Research on vitamin D shows that “the sunshine vitamin” may play a more important role in your health than initially thought.
Vitamin D is not technically a vitamin. It’s actually a secosteroid hormone, meaning it’s similar to a steroid and is essential for calcium absorption. This makes it critical in building strong, healthy bones. Vitamin D also:
Since vitamin D is necessary in the development and repair of your bones, insufficient vitamin D can result in thin, brittle and misshapen bones, as well as osteomalacia (soft bones) and osteoporosis (porous bones) in postmenopausal women. Moreover, women with breast cancer have accelerated bone loss due to hormone therapy and chemotherapy — which can be made worse with low levels of vitamin D.
But that might not be all. Recent studies have found that being vitamin D deficient could also increase your risks of dying from heart disease or stroke. Scientists are still not entirely sure why this is the case and are working on understanding the link better.
For most people, sunlight is their major source of vitamin D. Sunlight helps our bodies make vitamin D naturally in our skin. If you don’t spend much time in the sun, or if you live in an area with long winters, it may be harder for you to get enough direct rays for your body to create the vitamin D you need. In that case, vitamin D is also found in foods such as cheese, fish, eggs and in fortified milk and cereals.
For some people, supplements may be helpful. Recent research has suggested that pairing vitamin D with vitamin K2 may make it more effective at treating osteoporosis — as well as lowering your risk for heart disease by reducing calcium build-up in your blood vessels. Talk to your doctor at Riverview Health about how vitamin D affects your bone and heart health, and what you can do to boost your well-being.
Has it been a while since your last check-up, or do you need a new physician? Call us at 317.565.0535 to request an appointment.
Sources: AJE.OxfordJournals.org, NIA.NIH.gov, ncbi.nlm.hih.gov
