Vitamin D is famous for bone health, but it can do more than that. Learn more with illume-emag.
Strengthens bones
Vitamin D promotes the absorption of calcium in your body. Without it, the calcium that benefits your bones wouldn’t function properly. Vitamin D is needed for bone growth and to prevent bones from becoming brittle. When working with calcium, it can help prevent osteoporosis, a disease that reduces the density and quality of bone.
Strengthen muscles
A shortage of Vitamin D can lead to weak muscles, increasing the chance of falls. This is especially important for the elderly because falls are a common cause of substantial disability and death in older adults.
Strengthen oral health
Because vitamin D helps our body absorb calcium, it plays a crucial role in supporting oral health, lowering the risk of tooth decay and gum disease.
Treat hypertension
Vitamin D may play a role in the treatment of high blood pressure. According to scientists, even short-term vitamin D deficiency may directly raise BP [blood pressure] and promote target organ damage. In addition, due to the high correlation between vitamin D and hypertension, vitamin D supplementation therapy may be a new insight in the treatment of hypertension.
Weight loss
Studies have shown that obese people often have low blood levels of vitamin D because vitamin D is fat-soluble, making it difficult for the body to store the vitamin.
However, doctors aren’t sure whether obesity itself causes low vitamin D levels. But a small recent study of dieters found that adding vitamin D to a calorie-restricted diet could make it easier for overweight people with low vitamin D levels to lose weight.
Battle depression
Vitamin D plays a role in brain development and function, and low vitamin D levels have been found in patients with depression. But studies don’t show that taking vitamin D supplements will help with symptoms of depression, so it’s best to talk to your doctor about treatments that can help reduce symptoms of depression.
How to get more vitamin D
Aside from the sun, you can also get extra vitamin D through a few (albeit very few) foods, like fatty fish (including salmon, tuna, mackerel, and sardines) and mushrooms (some of which are exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light to increase vitamin D levels). Foods like milk, orange juice, yogurt, and breakfast cereals can also be fortified with vitamin D.