What Happens When You Have a Vitamin D Deficiency?

What Happens When You Have a Vitamin D Deficiency?

We’re going to discuss what happens when you have a vitamin D deficiency, if you have a vitamin D deficiency, and what you can do about it. Here is the breakdown:

• What Happens When You Have a Vitamin D Deficiency
• The Symptoms of a Vitamin D Deficiency
• Why Is Vitamin D Deficiency So Common
• What Are the Health Benefits of Vitamin D
• Foods That Increase Vitamin D
• What Is the Best Vitamin D Supplement
• The Bottom Line

 

What Happens When You Have a Vitamin D Deficiency

You have likely heard vitamin D referred to as the “Sunshine Vitamin”. But what happens when you have a vitamin D deficiency, because you are unable to spend much time outdoors, or live somewhere where it is usually cloudy for the better part of the year?

Your body can (and does) actually produce its own vitamin D. But it requires sunlight to actually help it along. Kind of cool, when you think about it.

So, if you’re not getting enough sunshine, there are going to be some problems. But if you are someone who simply isn’t able to spend much time in the sun, then read on. We will list some foods that increase vitamin D, and what is the best vitamin D supplement that you can take.

The Symptoms of a Vitamin D Deficiency

The symptoms of a vitamin D deficiency are quite vast and varied. Many of the symptoms of a vitamin D deficiency can also be dismissed, because we tend to think of them as normal. We think this because they are so common, especially as we age. We think that they are just a part of life.

Here are the most common symptoms of a vitamin D deficiency. You may be shocked!

• Feeling frequently tired, stodgy or fatigued
• Frequent sickness
• Depression and mood swings
• Weak and/or aching bones
• Muscle pain
• Back Pain
• Anxiety
• Insomnia
• Hair Loss
• Slow to Heal

Vitamin D deficiency is said to affect from 25 to 50 per cent of people. I would guess it is closer to the 50 end in North America, but I have not personally done a formal study. Also, I have never been personally polled for any of these studies… Then again, I don’t go to doctors. I guess that is where they get the stats from…

I have read another statistic that states that over 40% of all Americans have a vitamin D deficiency, and that it is even higher in women. Regardless of how accurate the stats, it doesn’t surprise me. (1Trusted Source, 2Trusted Source).

Why Is Vitamin D Deficiency So Common?

Vitamin D is largely responsible for the proper function of our immune system, heart, bones, blood pressure, muscles, intestines, vision, and overall mood and mental well-being. This being the case, you can look around and see why the statistics are what they are.

Of course all the symptoms I listed above can be attributed to many things, such as poor gut health, poor liver health, or other deficiencies, or the presence of environmental toxins, including fluoride and arsenic in your drinking water.

But if you experience even a couple of these symptoms, it would be worth looking into what are the best ways to increase vitamin D. And we’ll talk in a bit about vitamin D supplements, and what is the best vitamin D supplement.

In the mean time, why is vitamin D deficiency so common?

Well, my educated guess is that people spend far more time indoors than we used to, and eat a lot more garbage “convenience” food!

 

What is Bad About Processed Food? | The Monster Among Us

What Are the Health Benefits of Vitamin D?

The health benefits of vitamin D will obviously be the reverse of the problems that a vitamin deficiency results in, but I’ll list them, and add a couple on top of that.

• Higher energy
• Stronger immunity
• Better overall mental health
• Better vision
• Faster healing
• Better sleep
• Healthier hair
• Strong bones and muscles
• Better oral health
• Lower likelihood of diseases
• Absense of inflamation
• Helps with weight loss

 

Here is something very interesting if you are interested in the deeper, darker things behind why so few people have an accurate knowledge of the impacts of vitamin D deficiency and about nutrition, in general:

FDA Warns Dr. Mercola to Stop Writing About Vitamin D

I will add something else here as well about a commonly believed lie, before we get into foods that increase vitamin D:

As we discussed already (and as you likely knew), the best way to increase vitamin D is by getting more sunlight.

The lie is that the sun causes all kinds of problems, especially cancer, and blah, blah, blah. So you have to wear sunscreen, and limit your time outdoors, etc.

This is absolute excrement!

UV rays do not cause cancer, but in fact one of the best things we can do for our health is to spend time in the sun!

If you don’t want to get cancer, there are many ways to avoid it. Including not wearing most kinds of sunscreen, as well as spending time in the sun!

In fact, wearing most kinds of sunscreen not only can cause cancer itself, but also block the sun from providing us with the very thing we need for optimal health, including protection from cancer!

Foods That Increase Vitamin D

Another list! This is a list of foods that increase vitamin D that will consist largely of different types of fish.

I hope you like fish (if not, take cod liver oil)!

• Salmon
• Sardines
• Herring
• Tuna
• Cod
• Cod liver oil
• Milk (including soy milk)
• Fish milk (just kidding)
• Mushrooms
• Eggs
• Oranges and orange juice
• Oatmeal

What Is the Best Vitamin D Supplement?

Before we address the question of what is the best vitamin D supplement, let’s consider why the best vitamin D supplement is the best.

Most vitamin D supplements that you buy are quite useless, and here is why:

They don’t contain magnesium, which is essential for adequate absorption of vitamin D!

A review published in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association found that Low magnesium levels make vitamin D ineffective!

Vitamin D depends on magnesium. The enzymes in the liver (and kidneys) that enable the metabolism of vitamin D can’t work without magnesium. And it is proven that nearly half of adults are deficient in magnesium!

So with this in mind, and thus having eliminated most vitamin D supplements available to the public, what is the best vitamin D/magnesium supplement that one can buy?

 

Summary:

We have gone through the symptoms and potential problems of not having enough vitamin D, and why vitamin D deficiency is so common.

We have also listed what are the foods that increase vitamin D and touched on the questions of what are the health benefits of vitamin D and what is the best vitamin D supplement.

If you have followed the links and watched the video, I am certain you will have come to the same conclusion that I have in my research, and that is that vitamin D deficiency is very common, and very crucial for many reasons.

And a vitamin D supplement without magnesium will do little good, and end up costing you money for little return.

Blessings and Health to You!

Craig