When the body doesn’t get enough vitamin D from food or sunlight, it develops a vitamin D deficit. Lack of vitamin D can result in osteoporosis, bone fragility, and shattered bones.
Because your body produces vitamin D from cholesterol when your skin is exposed to sunlight, it is commonly referred to as the “sunshine vitamin” (1 Trusted Source).
With reference to COVID-19 in particular, this vitamin has recently attracted a lot of interest for its function in immunological health. It is essential for maintaining bone health as well as many other vital bodily processes (1 Trusted Source, 2 Trusted Source).
The importance of consuming enough amounts of vitamin D is discussed in this article.
Why is vitamin D essential?
A fat-soluble vitamin called vitamin D is essential for your body’s healthy operation, including bone health and immunity. It may even guard against cancer and a number of chronic illnesses, such as (3 Trusted Source):
bone sadness and loss
diabetes type 2
heart disease, sclerosis, and others
Low amounts of the vitamin are present in the blood in an estimated 1 billion persons worldwide (4Trusted Source).
Nearly 42% of American adults, according to one analysis of the literature, are vitamin D deficient. This percentage rises to 82% for African Americans and over 63% for Hispanic individuals.
what signs point to a vitamin D deficiency?
Vitamin D insufficiency symptoms and warning signs
A vitamin D deficiency may not show symptoms for months or even years, making it challenging to diagnose. You could occasionally show no symptoms at all.
Even so, it’s still useful to be aware of the warning signs and symptoms.
frequent infections or illnesses
Supporting immunological function, which enables you to fend off disease-causing bacteria and viruses, is one of vitamin D’s most crucial functions.
Vitamin D has direct interactions with the cells that fight infections (6 Trusted Source).
Low vitamin D levels may be a contributing factor if you become sick frequently, especially with the flu or the common cold.
Back and bone aches.
Low vitamin D levels may cause bone and lower back pain (17Trusted Source, 18Trusted Source).
By enhancing your body’s absorption of calcium, vitamin D supports bone health.
Depression
Although some study findings are contradictory, vitamin D insufficiency has been associated to depression, particularly in older persons (22Trusted Source, 23Trusted Source, 24Trusted Source).
Supplementing with vitamin D has a variety of impacts, however some studies have indicated that it can help with depressive symptoms (25Trusted Source, 26Trusted Source, 27Trusted Source, and 28Trusted Source).
The connection between vitamin D and depression still need further study.
Impaired wound healing
Your vitamin D levels may be too low if your wound takes longer than usual to heal after surgery or damage.
In fact, findings from a test-tube study point to the fact that vitamin D may enhance the creation of substances essential for the development of new skin during the healing process of wounds (29Reliable Source).
A study of four studies concluded that vitamin D insufficiency impaired some aspects of dental surgery patients’ ability to heal (30 Trusted Source).
The ability of vitamin D to manage infections and reduce inflammation may be crucial for effective healing.
Bone loss
The metabolism of bones and the absorption of calcium both depend heavily on vitamin D.
This is crucial since taking calcium and vitamin D together maximizes absorption in your body (34Reliable Source).
Your bones may have lost calcium and other minerals if your bone mineral density is low. This increases the incidence of fractures in older persons, particularly in women (35Trusted Source).
Hair loss
Hair health may be impacted by a variety of diets and nutrients.
A sickness or vitamin shortage may be to blame for significant hair loss, although stress is frequently the cause of hair loss (41Trusted Source, 42Trusted Source, 43Trusted Source).
Despite the paucity of studies, low vitamin D levels in women are associated with hair loss (44Trusted Source).
Muscle pain
It might be challenging to identify the specific reasons of muscular pain. However, data point to a possible reason being a vitamin D shortage (51Trusted Source, 52Trusted Source).
In an earlier study, it was discovered that 71% of persons with chronic pain had a vitamin deficit (52Trusted Source).
Nociceptors, which are nerve cells that detect pain, have vitamin D receptors. The pain signaling pathways in your body may be affected by this vitamin, which may contribute to chronic pain (53Trusted Source).
Weight gain
A risk factor for vitamin D insufficiency is obesity (3 Trusted Source).
Although these effects were more prominent in men, one study in adults identified a potential connection between low vitamin D status and both belly fat and weight (56Trusted Source).
