The Sunshine Vitamin: What is Vitamin D?

The Sunshine Vitamin: What is Vitamin D?

What is Vitamin D and Why Is It So Important To Your Health?

 

Have you ever wondered why stepping out in the sun feels so rejuvenating? It's all thanks to Vitamin D. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that plays several key roles in maintaining overall health. This vitamin can be uniquely synthesized by the body when skin is exposed to sunlight, specifically ultraviolet B (UVB) rays.

 

The two main forms of vitamin D include (1):

 

1) Vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol): Food sources are more limited but may include wild mushrooms.

2) Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol): Found in animal products such as egg yolk, salmon, mackerel, herring and produced in the skin when exposed to sunlight.

 

Maintaining adequate vitamin D levels is essential for your overall well-being. Deficiency in this vital nutrient can lead to a host of health problems, from bone disorders to a weakened immune system. Key functions of Vitamin D include:

 

  • Calcium Absorption and Bone Health: Vitamin D enhances the absorption of calcium in the gut, essential for maintaining strong and healthy bones. It can help prevent rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults, both of which are conditions characterized by weak or soft bones. Adequate levels of vitamin D and calcium are important to support prevention of osteoporosis (2).
  • Immune System Support: Vitamin D plays a crucial role in modulating the immune system, enhancing the pathogen-fighting effects of monocytes and macrophages—white blood cells that are important parts of the immune defence and decreasing inflammation (3).
  • Muscle Function: It contributes to muscle function, and deficiency has been linked to muscle weakness and increased risk of falls, particularly in the elderly (4).
  • Cardiovascular Health: There is evidence suggesting that vitamin D may play a role in cardiovascular health, although the mechanisms are not fully understood. It has been associated with lower risks of heart disease and high blood pressure (5).

 

As our lifestyle habits change, many of us cannot rely on our bodies to produce adequate vitamin D but when it comes to vitamin D supplementation, there's more than meets the eye. This essential nutrient comes in two main forms: Vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) and Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol). While both types are vital for our health, they have some key differences that can impact how well they work in our bodies. Vitamin D3 is generally considered more effective at raising and maintaining overall vitamin D levels in the blood while the conversion of D2 to its active form can be less consistent, leading to variability in effectiveness (6).

 

 

Sources:

 

  1. Benedik E. (2022). Sources of vitamin D for humans.International journal for vitamin and nutrition research. Internationale Zeitschrift fur Vitamin- und Ernahrungsforschung. Journal international de vitaminologie et de nutrition, 92(2), 118–125. https://doi.org/10.1024/0300-9831/a000733
  2. Voulgaridou, G., Papadopoulou, S. K., Detopoulou, P., Tsoumana, D., Giaginis, C., Kondyli, F. S., Lymperaki, E., & Pritsa, A. (2023). Vitamin D and Calcium in Osteoporosis, and the Role of Bone Turnover Markers: A Narrative Review of Recent Data from RCTs.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland), 11(1), 29. https://doi.org/10.3390/diseases11010029
  3. Ao, T., Kikuta, J., & Ishii, M. (2021). The Effects of Vitamin D on Immune System and Inflammatory Diseases.Biomolecules, 11(11), 1624. https://doi.org/10.3390/biom11111624
  4. Dawson-Hughes B. (2017). Vitamin D and muscle function.The Journal of steroid biochemistry and molecular biology, 173, 313–316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsbmb.2017.03.018
  5. de la Guía-Galipienso, F., Martínez-Ferran, M., Vallecillo, N., Lavie, C. J., Sanchis-Gomar, F., & Pareja-Galeano, H. (2021). Vitamin D and cardiovascular health.Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland), 40(5), 2946–2957. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2020.12.025
  6. Tripkovic, L., Lambert, H., Hart, K., Smith, C. P., Bucca, G., Penson, S., Chope, G., Hyppönen, E., Berry, J., Vieth, R., & Lanham-New, S. (2012). Comparison of vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 supplementation in raising serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D status: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The American journal of clinical nutrition, 95(6), 1357–1364. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.111.031070
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