Vitamin D

Vitamin D deficiency is a worldwide pandemic and is associated with chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, autoimmune, cardiovascular and oncological diseases.

Vitamin D, or calciferol, is produced in the skin when it is exposed to the sun.

It is important that you understand that calciferol is practically non-existent in food: it is produced by an organ in our organism and its action intervenes in more than two hundred functions in each of our cells, calciferol is being understood, and reclassified, not as a vitamin but as a hormone.

Vitamin D action
It is true and known since the thirties of the century. XX that vitamin D participates in the absorption and metabolism of calcium and in bone calcification.
In the musculoskeletal system, vitamin D deficiency results in a lack of correct calcium supply to the bones, which is at the origin of two diseases: rickets in childhood and osteomalacia in adulthood.

However, research and scientific production in recent years has been showing and widely stating that vitamin D plays a fundamentally important role in maintaining the balanced functioning of the immune system.
Vitamin D deficiency is associated with autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular, neurological, psychic and cognitive, various types of cancer, namely breast, prostate and colon, musculoskeletal pain, chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia.

Maintaining a correct blood level of vitamin D depends on the amount of solar radiation to which the skin is exposed.
Modern urban life is responsible for a widespread vitamin D deficit, with very serious consequences for human health.

Recently it was discovered that there are people with certain genetic profiles that condition the metabolism of vitamin D, from its absorption to the processes of cellular activation and absorption. These may have very low levels of vitamin D and require medical intervention for their therapeutic correction.

If I don’t produce the necessary amount of vitamin D, what can I start to feel?
The most frequent symptom of vitamin D deficiency is prolonged fatigue, with no clear cause or apparent reason.
This is followed by joint and muscle pain, lack of strength and musculoskeletal resistance, which cannot be explained by professional effort or lifestyle and which are not part of any more usual clinical picture.
Changes in sleep quality and depression may also appear.

Am I at risk for vitamin D deficiency?
To this question Dr. Michael Holick, physician, researcher and author with recognized authority in the medical and scientific community on vitamin D, writes in his book ” The Vitamin D Solution ” on page 145:

Tick the statements that apply to you
– Rarely I go out when it’s sunny.
– I use sunscreen and protect my skin when I’m exposed to the sun, especially during the summer months or when I’m outside in the middle of the day.
– Normally, my wardrobe covers most of my skin, including that of the arms and legs.
– I live at 35 degrees latitude above the northern hemisphere.
– I live at 35 degrees of latitude below the southern hemisphere.
– I do not take any multivitamins along with the daily vitamin D supplement.
– I do not take any separate daily vitamin D supplements.
– I don’t eat fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, herring, sardines) two to three days a week.
– I don’t eat a lot of mushrooms.
– I drink less than 10 glasses of milk or orange juice a day.
– I have brown skin or am of African or Hispanic descent.
– I am over 60 years old.
– I’m under 20.
– I am overweight and have a considerable amount of fat.
– When I press firmly on my sternum with my thumb or forefinger, it hurts.
– When I press firmly on my shins, I feel pain.
– I feel that I have less energy and muscle strength than I should.
– I take antidepressants or medication for AIDS.
– I take glucocorticoids.
– I have celiac disease.
– I have an intestinal disease.
– I had gastric bypass surgery.

If you checked any of these phrases, then you have a high probability of suffering from vitamin D deficiency”.

To find out your blood level of vitamin D, you should have a blood test.

If I don’t get enough sun, what should I do to be healthier and more vital?
All people with a modern urban life, whose workplace is indoors, who move around in cars, who exercise in gyms, and, in a word, do not expose their skin to the sun, whatever the type of geographic region or climate where they live, should take a vitamin D supplement in the amount of 2,000 IU per day.

If you have your vitamin D blood level measured and it is low, you can take a higher dose for a few weeks.

Warnings about taking vitamin D
Vitamin D is fat-soluble, meaning that it easily binds to cellular structures and is not easily eliminated. For this reason, taking vitamin D can lead to intoxication.

The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) is 400 IU (International Units) for adults. However, well-informed researchers disagree and consider this figure to be completely out of date from a scientific point of view.

The recommended dose will be from 2,000 IU to 10,000 IU depending on several factors, from the geographical area where you live, the time of year and the color of your skin.

According to Dr. Michael Holick, in healthy individuals, taking 10,000 IU of the vitamin per day starts to have a risk of toxicity after half a year. ( The Vitamin D Solution )

Higher doses should always be taken under medical supervision.