Vitamin D - Helps in Maintaining Healthy Muscles & Strength Throughout Life

(Exposure to the sun is getting inadequate these days, making it necessary for people to get more of it from the diet or supplements) 

Overview

Sunshine Vitamin

Vitamin D, one of the micro nutrients needed for human survival, is a fat-soluble vitamin i.e. dissolves in fat/oil and can be stored in our body for a long time. It is completely different from most other vitamins. Actually it is considered a pro-hormone, a steroid hormone that is produced out of cholesterol when our skin is exposed to the sun. Human body is capable of producing endogenously vitamin D through the action of sunlight on the skin. Therefore it is also known as the sunshine vitamin.

Benefits of Vitamin D 

Vitamin D is absolutely essential for our optimal health. Children need vitamin D to build strong bones whereas adults need it to keep their bones strong and healthy. The major role of vitamin D is to maintain normal blood levels of calcium and phosphorus. It regulates the concentration of calcium in blood plasma. Other benefits are :-

• Adequate vitamin D intake is important for the regulation of calcium and phosphorus absorption from the small intestines in our body.
• This also acts on our bones directly promoting calcification. Thus it maintains healthy bones and teeth. 
• It helps us in protecting against cold & coughs as Vitamin D levels are lowest in the winter months. It also supports the health of our immune system. 

  

  Benefits
• Children given 1,200 IU of vitamin D per day for 4 months during the winter reduced their risk of influenza an infection by over 40%.
• It supports the health of the brain and nervous system and in fighting depression.
• It regulates insulin levels and aids in managing diabetes.
• It also supports lung function and cardiovascular health.
• It influences the expression of genes involved in cancer development.
• Together with calcium, vitamin D also helps protect older adults from osteoporosis.
• Vitamin D may help in maintaining healthy muscles throughout life and also help increase muscle strength, which in turn helps to prevent falls, a common problem that leads to substantial disability and death in older people.
• Vitamin D supplementation can increase physical strength, in both upper and lower limbs. 

How we gain Vitamin D?

There are two ways one can get vitamin D naturally. They are Sunlight and Vitamin D rich Food. 

Sunlight

Vitamin D formation with sunlight

Sensible sun exposure on bare skin for 5-10 minutes that to 2-3 times per week allows our body the ability to produce sufficient vitamin D. A fair-skinned person with full body exposure to the sun can synthesize up to 20,000 IU of vitamin D3 in 20 minutes. Vitamin D gets stored in our body for a long time i.e. for weeks or months, so we may only need occasional sun to keep our blood levels adequate. But the stores can run low, especially in winter. 

Food Sources

Vitamin D rich foods

Vitamin D is naturally present in very few foods. Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) and vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) are the two main forms, we found from food. We can find Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) in some animal foods, like fatty fishes (wild-caught mackerel, salmon, tuna) and egg yolks. We can find Vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) in some mushrooms. Margarine and fat spreads like butter, cheese, ghee, some reduced-fat dairy products (eg, milk, dried milk and yogurt), plant-based dairy substitutes (eg, soy drinks) and liquid meal replacements also vitamin D added. So one can have them. Dairy products and cereals are often fortified with vitamin D.

Recommended Dietary Allowances
Age	Male	Female	Pregnancy	Lactation
0–12 months	400 IU (10 mcg)	400 IU (10 mcg)
1–13 years	600 IU (15 mcg)	600 IU (15 mcg)
14–18 years	600 IU (15 mcg)	600 IU (15 mcg)	600 IU (15 mcg)	600 IU (15 mcg)
19–50 years	600 IU (15 mcg)	600 IU (15 mcg)	600 IU (15 mcg)	600 IU (15 mcg)
51–70 years	600 IU (15 mcg)	600 IU (15 mcg)
>70 years	800 IU (20 mcg)	800 IU (20 mcg)

Suggestion from the Author

It is a widely accepted thing that nutrients usually don’t work in isolation. They depend on one another. Hence, when we increase our intake of one nutrient, it may increase our need for another. It is proved that fat-soluble vitamins work together. So in order to get maximum benefit of Vitamin D3 we must add vitamin A and vitamin K2 at the time of supplementing. There is no mistake in taking vitamin K2, another fat-soluble vitamin that we don’t get enough from our food. Another thing is Magnesium intake is also important for the optimum functioning of vitamin D. Because of this, one can find calcium, magnesium, vitamin D & K in a supplement like “Unived CalDveg, Algal Calcium, Algal Magnesium, Vitamin D3 & K2-7” for Complete Bone Health. If anyone want to go for only Vitamin D3 and Vitamin K2, he/she choose the supplement “Now Foods, Vitamin D-3 & K-2, 1,000 IU/ 45 mcg” for optimum benefits of Vitamin D. If one go for simple D3 then he/she may choose Inlife Vitamin D3 or Zenith D3. They contain 1000 I.U. and cost effective also.