Dubbed the ‘sunshine vitamin,’ vitamin D is more than just a summertime supplement.
Vitamin D is crucial for bone health, supporting immunity, regulating mood and reducing inflammation.
However, 40 percent of adults are vitamin D deficient, meaning they don’t get through food or supplements or make enough on their own.
People who spend more time indoors and in northern states like Alaska where there is less sun exposure are more at risk, as well as those with darker skin, as melanin reduces the skin’s ability to convert sunlight into vitamin D.
Older adults’ skin and kidneys are also less able to convert vitamin D than younger people, and obesity leads to the nutrient getting trapped in fat cells.
To boost your levels, experts recommend stepping outside without sunscreen early in the morning, before 10am, or after 2pm to soak it in without suffering too much UV radiation.
Salmon, egg yolks, mushrooms and fortified foods like milk are also naturally rich in vitamin D, along with supplements.
Below, DailyMail.com details the dangerous conditions vitamin D deficiency could cause.
About 40 percent of Americans are deficient in vitamin D, which comes from sunlight and certain foods like salmon and leafy greens
Cancer
Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to an increased risk of colorectal, prostate and breast cancer, all of which have surged in the US, particularly in young people.
Vitamin D is thought to regulate cell growth, and when cells grow uncontrollably, they can more easily mutate into cancer cells. The vitamin also inhibits cancer cell growth and promotes death of harmful cells.
An analysis done by the National Cancer Institute of 4,000 prostate, lung, colorectal and ovarian cancer found that people who took high doses of vitamin D had a 17 percent lower risk of cancer mortality than those who took the lowest amount every day.
Additionally, some anecdotal research found that people living at southern latitudes, where levels of sunlight exposure are relatively high, were less likely to develop or die from certain cancers than people living at northern latitudes.
However, this is an association rather than a direct cause.
Osteoporosis and bone fractures
Low vitamin D has been associated with weak, brittle bones. However, increasing levels of the vitamin can help the body absorb calcium more effectively, strengthening bones (stock image)
Lack of Vitamin D has also been associated with osteoporosis, a disease suffered by 10million Americans over 50.
The condition weakens bones and makes them more susceptible to fractures, even from everyday activities.
Vitamin D has been shown to help the body absorb calcium, a nutrient in dairy and leafy grens, which strengthens bones. It also synthesizes muscle protein, which decreases fall risk.
For older adults, Vitamin D is vital as it will slow down the process of muscle breakdown that comes with aging.
For children who have a severe lack of Vitamin D, they can develop a disease called rickets, which softens the bones, making them prone to bone pain, deformities and impaired growth.
Diabetes
The absence of Vitamin D also puts you at risk for developing type 2 diabetes, which causes the pancreas to produce too much insulin.
The body then can’t keep up with this and filter out excess glucose (blood sugar) from the bloodstream.
About 12 percent of US adults have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and nearly one in three Americans have prediabetes, a precursor to the disease. Most of them don’t even know they have it.
Vitamin D is thought to reduce inflammation and improve insulin sensitivity.
A recent study found higher vitamin D reduced insulin resistance, when the body is unable to respond to or use the insulin that it’s producing.
The researchers found that the chance of developing insulin resistance went down with each additional amount of vitamin D supplement taken.
Mood disorders
Vitamin D has been shown to help the brain produce dopamine and serotonin, decreasing the risk of mood disorders (stock image)
Vitamin D also plays a role in the production and release of dopamine and serotonin within the body.
Dopamine influences feelings of pleasure and motivation, while serotonin regulates mood, sleep and digestion.
Low levels of these neurotransmitters have been shown to cause symptoms of depression, anxiety and other common mood disorders.
Vitamin D, particularly from getting outside on a sunny day, helps regulate the expression of genes that produce and synthesize serotonin and dopamine, boosting their levels.
Autoimmune diseases
One of Vitamin D’s most important roles in immune-modulation, meaning it can stimulate and suppress the body’s immune response to fight against diseases.
Without enough vitamin D, risks of inflammation and autoimmune reactions – where the body attacks its own tissues – increase.
Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with several autoimmune diseases including multiple sclerosis (MS), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), mixed connective tissue disease, autoimmune thyroid disease, scleroderma and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
In a study done at the Oklahoma Medical Research foundation, scientists took 32 serum samples from women suffering from SLE, in which the body attacks its own organs and tissues.
They then compared their Vitamin D levels to control patients, and found vitamin deficiency was significantly more frequent among patients with SLE.
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