Vitamin D: What is it and How does it HELP YOU! - a podcast by Discussions with successful health experts such as Ben Greenfield, Terry Wa

We all learned, in our basic education, about the benefits of soaking ourselves in the morning sunshine to enjoy the benefits of vitamin D for bone health. Well, let’s assume our teachers didn’t want to say too much. But the truth is that vitamin D offers more benefits, including improved immune function, resistance to certain diseases, and more. Don’t worry, we shall discuss more on these benefits in this article.

To start with, let’s define what vitamin D is…

What is Vitamin D?

We all know vitamin D to be a fat-soluble vitamin, which belongs to a family of compounds that include D1, D2, and D3. However, can I shock you by letting you know Vitamin D is actually a hormone and not a vitamin? Surprised, right? Well, basically, vitamins are obtained from the foods we eat, but in the case of vitamin D, they can be synthesized by the body.

When ultraviolet rays or sunlight hits your skin, the rays convert a protein called 7-DHC into vitamin D3, which is then processed by enzymes in the kidney and liver to become activated which does the magic in our body.

However, you can also get vitamin D from food sources such as egg yolk, oily fish, and whole milk. You can even find them in many kinds of breakfast cereals.

How does vitamin D help?

Vitamin D plays an important role throughout the body. Apart from supporting bone health, it works to support the health of the cardiovascular and nervous systems. More so, it helps to regulate insulin levels and support diabetes management.

However, vitamin D is mainly important for immune system health. It offers anti-inflammatory benefits and boosts the production of immune cells in the body.

Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with a number of illnesses and disorders, including cancer, cognitive disorder, autoimmune disorders, and Parkinson’s disease.

So it is important to get vitamin D from sunlight or your diet. You can also take vitamin D supplements if your body is not synthesizing enough of this hormone. This can help to boost your overall wellness and immune defense.

However, you need to be careful when you expose yourself to sunlight. The same UVB radiation that helps you make vitamin D is also responsible for sunburns and even skin cancer. Little wonder, we are often advised to keep it moderate and stay under the morning sunlight instead of the scorching afternoon sunlight.

So you have to keep it moderate. If you have a light complexion, 10-15 minutes of outdoor exposure to sunlight is sensible to produce plenty of vitamin D daily. But if you’re dark in your complexion, you can get 20-30 minutes of exposure to sunlight to make vitamin D daily.

Here are a few suggestions: You can decide to eat your lunch outdoors, take a midday call outside, or take a short stroll while you have your zoom meetings. Doing all of these can offer great benefits to your immune system and overall health.

You can consult Dr. Jason Jones at our Chiropractic office at Elizabeth City, to learn more about the benefits of vitamin D and good food sources of this fat-soluble nutrient that you can include in your diet.

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