Vitamin D
Vitamin D is an important and essential vitamin for the human body. It is classified as a vitamin and hormone at the same time because it has an important role in completing and regulating vital processes in the human body. About one billion people around the world suffer from vitamin D deficiency in the body, The proportion of women after childbearing age who are deficient in vitamin D is 50% of the total number of women of this age. You can tell if a person is deficient in vitamin D by doing a laboratory blood test; if the vitamin D level in the blood is less than 20 ng / ml, it means the person is deficient.
A large study in Boston showed that the person’s vitamin D consumption is 309 IU per day, while an adult needs 600 IU of vitamin D per day to avoid vitamin D deficiency, especially if he can not be exposed to sunlight, It is worth mentioning that the body’s need for vitamin D increases with age; older people over the age of 70 need about 800 IU per day.
Symptoms of vitamin D deficiency in women
Due to the importance of vitamin D in the body and its role in most cells and tissues, the symptoms of deficiency will be evident in most organs of the body; where the severity of the severity of the shortage, and can be clear vitamin D deficiency next to the examination of blood level to the following symptoms:
- Feeling tired and tired when doing a little effort; due to muscle weakness.
- Bone pain and weakness are more prone to fractures due to the lack of vitamin D necessary for the skeleton in general. In addition, people with vitamin D deficiency and calcium are more prone to osteoporosis and osteoporosis.
- Depression and mood swings also reduce the body’s energy.
- Vitamin D deficiency affects cardiovascular function and makes it more susceptible to diseases, including high blood pressure.
- Affects the efficiency of the work of the hormone insulin, which leads to disturbances in the level of sugar in the blood.
Causes of vitamin D deficiency in women
There are many reasons for the exposure of a large number of women to the lack of vitamin D levels, the most important of which are:
- Obesity and overweight: As the fat accumulated in the body as a result of obesity, especially in women negatively affect the absorption of the body to the amount needed by vitamin D; as fat reduces the proportion of vitamin D, which is absorbed by the body significantly.
- Insufficient exposure to sunlight: Women who spend most of their time at home and away from the sun do not get enough ultraviolet light to make vitamin D in the body.
- Use sunscreen: A barrier between the sun’s rays and layers of the skin, which prevents vitamin D and leads to deficiency.
- Neglecting the focus on nutritional sources of vitamin D: Including fortified foods or dietary supplements, women who are dependent on their diet are more likely to have vitamin D deficiency. This vitamin is highly concentrated in animal sources, especially fish.
- Poor absorption of vitamin D in the intestines: Due to the presence of diseases in the digestive system such as inflammation of the intestine or atrophy in the wall of the stomach and intestines.
- Women with dark skin: Increasing the proportion of melanin in the skin due to dark skin reduces the body’s absorption of vitamin D, which is obtained through exposure to sunlight, and the darker the degree of darker skin, the lower the proportion of vitamin D obtained from the sun.
- pregnant women: As the body provides the body of the pregnant mother and the fetus body with the amount of vitamin D that each needs.
Sources of Vitamin D
There are many sources where vitamin D can be obtained. The most important of these sources are:
- Exposure to sunlight: Which is the most important source of vitamin D; where the ultraviolet rays coming from the sun to convert the subcutaneous fat to the vitamin D, through a series of chemical reactions.
- Eat foods that contain vitamin D naturally: Such as fish including salmon, tuna, whale liver oil, and yolks.
- Eat foods that are fortified with vitamin D: Especially milk and dairy products, some ready-made foods and vitamin D-fortified juices.
- Eat vitamin D supplements: They are available in pharmacies at different doses as needed.
Benefits of vitamin D and its role in the body
There are many important functions and benefits of vitamin D, and the most important of these benefits are the following:
- Works to strengthen bone and bone density.
- Maintains and strengthens muscle mass in the body.
- Maintains insulin levels at normal levels, which are necessary for the body to maintain blood sugar level.
- Maintains the amount of calcium and phosphorus in the body, especially in the bones; it works to increase absorption in the intestine.
- Protects against cancer; it strengthens the immune system in the human body.
- Helps protect the body from inflammation, heart disease, and diabetes.
- Helps prevent and treat rheumatism and osteoporosis.
- Protect children from rickets.