Vitamin D deficiency and sunlight exposure
People think that healthy eating is enough for supplying the body with the amount needed of vitamin D, but actually that is not true. The two main ways to get vitamin D are by exposing your skin to sunlight and by taking vitamin D supplements. You can’t get the right amount of vitamin D your body needs from food.
In the winter, people don’t get the right amount of sunlight exposure which means less sources of vitamin D.
Some dietary supplements can help as salmon fish, eggs, and dairy products, but alone without exposure to sunlight is not enough. And thus this may cause vitamin D deficiency to some people, which may then cause diseases as osteoporosis, hypertension and diabetes.
Signs and symptoms that may indicate vitamin D deficiency include:
• Bone aches, pain of back and extremities. According to experts, sometimes the underlying cause behind movement difficulty in the morning is vitamin D deficiency.
• Obesity. Eating fat-rich food with large amounts can have a negative impact on vitamin D levels in the body that is because vitamin D is fat soluble so that means less percentage of vitamin D in the body.
• African Americans are more likely to have vitamin D deficiency. People with naturally very dark skin; the melanin in their skin affects UV penetration, so they require much longer sun exposure to produce adequate vitamin D.
• One of the first, classic signs of vitamin D deficiency is a sweaty head.
• Gut problems. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, which means if there is a gastrointestinal condition that affects ability to absorb fat, lower absorption of fat-soluble vitamins like vitamin D may occur. This includes gut conditions like Crohn’s, celiac and non-celiac gluten sensitivity, and inflammatory bowel disease.
So it is important to be exposed regularly to sunlight, best time is the closet to mid-day from 10 am till 3 pm.