Vitamin D: essential for health

There is no shortage of advertisements for vitamins and supplements. When I try to eat dinner while watching the news, a ton of commercials for Balance of Nature and Nature's Maid come on. The vitamin and supplement industry is worth $35.6 billion, and 77% of Americans take at least one supplement.

Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent worldwide, affecting nearly 1 billion people. In the 1930s, the decision to fortify milk with vitamin D was effective in eliminating rickets, a bone deficiency disease in children. However, malabsorption, digestive disorders such as celiac disease, and the after-effects of weight loss surgery are some of the reasons why deficiencies persist.

What's so important about vitamin D?

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that occurs naturally in some foods and has a significant impact on cellular health. It suppresses cell proliferation (promotes cancer) and improves cell differentiation (makes cells anti-cancer). This makes vitamin D one of the most powerful cancer inhibitors and explains why vitamin D deficiency is associated with colon, prostate, breast, and ovarian cancers.

This supervitamin helps regulate calcium metabolism, which is necessary for bone development. But did you know that it also plays a role in immune function? In addition to cancer, it can also help prevent cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression, autoimmune diseases, and some forms of dementia. Vitamin D helps fight inflammation in the body. It regulates the immune system by modulating cell signaling pathways through vitamin D receptors (VDRs) located in the bones, muscles, kidneys, skin, and gastrointestinal tract.

Inflammation is our body's defense mechanism against perceived foreign substances. However, like any complex defense system, errors can occur. Inflammation helps our bodies fight bacteria, viruses, and other toxins. However, if the immune response continues after the threat has passed, healthy tissue can be damaged, as in autoimmune diseases. Interestingly, autoimmune diseases are rare in countries where exposure to sunlight increases vitamin D levels in the population.

Effect of vitamin D on inflammatory bowel disease

Vitamin D inhibits the production of inflammatory mediators involved in the development of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. As explained in a previous post, inflammation in the intestine leads to increased permeability of the intestinal protective barrier. This can lead to so-called “leaky gut syndrome,” where harmful bacteria leak into the bloodstream and travel to distant sites, causing tissue damage. Vitamin D helps keep inflammatory mediators at bay and maintains gut health. Studies have shown that high levels of vitamin D deficiency are found in patients with irritable bowel disease.

Vitamin D and cancer

Although the exact mechanism by which vitamin D influences cancer outcomes is still unclear, recent evidence suggests that vitamin D may be involved in regulating the body's inflammatory response. Markers of inflammation are associated with cancer growth, increased tumor grade, and increased mortality. Therefore, it seems reasonable that vitamin D3 supplementation could be a potential means to improve cancer outcomes.

In a study published in clinical nutritionResearchers looked at clinical trials in which cancer patients received vitamin D3 supplementation in combination with chemotherapy or standard chemotherapy alone. They found that patients supplemented with vitamin D had a significant reduction in some of the inflammatory markers associated with cancer and precancerous lesions.

Vitamin D and depression

Vitamin D receptors are found in the central nervous system and are involved in brain function. The receptors are especially common in areas of the brain involved in memory and emotion. Vitamin D deficiency can make it difficult to produce a neurochemical known as serotonin, which is involved in a variety of human behaviors and mental health disorders. In older adults with comorbid cardiovascular disease, vitamin D deficiency is significantly associated with depression.

Low vitamin D levels in pregnant patients increase the risk of depression. In one study, vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy was associated with a reduction in perinatal depression. In another study, depressed patients were assigned to her two treatment groups. One group was treated with antidepressants alone, and the other group was treated with antidepressants and 1,500 units of vitamin D. Subjects in the group that received additional vitamin D had lower depression scores at the end of the study than those treated with antidepressants alone.

How to make sure you're getting enough vitamin D

The best way to get vitamin D naturally is through sunlight exposure. When exposed to sunlight, a substance in the skin called 7-dehydrocholesterol absorbs ultraviolet B rays and turns into a precursor to vitamin D3, which is further converted to its active form. Highly effective campaigns to prevent skin cancer have contributed to the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency. People who avoid the sun are three times more likely to be vitamin D deficient than people who enjoy spending time outdoors on sunny days.

Jean Tang is a professor of dermatology at Stanford School of Medicine. “We may be inadvertently putting some patients at risk for vitamin D deficiency because they avoid the sun, wear sunscreen, and stay in the shade,” said lead researcher Tan. .of research published in Dermatology Archives. Basal cell skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States, but it is generally not fatal. Therefore, it is essential for patients to take care of their overall health. Therefore, it is better to go outside and soak up the sun's rays. If you are predisposed to skin cancer or have been diagnosed with skin cancer, remember to take precautions.

Ask your doctor to test your vitamin D levels during your annual checkup. If you are deficient in vitamin D, take adequate amounts of vitamin D (5,000 to 10,000 IU per day). Monitor your vitamin D status until it is in the optimal range. It may take 6 to 10 months to restore your vitamin D stores.

Some people may require higher doses long-term to maintain optimal levels due to differences in vitamin D receptors, older age, living in areas with less sunlight, skin pigmentation, and ethnic background. As the skin ages, vitamin D production decreases. The average 70-year-old produces only 25 percent of the vitamin D that a 20-year-old produces. Skin color also makes a difference. People with darker skin produce less vitamin D. The incidence of vitamin D deficiency is higher in populations that wear traditional clothing to limit skin exposure (some Muslim groups and Orthodox Jews).

Finally, try incorporating foods rich in vitamin D into your diet. These include:

• Fish liver oil, such as cod liver oil.
• Cooked wild salmon.
• Boiled mackerel.
• sardine.
• egg.
• Canned tuna.
• Mushrooms (wild ones are best)

References