- 1. Strengthen bones and teeth
- 2. Prevent diabetes
- 3. Helps you lose weight
- 4. Strengthen your muscles
- 5. Improve the immune system
- 6. Prevent disease
- When to take vitamin D
The benefits of vitamin D are related to good bone and tooth health, increased muscle strength and balance, and decreased risk of diseases such as diabetes, obesity and cancer.
In order to have adequate levels of vitamin D, you should have a diet rich in fish, eggs and liver, and you must sunbathe daily for at least 15 minutes. However, taking vitamin D supplements may be necessary when blood vitamin D levels are lowered, which can cause symptoms such as bone pain and weakness.
The following are the main benefits of Vitamin D.
1. Strengthen bones and teeth
Vitamin D is important for strengthening bones and teeth because it increases the absorption of calcium and phosphorus in the intestine and facilitates the entry of these minerals into the bones, which are essential for their formation. Thus, the lack of vitamin D can lead to weakening of the bones, causing diseases such as rickets in children and osteoporosis in adults and the elderly.
2. Prevent diabetes
Vitamin D helps prevent diabetes because it works to maintain the health of the pancreas, the organ responsible for insulin production. Thus, low levels of vitamin D cause the pancreas to release less insulin, which causes an increase in the amount of blood sugar, the main characteristic of diabetes.
3. Helps you lose weight
The lack of vitamin D is linked to obesity because low levels of this vitamin in the blood cause an increased feeling of hunger and a decrease in metabolism, causing the body to spend more energy and accumulate more fat. Thus, vitamin D supplementation can also be useful for weight loss.
4. Strengthen your muscles
Vitamin D participates in the process of muscle formation and is linked to greater muscle strength and agility. Deficiency of this vitamin can cause symptoms such as pain and muscle weakness, especially in the legs, in addition to causing imbalances and falls in the elderly.
5. Improve the immune system
Vitamin D helps to improve the immune system and reduce inflammation in the body, because it decreases the production of inflammatory substances and helps to fight autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. However, to achieve these results, high doses of vitamin D should be taken under medical advice. Learn more about this indication of vitamin D overdose.
6. Prevent disease
Vitamin D participates in controlling cell death, helping to decrease the formation of defective cells that cause cancer. Adequate levels of vitamin D are linked mainly to the prevention of breast, prostate, colorectal and kidney cancer. In addition to these benefits, vitamin D also prevents high blood pressure, heart disease and multiple sclerosis.
When to take vitamin D
Vitamin D supplementation should be done under the guidance of the doctor and depends on the person's age, degree of vitamin D deficiency and dose of the supplement.
Normally the doctor recommends vitamin D supplementation for people who have been diagnosed with a high degree of disability or older age, since older people naturally decrease vitamin D synthesis. In addition, vitamin D can be indicated as a way of treatment of any disease, such as rickets, osteomalacia and inflammation in the intestine.
It is important that before taking vitamin D supplementation, a blood test is done to know the levels of this vitamin in the blood, so that the doctor can inform you of the recommended daily dose, for example. Understand how the vitamin D test is done.
