Known as the sunshine vitamin, vitamin D is probably the most talked-about of the micronutrients. If you haven’t previously supplemented it, now might be a good time to consider it as we spend more time at home to avoid COVID-19. Public Health of England went as far as recommending a vitamin D supplement.
Let us start by saying there is no evidence that vitamin D reduces risk of COVID-19. But, vitamin D does help prevent viruses from replicating in the body. It helps the immune system resist bacteria and viruses. In some studies, higher levels of vitamin D showed to help reduce risk of flu, but more research is needed.
In addition, vitamin D is associated with good bone health. It regulates the levels of calcium and phosphorus in the blood. It is also essential to thyroid functioning and can prevent cells from becoming cancerous. The body also needs vitamin D in order to absorb calcium.
In fact, it can be beneficial to people who are experiencing hair loss. According to research, vitamin D receptors can help produce new hair follicles and restore hair growth. Alopecia, an autoimmune condition that causes bald patches on the scalp and other parts of the body, has been linked to vitamin D deficiency. Alopecia can affect both men and women.
Another study discovered that women aged 18 to 45 with alopecia or other types of hair loss had low vitamin D levels. However, if you have tried everything and your hair regrowth rate is still very slow, you could always consider looking for the best hair transplant in Denver or wherever you live. Hair transplants are performed to add more hair to a thinning or balding area of your head. It is accomplished by grafting hair from thicker areas of the scalp or other parts of the body to the thinning or balding area of the scalp.
Yet, make sure you’re getting your daily dose of Vitamin D in addition to these treatments for better results.
How to Get Vitamin D
The recommended daily intake for children and adults up to age 70 is 600 IU. Adults over 70 should increase their dose to 800 IU. Of course, if you have any health concerns or conditions, talk to your doctor before taking dietary supplements. Supplements are a large industry with many of those in the manufacturing of this product turning to toll contract manufacturing practices to keep up with demands as people do not realize how much they actually need for their health to be supported. However, there is a potential for an overdose of these vitamins if people are not aware of what is contained in the food they eat, they could be having too much without realizing it.
It’s not easy to get in the diet because most of us don’t eat vitamin D-rich foods like cod liver oil, beef liver, swordfish and sardines. More common food sources are tuna, salmon, egg yolks, and shitake mushrooms. It’s also fortified in milk, yogurt, juices, breads, and breakfast cereals.
Another source of vitamin D is sunshine. It’s not quite as simple as going for a walk on a clear day though. Vitamin D isn’t just absorbed. The body gets to work making it when direct sunlight (not through glass) hits the skin. The process can take several hours or even days as the compound gets activated in the liver and kidneys.
A fair-skinned person wearing a bathing suit needs about 5 to 15 minutes of midday sun exposure a few times a week to get the recommended doses. Someone with very dark skin will need 50 to 150 minutes in the sun. However, again, it’s not so simple. Absorption can be impacted by cloud cover, air pollution, sunscreen, latitude, altitude, and age. Vitamin D is required to fight off free radicals. It can also reverse wrinkles. Of course, one can always go for beauty treatments for xeomin brisbane or somewhere near them to get the wrinkles removed. Anyway, it’s generally assumed that most people do not get adequate vitamin D from the sun and in fact, sunbathing is not generally recommended for skin health reasons.
Supplements
The body only absorbs about half of the vitamin D ingested, but there are a few tricks for getting more. As a fat-soluble vitamin, vitamin D needs fat in your diet to bind to. So take it at the same time as you eat some fat, like full-fat dairy, olive oil, or nuts. Taking a smaller dose two or three times a day with a meal can also help increase absorption. You can look for a canadian vitamin shop or elsewhere to get Vitamin D supplement capsules and integrate it into your diet, as prescribed by your physician.
Getting too much vitamin D can lead to a build up of calcium in the blood, which can cause kidney stones. Do not exceed 2,000 IU per day without talking to your dietitian or doctor. A common cause of vitamin D toxicity is taking both a multivitamin and vitamin D supplement.
Image by Helin Loik-Tomson
Tags: immunity, supplements, vitamin d
