Vitamin D Deficiency and Your Health

Vitamin D can come from many sources. For example, we can find vitamin D in dietary sources, such as fatty fishes, the oils of fatty fishes, liver, and eggs. Vitamin D can also come from lanolin, a normal product of wool. Lanolin is one of the major industrial sources of vitamin D.  

What is interesting about vitamin D is that they synthesize it in the skin under sunlight. The sun causes your skin to synthesize cholesterol into vitamin D. If a person with pale skin spends half an hour in the sun, they can produce of 10,000 IU to 20,000 IU of vitamin D!

If our skin can produce vitamin D so well, why are vitamin D supplements needed? It may be because people are not spending much time out in the sun, or because their diet alone cannot give them enough vitamin D, or because their skin’s ability to convert cholesterol to vitamin D declines with age. Dark-skinned individuals living in cold regions have a large amount of keratin, which typically blocks the cholesterol conversion to vitamin D.

Vitamin D Effectiveness

vitamin d and calcium

Vitamin D supplements come as pills, fish oils, and creams. For those who are allergic to fish oil, there are fish-free alternatives available, like the Allergy D3 Caps by Twinlab. Typically, the dose of vitamin D offered in a health food supplement will range from 400 IU to 50,000 IU, though 1,000 IU, 2,000 IU, and 5,000 IU are the most commonly available.

The standard recommendation ranges from 2,000 IU to 10,000 IU of vitamin D, depending on the needs of the person. Some people have very sensitive skin and are suggested to stay away from too much sun.

So get out there, get some sun and enjoy the summer!!

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