Vitamin D is an essential nutrient of everyone’s diet. Here’s a list of peculiar, yet important symptoms of vitamin D deficiency that studies have pointed to. This under appreciated vitamin supports good bone health and proper immune system among many other things. Why? because it happens to be an important agent in increasing the intestinal absorption of calcium, magnesium and phosphates, among other biological functions.
But not many know this
Some sources of vitamin D would include supplements, the flesh of fatty fish, mushrooms exposed to ultraviolet rays and so on. In many countries, cow’s milk and plant-milk substitutes available in stores have additional vitamin D molecules added to them to help people improve their nutrition.Since vitamin D is such an important part of one’s diet, what are some of the ways to know if you are sufficient or deficient?
Scientist and doctors say that its not always necessary for one to go for a blood test to understand lower levels of vitamin D in their body. On the contrary there are other ways to detect the need for this vitamin
Here are some signs of vitamin D deficiency that one can look out for:
Slow Healing of Wounds
Vitamin D has been shown to help with the body’s ability to heal wounds. Studies were conducted on diabetes patients to find out what could help accelerate the process of the healing of wounds in their bodies. It is a huge problem that diabetes patients face and puts them at risk of death due to blood loss and exposure of wounds to contamination.
It was found that taking vitamin D supplements helped the wound-healing process in diabetes patients.
If wounds take an excessive amount of time to heal and one is not diabetic, it may be indicative of a vitamin D deficiency.
Depression
Vitamin D influences a person’s mental state. Studies have shown the impact of vitamin D on the mental health and moods of people, especially older adults. While more research has to be done to understand how it is a mood enhancer, there is enough evidence to prove that vitamin D supplements play a role in diminishing depression. So if you feel a little down off late, you know this could be one of reasons.
Fatigue
Being as essential as it is, vitamin D leads to differences in the energy levels of a person.
Although fatigue is a symptom of many deficiencies and diseases, in the case of a vitamin D deficiency, it is likely to be associated with headaches, lack of sleep and poor bone health.
Constant Back Pain
It can only be obvious how important vitamin D is for optimum bone health. If one finds that they are suffering from constant back pain without any apparent cause, it can be indicative of a vitamin D deficiency.
It has been found that people suffering from arthritis, muscle pain and chronic back pain have low levels of vitamin D.
What Can You Do?
Oftentimes, vitamin D deficiency goes undiagnosed in a lot of people. A plausible reason for this would be that many of the symptoms overlap with the symptoms of many other diseases. One could end up being treated for the symptoms with drugs and painkillers, or be over-diagnosed with other diseases. Other natural ways include the tried and tested sunlight. Apply your sunscreens but get out more to get some good sunlight. One can also consume fatty seafood or healthy mushrooms which are among the richest natural food sources of vitamin D.
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