and 150nmol/l to be considered normal. Some laboratories have luckily already started to add different levels to it which goes with the actual scientific guideline of Vit D levels and those state clearly that a healthy level ist at 100-150 nmol/l. Most clients that come to me and have had a „ all good“ from their doctor concerning their vitamin D levels I will double check their actual blood analysis as I see many with 40nmol or less and that is clearly a deficiency.
What is the right dose??
Like always if you decide to supplement you want to know whether you are only supplement to make sure you get enough or you have to fill a deficiency. In general it is advisable to use a Vitamin product that contains Vitamin K2 to make sure extra the calcium that you will absorb with the help of vitamin D will also get into your bones. Vitamin is best to be taken in combination with fats as it is a fat-soluble Vitamin, which means is can only be properly absorbed together with fats. Many products already come in oil form. It yours doesn’t please add some oil or other healthy fats to your supplement.
Always contact your health professional of trust to discuss what the best solution is for you.
If you have any questions around Vitamin D supplementation please feel free to send me an email to: astrid@osteopathylagos.com
For tose of you that are interested in reading some of the scientific back up:
Martineau AR et al. (2017). Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections. BMJ.
Dragomir RE et al. (2024). The Key Role of Vitamin D in Female Reproductive Health. Cureus.
Bleizgys A. (2021). Vitamin D Dosing: Basic Principles and a Brief Algorithm. Nutrients.
Álvarez-Mercado AI et al. (2023). Vitamin D: Role in chronic and acute diseases. Encyclopedia of Human Nutrition.
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