VITAMIN D: WHY SUNSHINE CAN IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH
Macronutrient is a term that most of us are more familiar with–carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, that we consume through our food intake.
Most of us are also familiar with the term micronutrient, but may not necessarily know as much detail about what vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients do for us, or the amounts of which ones we should be taking.
Today we are going to talk about the role of one of these micronutrients, Vitamin D.
THE LOWDOWN ON VITAMIN D
Vitamin D is fat soluble vitamin, meaning that is able to be dissolved in fat, and is mostly absorbed passively in your digestive tract. Eating enough fat allows us to transport these vitamins throughout the body and be absorbed effectively. All fat-soluble vitamins live in fatty tissues, so they don’t necessarily need to be consumed daily (over consumption can cause toxicity), but we do need to make sure we are sufficient in them.
Vitamin D is involved in various systems of the body, including immune system function, regulation of glucose tolerance, helping with serum calcium levels, and much more. In children, growth can be impacted, or Rickets developed, and adults can have issues with low bone density or tooth decay as a result of poor Vitamin D levels. Vitamin D is also known to play vital roles in diseases such as cancer, Type 1 Diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and osteoporosis. Needless to say, a Vitamin D deficiency can have a major impact on your health!
SO, WHAT IS THE SUNS ROLE?
Vitamin D should mostly come from the sun. We also can get it from fish, egg yolks, dairy products that are fortified, shrimp, and beef liver. Listing those out, if you look at your diet, are you eating these things often?
Many of us don’t get enough vitamin D from food alone, which is where the sun exposure comes in!
Sun exposure allows your body to be exposed to UVB rays, which are then synthesized to vitamin D. The easiest way to do this is to spend time at midday outside in direct sunlight. The closer you are to that midday sun, the less time you have to spend outside, but spending somewhere between 10-30 minutes outdoors 3x/week can help increase your exposure, and increase Vitamin D levels. If you have a darker skin pigment, the melanin in your skin acts as a natural barrier to UVB rays, so you will require more time to increase Vitamin D levels.
The commonly recommended daily dose of vitamin D is 600IU.
*As always, please be smart about your sun exposure. There is always risk of skin cancers developing with sun overexposure.
YOU MAY WANT TO CONSIDER SUPPLEMENTING IF…
There are many ways you could become deficient in vitamin D, and knowing what those reasons are can help ensure you are getting enough of it.
You might want to consider supplementation of Vitamin D if:
You are vegan, dairy-free, vegetarian, or suffer from lactose-intolerance, as you are eliminating many foods that provide Vitamin D.
You live in regions of the world that sun exposure goes down for multiple months a year, which limits your sun exposure.
Your culture requires clothing that limits exposure of the skin to sun.
You have dealt with chronic diseases that affect absorption in the gut, leading to vitamin D malabsorption.
You have darker pigmentation to your skin, as it takes longer sun exposure to increase vitamin D levels.
You are considered obese, or are on medications that could inhibit vitamin D absorption.
These are all situations that *could* put you at risk for Vitamin D deficiency, and it is important that you speak with your health provider before starting supplementation of any kind.
UNTIL NEXT TIME - COACH SHELBY