Has this ever happened to you: you confide in a friend that you’re feeling fatigued and generally unmotivated – and their response is, “Maybe you need more Vitamin D? Get out in the sun.”
While that advice may sound cliche, it’s true. Vitamin D is essential for immune health, mental health, chronic disease prevention, healthy bones and so much more. It can be a challenge to get enough of it, though, especially for those who live in areas prone to a lot of cloudy days or winter-like weather conditions that overstay their welcome.
Here’s the lowdown on Vitamin D to help you learn more and get more of it:
What’s Vitamin D, and why is it so important?
It helps us absorb calcium and phosphorus to build and maintain strong bones.
It affects immune health because there are Vitamin D receptors on several kinds of white blood cells.
Vitamin D receptors are on muscles and brain cells.
It prevents Rickets and osteomalacia.
It enables calcium absorption from your intestines.
What are risk factors for Vitamin D deficiency?
Chronic kidney disease
Liver failure
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (malabsorption)
Obesity (sequesters Vitamin D in the fat cells)
Bariatric surgery (malabsorption)
Organ transplant
Medications
Dark skin
What are variables that affect Vitamin D production?
Sunlight (UV) exposure
Breastfed babies
Individuals with darker skin
Obesity
Gastric bypass
Ulcerative Colitis or Crohn’s Disease
What are sources of Vitamin D?
Sunshine is our most valuable source of Vitamin D
It also can be found in:
Fortified milk, cereal
Eggs
Fish, including salmon, trout, mackerel and sardines
Cheeses
Beef liver
Supplements
What are recommended daily doses?
0-12 months = 400 IU
1-70 years = 600 IU
70+ years = 800 IU
Why is dose important?
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, which is different from water-soluble vitamins.
Excess Vitamin D supplementation can cause Vitamin D toxicity because people can’t just excrete it in urine.
Vitamin D toxicity is thought to occur at levels >150 mg/dL; normal range is 30-100 mg/dL. Common symptoms of Vitamin D toxicity are irritability, weight loss, decreased appetite, increased thirst, nausea/vomiting, insomnia, brain fog, abnormal heart rhythm and kidney stones/kidney damage.
This blog post does not constitute official medical advice or a diagnosis. For guidance, consult your doctor.
About Dr. Byard: Dr. Rebecca Byard is a family medicine doctor at Direct Care Physicians of Pittsburgh’s Mt. Lebanon location. The direct primary care model allows her to provide personalized healthcare in ways that put patients first. She offers flexible office hours and direct support by phone, texting and email access – and she even does home visits.
