25 Reason You Need Vitamin D

by Poliquin™ Editorial Staff

If you want to be healthier, live longer, get stronger, and keep your brain performing optimally, having adequate levels of vitamin D is the answer.

This vitamin is essential to life, but despite the importance of vitamin D for longevity, confusion remains about how much you need and why.

Vitamin D is synthesized in the body in response to sun exposure or can be gotten from the diet and taken in supplement form. Researchers find that people are chronically deficient in vitamin D because they don’t get regular full body exposure to the sun (the body produces vitamin D in response to ultraviolet light). Additionally, it is difficult to get adequate amounts from the diet even if you eat large amounts of fish such as salmon, mackerel, and tuna, all of which contain vitamin D. Supplementing with vitamin D tablets or fish oil, specifically cod liver oil, is a great way to get vitamin D.

Recommended daily intake of Vitamin D for adults is around 5,000 IUs or 35,000-50,000 IU twice per week (recent research suggests that taking large doses is most effective).  The following are the top 25 reasons to make sure your vitamin D levels measure up.

1. Bone Health
Low levels of vitamin D contribute to osteopenia, osteoporosis, and bone fractures.

2.  Muscle Strength
Researchers have known for years that skeletal muscle is a target organ for vitamin D and that deficiencies lead to muscle weakness. Specifically, a lack of vitamin D leads to abnormalities in muscle contraction and relaxation, affecting muscle force production.

3. Muscle Power and Force Development
Optimal levels of vitamin D have been shown to improve muscle power development and jump height. Researchers found that the ability of the muscles to contract and produce force is affected by vitamin D status.

4. Lean Body Mass
Vitamin D is essential for the maintenance of muscle, lean body mass, and for avoiding the development of fat in muscle. A vitamin D deficiency can cause both muscle weakness and an increase in fat mass.

5. Treatment of Psoriasis and Skin Disorders
Skin disorders such as psoriasis can be responsive to treatment with vitamin D because it lessens inflammation. Recent studies have shown that patients suffering from a variety of inflammatory conditions including psoriasis, dermatitis, dandruff, eczema, rosacea, and severe acne were often vitamin D-deficient.

6. Blood Sugar Regulation and Insulin Resistance
Supplementing with vitamin D has been shown to increase insulin sensitivity and decrease insulin resistance, indicating that it may be an effective way to offset the symptoms of diabetes.

7. Preventing Multiple Sclerosis
Vitamin D deficiency is known to contribute to bone mineral loss and osteoporosis, but the good news is that adequate vitamin D levels have a protective effect on the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS).

8. Cancer Prevention
Vitamin D has been linked with fighting numerous cancers including lung, breast, colon, and prostate. In the case of lung cancer, supplementing with Vitamin D may help offset elevated levels of an enzyme that is associated with the development of aggressive lung cancer tumors.

9. Asthma Treatment
A study at the University of Colorado-Denver found that higher vitamin D levels are associated with improved lung function, reduced airway hyper-responsiveness, and improved in vitro glucocorticoids. The findings suggest that supplementation of vitamin D in patients with asthma may result in decreasing asthma severity and improved treatment response. This study also found that participants with lower vitamin D levels had more inflammation.

10. Male Reproductive Health
New research from the University of Copenhagen found that vitamin D is associated with male reproductive health, specifically in regards to normal sperm count and sperm motility.

11. Cardiovascular Health
Vitamin D deficiency is linked with cardiovascular disease and high levels of vitamin D are associated with heart health.

12.  Brain Health
Low vitamin D levels are associated with cognitive impairment, specifically in individuals over age 75.

13. Fetal Brain Development
In light of the role of vitamin D on brain health, it is not surprising that it plays a role in fetal brain development. Scientists have concluded that pregnant mothers who are deficient in vitamin D have fetuses with developmental impairment in brain cells. Additionally, there is evidence that the offspring of vitamin D-deficient mothers are more susceptible to schizophrenia, bone disorders such as rickets, and the development of diabetes.

14. Female Reproductive and Maternal Health
Vitamin D plays a role in female fertility and rates of fetal implantation in the uterus. Additionally, vitamin D-deficient women are at risk for pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes. Interestingly, due to the effect of vitamin D on muscle strength and function, women with low vitamin D levels appear to have a higher rate of cesarean sections due to sub-optimal muscle performance and strength during pregnancy.

15. Treatment of Depression and Brain Disorders
The likelihood of having depression and other brain disorders is significantly higher in vitamin D-deficient persons compared to those with adequate levels. Scientists are not entirely clear how vitamin D plays a role in mental health but they do know that vitamin D enhances the metabolic processes in brain neurons, promoting antioxidant activities that protect from oxidative degenerative processes.

16. Immune Function
Vitamin D is crucial to activating immune defenses and low serum levels inhibit the body’s T-cells ability to fight off serious infections. Specifically, inactive T-cells rely on vitamin D to activate them so that they can effectively fight off harmful pathogens that enter the body.

17. Kidney Health
Vitamin D is vital for kidney health. Vitamin D is a key compound in treating chronic kidney disease and decreasing subsequent death rates. Understandably, individuals who are vitamin D deficient are at risk to develop kidney disease.

18. Treatment of Hypertension and Metabolic Diseases
Vitamin D deficiency is strongly associated with high blood pressure and associated metabolic diseases such as diabetes and obesity. Vitamin D supplementation is most effective at significantly reducing blood pressure when it is paired with taking calcium.

19. Prevention of Obesity
Low vitamin D levels may make you fat. Research shows that body fat mass is higher in individuals with vitamin D deficiency and that this shortage correlates with elevated levels of parathyroid hormone and intracellular calcium, considered to be major factors in determining obesity.

20. Prevention of Parkinson’s Disease
Researchers have found a relationship between low Vitamin D levels and the early onset of Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s disease is an incurable disorder of the nervous system, with symptoms that include trembling hands, stiff muscles, digestive and urinary problems, and a decrease in dexterity and coordination

21. Prevention of Rickets and Osteomalacia
The development of rickets and osteomalacia is directly related to vitamin D deficiency. Rickets is a childhood disease that is characterized by the softening of bone, leading to bone fractures and skeletal deformities. For adults, osteomalacia is associated with osteoporosis but is a separate disease that starts with aches in the lumbar region and spreads to the arms and ribs. Bones become deformed, often fracturing, and sufferers typically complain of chronic fatigue.

22. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Prevention and Treatment
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, also known as COPD, is characterized by respiratory weakness and the obstruction of the air pathways in the lungs. It typically manifests as emphysema and chronic bronchitis and can be treated by vitamin D supplementation. Considering the effect of vitamin D on increasing muscle strength and diminishing the symptoms of asthma, it is logical that it has positive effects on COPD.

23. Treatment of Autoimmune Conditions
Vitamin D deficiency affects immune function and is associated with an increased risk of AIDS progression and death from the disease. Conversely, in recent studies individuals with the highest levels of vitamin D have been seen to have a significantly lower risk of death than those with low levels. Vitamin D deficiency is seen as an important co-factor in HIV progression and supplementing with the vitamin may be an effective anti-viral therapy.

24. Treatment of Childhood Anemia
Low vitamin D levels in children can cause anemia, a severe condition that leads to the damage of vital organs by depriving them of oxygen. Anemia occurs when the body has too few oxygen-carrying red blood cells and is diagnosed by measuring hemoglobin levels. Symptoms of mild anemia include fatigue, lightheadedness, and low energy.

25. Prevention of Infections
Adequate vitamin D plays a role in the prevention of infections and it may be used as a primary treatment for viral, bacterial, and fungal infections. In a recent review of the benefits of vitamin D on immune health and avoiding infections, researchers found that treatments of all of the following conditions benefit from optimal vitamin D levels: tuberculosis, psoriasis, eczema, Crohn’s disease, chest infections, wound infections, influenza, urinary tract infections, eye infections, and wound healing.

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