Chances are you are asking the question, “What are the symptoms of a Vitamin D deficiency?” because you suspect you may have one. Getting 100% of our daily recommended vitamins is so important at this time in our lives ladies, and Vitamin D is essential!
First, let’s take a look at what Vitamin D does for us. From an early age, Vitamin D iscrucial to bone (and teeth) development because it helps the bones to absorb calcium from food. Later in life, it helps to prevent brittle bones and fractures. How many times have you heard that an over 50 person broke their hip? If you get regular check-ups, your doctor is going to recommend taking calcium supplements, but Vitamin D is crucial to the absorption of the calcium. The proper amount of Vitamin D may also optimize your immune system and decrease your chances for heart disease and multiple sclerosis.
So What ARE the Symptoms of a Vitamin D Deficiency?
Are you sweating even though you haven’t changed your activity level,? Is your temperature normal and the weather outside is fine? Are you noticing muscle weakness at unexpected times and feelings of exhaustion? Do you have chronic pain or are you experiencing aches or pain in your joints, muscles and bones? How about broken bones? Are you experiencing depression or just feeling down a good part of the day? These are some of the symptoms of a vitamin D deficiency (1).
In all my studies on this topic, I can say the following 4 things with utmost confidence:
- The only 3 ways to get Vitamin D is by the sun, food, or supplements.
- Although the sun is the most natural and cheapest way to get Vitamin D, there are things that can hinder its effectiveness.
- Getting your Vitamin D from food sources is ideal, but a very hard task indeed, especially after the age of 50.
- Not all Vitamin D supplements are equal or beneficial.
Vitamin D and the Sun
According to the Archives of Internal Medicine (2009), 3 out 4 people have low levels of Vitamin D.(2) Experts agree that this has so much to do with the shift toward indoor life. Vitamin D is produced in our bodies in response to ultraviolet rays. Our bodies are designed to spend time outdoors, and yet more and more, people are spending a good deal of their lives inside. When they do go out, they are cautioned to cover up any exposed skin with sunscreen to lessen their chances of getting skin cancer. Unfortunately, many of these ‘protectants’ contain harmful, toxic chemicals, and block the Vitamin D production stimulated by the sun. The factors inhibiting the sun from being the sole source of Vitamin D are:
- The shift toward indoor life
- Working indoors
- Living in big cities where the sun is blocked by tall buildings
- Dark skin (skin does not absorb the ultraviolet rays)
Vitamin D and Food
Although getting your Vitamin D from food sources is ideal, there are not very many foods that contain a substantial amount of Vitamin D (3). Some foods are fortified with Vitamin D, such as milk, cereal and bread. But again, there is most likely not enough Vitamin D to meet your needs for the day. Here is a chart put together by the USDA with the top foods containing Vitamin D. Please keep in mind that the federal government has set the recommended daily allowance (RDA) at 600 IU. According to the Vitamin D Council, the RDA should be 5000 IU!!! for healthy adults… especially for our age group ladies!
|Table 3: Selected Food Sources of Vitamin D |
|Food||IUs per serving*||Percent DV**|
|Cod liver oil, 1 tablespoon||1,360||340|
|Swordfish, cooked, 3 ounces||566||142|
|Salmon (sockeye), cooked, 3 ounces||447||112|
|Tuna fish, canned in water, drained, 3 ounces||154||39|
|Orange juice fortified with vitamin D, 1 cup (check product labels, as amount of added vitamin D varies)||137||34|
|Milk, nonfat, reduced fat, and whole, vitamin D-fortified, 1 cup||115-124||29-31|
|Yogurt, fortified with 20% of the DV for vitamin D, 6 ounces (more heavily fortified yogurts provide more of the DV)|
|Margarine, fortified, 1 tablespoon||60||15|
|Sardines, canned in oil, drained, 2 sardines||46||12|
|Liver, beef, cooked, 3 ounces||42||11|
|Egg, 1 large (vitamin D is found in yolk)||41||10|
|Ready-to-eat cereal, fortified with 10% of the DV for vitamin D, 0.75-1 cup (more heavily fortified cereals might provide more of the DV)||40||10|
|Cheese, Swiss, 1 ounce||6||2|
* IUs = International Units. ** DV = Daily Value. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration developed DVs to help consumers compare the nutrient contents among products within the context of a total daily diet.
Yes! Yes! and again, Yes! We should be taking a Vitamin D supplement! THEY ARE NOT ALL CREATED EQUALLY! Many manufacturers are using D2 in a Vitamin D supplement and this just won’t cut it. They use it because it is synthetic (and therefore cheaper to make). Do not use a supplement with D2 in it ladies. The reports are bad. 100% natural Vitamin D3 is what you should use.
In conclusion, I hope you have an answer to the question, “What are the symptoms of a Vitamin D deficiency.” Whether you have symptoms or not, you need to take a Vitamin D3 supplement. I am including Vitamin D3 – Amazon’s Top 100. Personally, I use drops (2000 IU) and put three on my tongue with breakfast. There are plenty of options on the list; so take a look, remember everything you’ve learned here and…