Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Should you Supplement Vitamin D to Prevent Sickness

By Markus James-LaVoy

Everybody needs vitamin D. Usually called the 'sunshine vitamin,' vitamin D is coming to be called the cancer prevention vitamin, and possibly even more . Typically, vitamin D is synthesized in the skin after exposure to daylight. However , folk with darker skin or those who live in high northwards latitudes are at risk of vitamin D deficiency.

Vitamin D deficiency often doesn't present with any noticeable symptoms, but it can cause a number of serious conditions. As vitamin D is obligatory for the assimilation of calcium, many conditions associated with deficiency appear in the bones and teeth.

The classic condition associated with vitamin D deficiency is rickets, a bone-thinning illness that used to be frequently seen in children. Characterized by stunted expansion and bowed legs, this disease has become less common since the advent of fortified milk in the 1930s.

You might get a similar quantity of vitamin D in a bowl of fortified cereal. That's's half of the RDA, and a measly one % of the vitamin D your body will make on a thirty minute walk in the mid-day sun.

What occurs in summer? Nearly the same in reverse, provided you show your skin to acceptable sun. Then you can reinforce your vitamin D standing ( move one level higher ) each two months or so. To find your own vitamin D standing, select the end of last winter as your kick off point, and assume that your standing was Deficient.

Now, as more scientific research is aimed at the link between serum vitamin D levels and cancer incidence, it is starting to become increasingly apparent that the general public need vitamin D supplementation for at least part of the year for optimal health and cancer prevention.

For masses of us, the picture is a unhappy one, with vitamin D levels topping around Low-Normal at the end of summer, and falling to Deficient or Seriously Deficient for most of the year.

Thanks in part to greater demand ; vitamin D supplements are presently available in a good range of formats, from little tablets to liquid suspensions or chocolate flavored chewables. There is a vitamin D supplement available to meet every need . Additions are typically cheap and available at most pharmacies. Additionally, vitamin D can be obtained naturally by consuming greasy fish, fortified milk and egg yolks and, naturally, by enjoying a good dose of sunshine. - 14130

About the Author:

No comments: