The Celebrity Vitamin of the Moment - Vitamin D

Vitamin D is definitely the celebrity vitamin of the moment. It is getting all the press and it all seems to be good! Yes, that line is just an excuse to put up these photos! What of it!

Today we’re going to look at just a few of the functions that Vitamin D performs within the body. But first, a few facts:

• Vitamin D is not even a vitamin…..It’s actually a hormone. This means it can be made in the body in life sustaining quantities. A true vitamin cannot be made in the body and needs to be consumed in the diet.
• We need cholesterol and sunlight to make Vitamin D in our bodies. If our cholesterol is too low, we can’t make Vitamin D.
• Vitamin D (together with Vitamin A) is actually one of the original chemicals involved in the evolution of life - it was around way before humans were invented! In simple terms, it’s an integral part of the animal version of photosynthesis and vital to our existence.
• Vitamin D is fat soluble which means it needs fat to be absorbed. If you don’t have enough healthy fat in your diet, you will be Vitamin D deficient. If you are on anti-inflammatory medication, blood thinning or anticoagulant medication, antacids, birth control pills or other synthetic hormones; if you have disease associated with leaky gut like irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s, Ulcerative colitis, liver disease, have had your gall bladder removed OR are on a low fat diet; then you are likely to be Vitamin D deficient.

When we think of Vitamin D, often the first thought is that it’s good for building strong bones. And it definitely is! But it’s required for so many more functions. Science is still learning so much about this incredibly important substance. What we do know is that most of us have critically low levels of it in our systems and this is very likely to be having a major effect on our populations’ general health.

Here’s a quick list of just a few diseases associated with low vitamin D levels.

• Rickets,
• psoriasis,
• hypocalcemia (low blood calcium),
• osteoporosis,
• cancer,
• heart disease,
• development of high blood pressure,
• obesity,
• osteo and rheumatoid arthritis,
• mental illness,
• chronic pain,
• muscular weakness,
• diabetes - especially type 2 and metabolic syndrome,
• MS and most autoimmune diseases

So in addition to avoiding or working with these diseases, here are more reasons for improving your Vitamin D levels. And it seems we are only scratching the surface.

1. Obesity

If you get enough Vitamin D, you are less likely to be obese. One of the reasons for this is because good levels of vitamin D are associated with increased levels of a protein which regulates glucose and fatty acid breakdown.

2. Natural Antibiotic

It works as a natural antibiotic by stimulating immune cells to make an immune boosting protein helping to defend us from viruses and bacteria. It also has the ability to block signals given by chemicals that cause cancer to develop as well as autoimmune disease and obesity.

3. Blood Pressure and Kidney Health

It is directly involved in protecting us from blood pressure elevation because of it’s effect on a hormone related to our kidneys. It also protects our kidneys from by products of fructose.

4. Healing Psoriasis

Excess Vitamin D is broken down into substances that have been shown to stop the development of psoriasis. Anyone with psoriasis should get their Vitamin D levels checked and work on getting them up to a good level before they take any other action.

5. Critical for those with Autoimmune disease

Anyone with autoimmune disease should work on getting their Vitamin D levels optimised. This is because research has shown that the Vitamin D receptors of people with autoimmune disorders are compromised and they are not getting the full effects of Vitamin D.

6. Reduces Leaky Gut Syndrome

Low Vitamin D levels are also linked with the occurrence of “leaky gut” - that nasty situation that so many of us unknowingly suffer from where food (and other undesirable) particles are passed through our intestinal wall and into our blood stream instead of staying in our digestive tract until they are required to be absorbed or eliminated. This causes our immune system to attack the food particles in the blood as a foreign invader or pathogen and is the cause of many food intolerances and the start of autoimmune disease for many. Healthy levels of Vitamin D are linked to “tight junctions” - the opposite of leaky junctions thus making our guts less leaky!

7. It’s vital as we age

The older you get, the less able to make Vitamin D from sunlight and cholesterol. So the older you get, the more sun or supplementation you need. This is why so many older people see a higher incidence of disease related to leaky gut too.

8. Improves immunity

We can store Vitamin D in our body for a period as long as we have a good protein rich diet. This is important for getting us through periods when there is less sunlight available and (refer point 2) goes a long way to explain why winter is the peak season for bugs and viruses when we consider how many of us have compromised levels of Vitamin D.

9. Vitamin D will keep you young!

Good levels of Vitamin D are associated with longer telomeres. The length of our telomeres determine our cellular age - the longer the better and younger. The photo here shows them on our chromosomes.

So there you have it. Just a few reasons to work on improving your Vitamin D levels to optimal levels. Next time, we will look at how we should go about doing this.

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