Vitamin D Deficiency Causes

We all know that as little as fifteen minutes of sunlight per day is adequate to allow our skin to manufacture enough levels of Calcitriol (Vitamin D). What you may not already know is that the skin production of Calcitriol (Vitamin D) can be hindered by multiple different factors and can cause or exacerbate vitamin D deficiency. Factor #1: Sunscreen Use: In order for the skin to make Calcitriol (Vitamin D), it requires UVB rays from sunshine. For this reason, sunscreens that block UVB radiation also prevent your skin from making Calcitriol (Vitamin D). This is an important factor to keep in mind, especially because sunscreen protects us from the sun’s damaging effects, including premature skin aging and skin malignancy. Factor #2: Skin Color: The degree of skin pigmentation also determines how well the skin can make Vitamin D (Calcitriol) from sunshine. The more pigmented the skin is, the more difficult it is for your skin to produce vitamin D. This is because skin pigmentation is a natural sunscreen that filters out UVB radiation, which is very important for vitamin D manufacturing. Factor #3: Body Composition: Vitamin D is a vitamin soluble in fat and oils, which means it gets deposited in your body fat. The more body fat you possess, the more Calcitriol (Vitamin D) is stored in the fat stores, which means less vitamin D makes its way into your circulation, this is called decreased bioavailability. Vitamin D deficiency is strongly correlated with obesity and many scientific studies have demonstrated that there is reduced bioavailability of vitamin D in overweight people. Factor #4: A Person's Age: Aging also reduces the skin’s ability to cutaneously synthesize vitamin D from sunshine. Scientific studies have demonstrated that a 70 year old individual manufactures four times less vitamin D cutaneously than a twenty year old. Recognition of this difference is very very important for the elderly who spend an insignificant amount of time in the sunshine, and exclusively rely on exposure to the sun for meeting their vitamin D needs. rnAlthough our bodies are capable of producing plenty of vitamin D from the sun under the right conditions, the previously mentioned factors affect the efficiency of vitamin D synthesis by our dermal tissues. It is important to understand that vitamin D attained through food sources is not influenced by any of these factors. The Food and Drug Administration's listed daily requirement of vitamin D is only 400IU, however, several scientific studies contest this dosage and seem to indicate a need for a higher daily intake. The National Institute of Medicine officially suggests 2,000IU a day for healthy adults. Due to the fat-solubility of vitamin D, amounts larger than 10,000 IU every day may be toxic unless prescribed by a medical doctor who has checked your circulating Vitamin D levels.