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

What causes vitamin D deficiency? Which individuals need extra vitamin D supplementation to prevent its deficiency? Here are some of the essential facts.

1) People in the higher age groups (above 50) require a greater amount of vitamin D.

This is because the skin's ability of converting vitamin D into its active form declines with the passage of age.

Besides that, the kidneys also play a key role in conversion of vitamin D into its active form and they lose their ability gradually as we age. Therefore, people in the higher age groups require extra vitamin D supplementation.

2) People who get a very limited exposure to sun should also include vitamin D rich food sources in their diet.

3) Individuals having a reduced ability of absorbing dietary fat (a condition called mal absorption) need extra vitamin D supplementation. This is because vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin.

Vitamin D deficiency causes convulsions, muscle twitching and softening of the bones in adults. It also causes osteomalacia -- a condition in which the bones lose their calcium and mineral content and become tender, and sore. It also causes osteoporosis in older people.

Vitamin D deficiency has also been associated with a greater risk of certain forms of cancers such as ovarian cancer, breast cancer and colon cancer.