Vitamin D deficiency on the increase

Getting enough vitamin D was not considered a problem until fairly recently but now experts say that we are in the middle of an unrecognised pandemic of vitamin D deficiency.

Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin that has properties of both a vitamin and a hormone. Vitamin D is popularly known as the sunshine vitamin because our bodies manufacture a form of it in our skin after exposure to sunlight. We also get it from food such as oily fish, egg yolks, some fortified breakfast cereals and margarine.

The form of Vitamin D we get from food or supplements is not fully active. It requires conversion by the liver, then by the kidneys, before it becomes fully active. This may be why people with liver or kidney disorders are at a higher risk for osteoporosis.

Vitamin D helps our bodies use calcium to build strong bones. Lack of it can cause rickets (deformed bones) in children and seizures in babies. It can also lead to poor tooth formation, stunted growth and general ill health.

A study* published in the prestigious journal Paediatricsregarding blood levels of vitamin D in children showed interesting results. Researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine indicated that in an analysis of more than 6,000 children, ages 1 to 21 years old, they found 70% of these children were either vitamin D deficient or vitamin D insufficient. They noted that lower levels of vitamin D were especially common in children who drank milk less than once a week or spent more than four hours a day watching television, playing video games or using computers. The researchers observed that low levels of vitamin D in the blood were associated with poor bone health, unhealthy blood pressure, lower levels of calcium and good HDL blood levels.

Vitamin D is also an immune modulator, a substance that helps to balance the immune system. Deficiencies have been implicated in auto-immune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, insulin dependent diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease. Lesser degrees of deficiency may be characterised by loss of appetite, a burning sensation in the mouth and throat, diarrhoea, insomnia, visual problems and weight loss.

There are several forms of Vitamin D including vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) which comes from food sources; Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol), which is synthesized in the skin in response to exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays and a synthetic form identified as Vitamin D5. Of the three, vitamin D3 is considered the natural form of Vitamin D and is the most active.

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