3 reliable ways to overcome Vitamin D deficiency in your body
Vitamin D deficiency has become a common phenomena in Covid era… If you feel any of the below symptoms, then this blog is for you Read till end…
1. Are you catching infections often?
2. Do you fell Fatigue and tiredness even after small work.
3. Feel constant Bone and back pain?
4. Is there constant muscle pain or stress in your body?
In contempt of strenuous efforts, we are not entirely risk free from the grip of the hazardous pandemic. Even now we are stipulated to remain indoors. Without exception we are bound to live in such a scenario, and this new acquired lifestyle reflects its impact on us on all fronts of life. This Pandemic has caused devastating social and economic disruptions, along with this there is an unprecedented challenge to our health.
“Vitamin D is, without question, the miracle nutrient of the century.”
By Mike Adams
In the face of so many hurdles one of the long term adverse effects of the pandemic on the body and mind is Vitamin D deficiency. Work from Home (WFH) culture and Pandemic, has forced people to stay indoors due to which they have become lethargic, demotivated, put on weight and develop various vitamin deficiencies. One among them and commonly found is Vitamin D deficiency.
These days we get minimal exposure to sunlight, this makes our bones, health and immune system fragile or at risk. As for good health, Vitamin D is important and sunlight is the main and natural source of Vitamin D.
Why is Vitamin D Important?
On my own personal plate, my elder daughter who’s a rather active child, has been into intense sport training during the afternoons for her tracks and football team practices for the past 4-5 years. This Pandemic restrictions and schooling from home, has made her out of the fit. She has faced intense muscle cramps, despite maintaining a healthy protein diet and taking routine measures. When we visited the Orthopedic specialist for this, his observation was deficiency of vitamin D. The confined outdoor exposure has led most of us to face a similar state of affairs.
Even a newborn needs Sunlight for developing/generating new blood cells in the body, after getting detached from the mother’s womb. This helps in managing Jaundice or yellowing of the skin, and absorption of calcium from mother’s milk, needed for long life growth and development cycles.
Like all other vitamins, vitamin D has a vital role to play in our body. As it is responsible for healthy bones. Parathyroid gland is accountable for the balance of calcium in the blood. When there is sufficient calcium and active vitamin D in your diet, dietary calcium is absorbed and used correctly by the body. But if the intake is insufficient the parathyroid gland borrows calcium from the skeleton in order to keep the blood calcium in the normal range, thus resulting in weaker bones and back aches.
Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin that exists in two main forms: vitamin D2 and vitamin D3. These two vitamins differ depending on their food sources. Vitamin D3 is only found in animal sourced foods, whereas D2 mainly comes from plant sources and fortified foods.
Sources of Vitamin D3
- Oily fish and fish oil
- Egg yolk
- Butter
Sources of Vitamin D2
- Mushrooms (grown in UV light)
- Fortified foods
- Dietary supplements
These two types D2 and D3 help to meet your vitamin D requirements.
Symptoms of Vitamin D Deficiency
- Increased risk of illness and bacterial infection.
- Rapid Aging
- Overweight or having obesity
- Muscle cramp
- Depression
- Fatigue
- Slow wound healing
- Sleep disorder
- Back ache
- Hypertension
3 Reliable ways to overcome Vitamin D deficiency
- Exposure to Sunlight – The first and the foremost natural source of vitamin D is sun exposure. Try to make it a habit to soak up the early morning sunlight at least twice a week for about 15 to 20mins. Vitamin D is unique because your skin produces it by using sunlight. This vitamin acts like a hormone, every cell of your body has a receptor for it. Your body makes it from cholesterol only when you are exposed to the sun.
- Diet Rich in Vitamin D – There are various food items which are rich source of vitamin D and boost your immunity naturally like- half a tablespoon of turmeric powder help to boost vitamin D level, consumption of black mustard seeds, Yoghurt, little bit of dark chocolate once a day is also a good source of vitamin D, Orange, Coriander, Cod liver oil, Cheese, Garlic…
Include bajra or ragi roti in meals to speed up the process of upping the vitamin level. Having mushrooms once a week will help balance vitamin D level in your body.
- Vitamin D supplements – If you are suffering from acute vitamin D deficiency it is advisable that with physician consultation take vitamin D medical supplements.
You may also read my previous blog talking about healthy diet >What is more important, ‘waistline’ or ‘lifeline’?
Side effects of Vitamin D
Taking extremely high doses of vitamin D3 for a long time may lead to excessive build up in your body. This intoxication may last for several months even after stopping supplements. Though it is not, it happens exclusively in people who take long term high dose supplements without monitoring their blood levels. It happens with supplements only, otherwise you can not reach dangerous high levels through diet and sun exposure only.
Effects of overdose
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Poor appetite
- Stomach pain
- High blood calcium levels
This ‘sunshine’ vitamin is a hot topic nowadays. Vitamin D deficiency is now a global public health problem and being discussed at many global platforms. As spending less time outdoors because of pandemic scenarios, increased work hours, more sedentary life.
All you need to know is that, be watchful about the benefits of maintaining optimal vitamin D levels. 20% of vitamin D comes from our diet, the remaining 80% provided by our skin from UV-B exposure to the sun.
The seriousness of this can be observed with the study done for Vitamin D consumption, The vitamin D market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.4% during the period 2020−2026.
Having enough but not too much vitamin D is needed to keep the body functioning well.
“So Go outside and get some sunshine.” — Michelle A
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