Younger and Healthier for Longer with Vitamin D
1 billion
people don't get enough vitamin D.
A study has linked vitamin D deficiency
with an increased risk for cancer and autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid
arthritis MS, and lupus, and even heart diseases. According to researchers, mapping
vitamin D receptors binding throughout the human genome, vitamin D deficiency
is a major environmental factor attributed to increasing the risk of developing
these disorders.
The cause of deficiency is a combination
of not getting enough exposure to the sun and not having enough vitamin D in
their diets.
You can ask your doctor to give
you a simple blood test called, 25-hydroxy vitamin D test. It can
tell you how deficient you might be in vitamin D.
Increase your level of vitamin D by
eating more oily fish, such as salmon, mackerel and tuna, egg yolks and
mushrooms, as well as cereal and milk
fortified with vitamin D. Of course, exposure to the sun (in the morning or
late afternoon) may give you 20,000 IUs of vitamin D. Vitamin D must be
processed by the liver and kidneys into a form (calcitriol) that can attach to
vitamin D receptors in most of the body's cells. Your body stores one form
of previtamin D, called dehydrocholesterol, in the skin. When your skin
absorbs sunlight, it is transformed into previtamin D3 (cholecalciferol).
Vitamin D can lift moods and strengthen bones -- they are critical to
te he elderly. Advancement in age may make an individual become depressed,
especially when confronted with life challenges and health issues. Brittle
bones are conducive to falls, one of the many causes of death among the
elderly.
A lack of vitamin D may play a role in
chronic pain caused by a variety of conditions. Research has indicated vitamin D
deficiency may be implicated in musculoskeletal conditions, such as rheumatoid
arthritis, neuropathy, migraine, and inflammation.
Vitamin D must be processed by the liver
and kidneys into a form (calcitriol) that can attach to vitamin D receptors in
most of the body's cells. Your body stores one form of previtamin D in the
skin. When your skin absorbs sunlight, it is transformed into previtamin
D3.
Stephen Lau
Copyright© 2018 by Stephen Lau
No comments:
Post a Comment