Benefits of Vitamin D - Discover The Essential Role of Vitamin D in Overall Health And Well Being!

What are the benefits of vitamin D on our overall health and well being? What are its deficiency symptoms, recommended daily intakes and food sources? Do you need a vitamin D supplement and why? Find out the answers here.

Vitamin D is also known as the "sunshine vitamin". It is the only vitamin that our body is capable of manufacturing on its own.

Basically, vitamin D is a hormone and it promotes the absorption of phosphorus and calcium in your body. In this way, it plays a vital role in the maintenance and development of strong teeth and bones. It also strengthens the immune system and prevents certain types of cancer.

Benefits of Vitamin D

There are numerous benefits of vitamin D. It plays a beneficial role in the treatment and prevention of the following specific health conditions --

- breast cancer
- ovarian cancer
- atherosclerosis
- cancer
- depression
- hypertension
- epilepsy
- kidney disease
- multiple sclerosis
- liver disease
- inflammatory bowel disease
- osteoporosis
- psoriasis
- periodontal disease
- tinnitus preeclampsia
- ulcerative colitis

A research on the benefits of vitamin D conducted on children in Finland who were given 2000 IU of vitamin D per day through dietary vitamin supplements were found to have a reduced risk of type I diabetes mellitus by 80%!

On the other hand, the same research indicated that children who were vitamin D deficient had a fourfold increased risk of developing type I diabetes.

Benefits of Consuming High Vitamin D Foods

Here are some of the benefits of vitamin D foods on our health:

1) It helps to prevent the occurrence of chronic diseases such as type II diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, osteoporosis, colon cancer, breast cancer and ovarian cancer.

2) It helps to keep the teeth strong and bones healthy.

3) It helps in keeping a healthy heart and a healthy nervous system.

4) Vitamin D is essential for the proper functioning and growth of the cells.

5) It plays a key role in the thyroid function and in maintaining normal blood clotting.

6) Vitamin D plays a key role in reducing inflammation and maintaining a strong immune system. It helps to prevent a prolonged inflammatory response or excessive inflammation.

Such inflammation is seen in autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and irritable bowel diseases such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.

Vitamin D Deficiency Symptoms

Some of the symptoms that can be seen when the deficiency of vitamin D occurs are:

• Development of osteoporosis (in adults)
• Occurrence of rickets (in children)
• Insomnia
• Muscle twitches
• Nervousness
• Diarrhea

Recommended Daily Allowance for Vitamin D

The need for vitamin D in our body increases with age. The RDA for vitamin D as per the FDA (Food and Drug Administration, U.S.A) are as follows:

• For men and women up to the age of 50 -- 200 IU per day
• For men and women between the age 51 to 70 years -- 400 IU per day
• For men and women above the age of 71 -- 600 IU per day

(IU = international units)

Vitamin D Food Sources

The rich food sources of vitamin D include most of the dairy products such as cheese, butter and cream. Looking at the importance of vitamin D on your optimal health, all the milk that is sold in the US is fortified with vitamin D.

Some other food sources of vitamin D include oysters, fish and breakfasts cereals that are vitamin D fortified.

The non-food source of vitamin D is sunlight. Our body is capable of producing vitamin D through exposure to sunlight.

Vitamin D Deficiency

Even though there are so many sources of vitamin D, it is a surprise that studies show that 60% of the people had in adequate vitamin D levels in their bodies!

Around one third of those people that showed a vitamin D deficiency, reported diets that the FDA had determined to be "adequate intake" of vitamin D through diet and supplements!

The main reason for this deficiency is that a large part of the vitamin D that is available in the form of fortified foods is not directly usable by your body. This makes it important for you to use a supplement that contains vitamin D in a "bioavailable" form - a form that is easy for your body to absorb and assimilate.

This becomes more important looking at the role that vitamin D plays in the absorption of other nutrients. As mentioned above, our body can use phosphorous and calcium only if it has adequate levels of vitamin D to metabolize them.

Healthy levels of vitamin D help and enhance the health benefits of other nutrients too.

Featured Vitamin D Supplement Product

To get the complete benefits of vitamin D, it is essential that you choose a vitamin D supplement that is bioavailable. It should also contain other minerals and vitamins that work in synergy to give the maximum health benefits.

Total Balance is a comprehensive nutritional supplement produced by Xtend-Life natural products of New Zealand. It contains vitamin D, calcium and phosphorous, plus a full spectrum of minerals, vitamins, enzymes, amino acids, potent herbal extracts and speciality nutrients.

In fact, it contains almost all the nutrients that we have covered on this entire site! We have been taking Total Balance since the past few years and have achieved excellent health benefits.

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Additional Resources

Vitamin D - Discover The Essential Facts of The Sunshine Vitamin And How It Affects Your Health!

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Vitamin D3 And Vitamin D2 - Find Out How They Both Are Different And How They Affect Your Health!

Vitamin D Facts - Find Out What Role Vitamin D Plays in Your Health And Its Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA)

Foods With Vitamin D - Discover Excellent Food Sources Rich in Vitamin D

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Vitamin D Cancer - Does Vitamin D Supplementation Help in Cancer Prevention?

Vitamin D Deficiency - Find Out What Causes Deficiency of Vitamin D And Are You At High Risk!

Vitamin D Deficiency Symptoms - Discover The Key Pointers on Why You Need Extra Vitamin D For A Better Health!

Vitamin D Osteoporosis - Does Vitamin D Deficiency Contribute to Development of Osteoporosis?

Vitamin D Overdose - Discover How Does Vitamin D Toxicity Occur and What Are the Tolerable Upper Intake Levels

Vitamin D Side Effects - What Are The Health Risks of Taking Too Much Vitamin D?

Vitamin D Supplements - What Are the Public Health Recommendations for Daily Intake of Vitamin D?

Vitamin D Toxicity - What Are The Symptoms of Vitamin D Overdose And How You Can Avoid This Health Risk?

What Causes Vitamin D Deficiency? Do You Need Extra Vitamin D For Optimum Health?

Dietary Sources of Vitamin D - Discover How You Can Achieve Proper Supplementation Through Healthy Eating!