What Vitamin D3 Deficiency Can Do To Your Health

What Vitamin D3 Deficiency Can Do To Your Health

Dr. Meredith Warner Here,


These days, most of us are not getting the vital nutrients we need from our diets and lifestyle habits. These vitamin deficiencies may seem small but can build up and impact your overall well-being over time.


I’d like to talk about how a vitamin D3 deficiency can affect your health, how to notice signs of it such as weakness, and what you can do about it.

WHAT DOES VITAMIN D DO?

One of vitamin D’s prominent roles is in helping your body absorb calcium. Calcium is the building block of bone. Without the right vitamin D levels, it doesn’t matter how many glasses of milk you drink – you still won’t be absorbing the necessary amount of Calcium, and your bone health will suffer.


This is why, when you look at different types of milk in the grocery store, vitamin D-fortified milk is available for purchase. The Federal Government realized that we do not get enough of this vital nutrient in our regular diets.


In addition to fortifying bones, vitamin D is also essential for maintaining the health of your teeth, facilitating normal immune function, and supporting healthy muscles as well.


Overall, it’s an often-overlooked vitamin that plays a significant role in maintaining your overall health.

Vitamin D has essential benefits in muscle function, nervous system function, liver function, and cardiovascular balance. This nutrient acts as a steroid hormone and has significant effects on most human functions. It has a broad range of actions that we have only recently discovered. Many of modern society’s chronic diseases are caused, at least in part, by vitamin D deficiencies.


For muscle, vitamin D affects the levels of specific proteins in the muscle fiber itself. It will also change the calcium levels within the muscle’s mitochondria, which affects energy production. With vitamin D deficiency, the muscle will have fewer necessary enzymes as well. A vitamin D deficiency can lead to falls; if this fall happens on a weak bone, a break will occur.


There are receptors for vitamin D on the immune system’s cells; vitamin D plays a massive role in your innate and adaptive immunity. Vitamin D enhances the macrophages’ ability to participate in the initial defense from viruses and other pathogens by helping them produce needed cytokines.


It is common knowledge that infants with Rickets (vitamin D deficiency) have pneumonia more often than others. Extensive population data studies also demonstrated that vitamin D deficiency is associated with susceptibility to respiratory infections. Supplementing vitamin D reduces the ability to catch a respiratory illness.


These are a few examples of our growing knowledge of the importance of this nutrient. Vitamin D also plays a role in cancer prevention, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, skin health, inflammatory conditions like MS, and other human problems.


You can get your daily amount of vitamin D in two ways. First, you can absorb it through your skin by exposing yourself to a healthy amount of sunlight. You can, as mentioned previously, get it in your diet as well. Ideally, you should get vitamin D through the foods you eat, but nutritional deficiencies due to diet choices and food availability are common, so you can also supplement. Supplementation is the most efficient and convenient way to get this nutrient.



Typical foods with high vitamin D content are salmon, sardines, shrimp, fortified yogurts, cereals, milk, orange juice, and egg yolks.


SYMPTOMS OF VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY

If you feel more tired than usual or have noticeable aches and pains, you may have a vitamin D deficiency.


  • Severe muscle pain or weakness can also indicate a need for more vitamin D in your diet. In the most trying of circumstances, you may feel pain in your bones or even experience stress fractures in your legs, feet, and hips.


Your doctor can diagnose a vitamin D deficiency with a quick blood draw. If you are severely deficient, they may also order X-rays to check the strength of your bones.


Your doctor may recommend an over-the-counter supplement or a high-dose prescribed supplement depending on your deficiency’s severity.


Other serum markers might need to be checked to understand your bone metabolism, too. It may be that a full nutritional, hormonal, and metabolic analysis be completed. It may be beneficial to go outside and soak up sun rays also – within reason, as the skin cancer risk must be balanced.

HOW MUCH VITAMIN D YOU NEED:

The amount of vitamin D you need each day depends on your age and whether you’re breastfeeding or pregnant. Various regulatory groups have decided what standard levels are required to prevent Rickets and osteomalacia; these are the conditions caused by severe deficiencies of vitamin D. The recommended amounts, in international units (IU), are as follows:


  • Adults 19-70 years: 600 IU or 15mcg
  • Adults 71 years and older: 800 IU or 20mcg
  • Pregnant and breastfeeding women: 600 IU or 15mcg

If you are supplementing, it may be essential to take a multivitamin that pairs the right vitamins and minerals together in the recommended amounts. For Calcium to be absorbed properly, you need to have the correct vitamin D ratio in your system.

Immunity Boosting + Bone & Joint Health + Post Surgical Healing

Our Daily Multivitamin was designed by an orthopedic surgeon to optimize your musculoskeletal health – meaning that it is specifically designed to support your bones, muscles, tendons, and joints.


It also contains immune-boosting vitamins and Full Spectrum CBD to support every aspect of your wellness, reduce pain and harmful inflammation, and relieve stress. CBD has been found to support bone and immune function health, too; this phytochemical can enhance the effect of nutrients like Vitamin D.

DR. WARNER'S EVERYDAY MULTI

Each ingredient in our multi is the blend of essential vitamins + minerals Dr. Warner handpicks for her patients – especially those who are considering surgery or suffering from joint pain.


Most multivitamins are filled with vitamins you don’t need, in amounts that are unnecessary, or even in ratios that cancel each other out. At Well Theory, we believe that less is more. Dr. Warner made sure to include only the essential nutrients that she recommends for her orthopedic patients, to provide targeted benefits for your musculoskeletal health.


This unique blend is ideal for surgical patients, but a great option for optimizing your overall health.
Dr. Meredith Warner, Orthopedic Surgeon

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Meredith Warner is the creator of Well Theory and The Healing Sole. She is a board-certified Orthopedic Surgeon and Air Force Veteran.


She is on a mission to disrupt traditional medicine practices and promote betterment physically, spiritually and mentally to many more people. She advocates for wellness and functional health over big pharma so more people can age vibrantly with more function and less pain.


At Well Theory, Our surgeon-designed products are FDA Registered and formulated to help people:


  • Manage the symptoms of musculoskeletal pain
  • Recover vibrantly from orthopedic related surgeries
  • Fill the gaps in our daily diets
  • Manage pain associated with inflammation
!