Vitamin D is essential for a healthy body. You probably already know that it can help keep bones and teeth strong and healthy. But, there are so many other health benefits of Vitamin D that you should know about.
All the systems in your body that rely on enough Vitamin D:
1. Bones and Teeth
As I said above, Vitamin D is essential for keeping bones and teeth strong and healthy. It works together with calcium to build strong bones and teeth. If you don’t get enough Vitamin D your bones can become brittle and break more easily.
2. Muscle Health
Vitamin D is also important for the growth and health of your muscles. If you’re deficient in Vitamin D you may experience muscle weakness and pain.
3. Immune System
Vitamin D is an important part of a healthy immune system. Sufficient levels of Vitamin D will help your immune system fight off infection, or at the minimum, can help you recover more quickly.
4. Brain and Mood
This one is a little unexpected but vitamin D has an impact on your brain health and mood. Vitamin D receptors are found in areas of the brain that control your mood and emotions. Proper levels of Vitamin D can help lessen depression and sadness.
5. Heart Health
There is research that shows vitamin D can help regulate blood pressure keeping your blood pressure at healthy levels. And that is good for your heart!
6. Digestive System
Vitamin D is important to help your body absorb calcium and phosphorus from the food you eat. Without it your bones can become brittle and your body won’t function properly.
7. Skin
This is another unexpected benefit of getting enough vitamin D. Vitamin D helps support skin cell growth and repair which helps you have glowing healthy skin!
What Happens If You Don’t Get Enough Vitamin D?
If you’re Vitamin D deficient, all the benefits listed above will go out the window.
So, instead of strong bones and teeth, your bones are more susceptible to breaking. This is a real problem especially as you age.
You are also likely to experience muscle pain and fatigue without enough vitamin D. And, even though a vitamin D deficiency can lead to fatigue, the other side is that without enough vitamin D you may actually have a hard time sleeping.
How to Get Enough Vitamin D
It’s really pretty easy to up your vitamin D intake if you’re not getting enough (always talk to your doctor first though. The actual amount of Vitamin D needed can vary from one person to the next!).
Your skin can make Vitamin D just by spending time outside on a sunny day! Cool excuse to take a nice long break at work. Of course, you don’t want to get sunburned, but 15-20 minutes of sunlight daily can do your skin a lot of good.
Another thing that we all need to do, eat, is a good way to get more vitamin D. Some of the best foods for vitamin D are: fish (like salmon and tuna), eggs, fortified milk and other dairy products, and fortified cereals containing vitamin D.
And, of course, if you still find yourself falling short of the suggested amount of vitamin D you can always take a supplement.
The Bottom Line
Your body is a complex machine and there are many factors that will keep it operating at its best. Think of it like your car. If you put in bad gas or oil (or not enough gas or oil) your car will stop working.
Your body needs many types of nutrients and vitamins and one of the most important for many of your systems is vitamin D.