Signs You Are Vitamin-D Deficient

Vitamin D is crucial to bone, skin and mental health, but are you getting enough of it?

Do you get tired after climbing a few stairs? Do normal household chores make you lethargic? Well, this maybe because you lack the very essential vitamin D.

The problem is, many of us assume that if one maintains a healthy diet they’re getting enough of every nutrient. Even the best dietary sources of vitamin D aren't loaded with the nutrient: a serving of salmon is a good bet, with around 450 International Units (IU) of vitamin D per three ounces, but there are 120 units in fortified milk? Can you believe it!

Most women under the age of 70 get 600 IUs of vitamin D daily, and those over 70 should aim for 800. But according to researches, 1,500 to 2,000 units a day for adults and especially women was safe and effective.

Without enough sunlight and dietary D, women may be at a greater risk for softening of the bones or osteoporosis. Vitamin D deficiency may also increase the risk of high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes, as well Here are a few signs you might need more vitamin D:

Your bones ache

Especially in winter, a vitamin D deficient adult feels more ache in bones and muscles, and the joints are a little stiffer when they get up in the morning.

You're 50 or older

The skin simply doesn't make as much vitamin D as you get older, and the kidneys start to grow a little less productive when it comes to converting that D into the form the body puts to good use, older adults may also spend more time indoors, because of the constant pain in their bones and joints.

You're overweight or obese

There's no change in vitamin D production among people who are obese. That's because vitamin D is fat soluble, which means the more body fat you have, the more it gets diluted, people who are overweight or obese may require more of daily vitamin D to make up for this effect.

Darker skin

Your skin pigment is your natural sunscreen; a sunscreen with 30 SPF reduces the skin's ability to make vitamin D by a whopping 97 per cent. Someone with very dark skin needs up to 10 times the amount of sun exposure than someone with a very pale complexion to make the same amount of vitamin D.

Head sweats

Travel back in time a century or so and you’d find people visiting doctors asking about how sweaty they found their heads. No joke! It's one of the first, classic signs of vitamin D deficiency.

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COMMENTS

    Marc commented 6 years ago

    Great article. Remember that the best way to obtain plenty of vitamin D is to obtain plenty of sunlight. Here are some facts you should know: •Seventy-five percent of melanoma occurs on areas of the body that are seldom or never exposed to sun. •Women who sunbathe regularly have half the risk of de

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    Marc commented 6 years ago

    A good article, but you failed to mention that whole-body sun exposure to the skin at midday, can cause the production of 20, 000 IU per day of vitamin D. Sunlight is the only natural way to produce vitamin D, but it also furnishes many other vitally healthful photoproducts such as serotonin, endor

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