- Make It Yourself Lavender Heart-Shaped Bath Bombs!
- 20 Things You Never Knew About “Down There”
- 12 Best Foods For Those Suffering From Arthritis Pain
- 12 Personal Hygiene Mistakes Almost Everyone Makes (Mom Never Told You About #4!)
- 15 Medicinal Plants And Herbs From The Cherokee People
- 12 Mind-Blowing Benefits Of Drinking Coconut Water During Pregnancy
- 12 Outstanding Winter Foods That Won’t Fatten You Up Like A Christmas Turkey
15 Very Common Diseases Caused by Lack of This 1 Common Vitamin
Photo credit: bigstock.com
11. Inflammation
Inflammation is a negative response by the immune system. Chronic inflammation is the root cause of many common diseases and low levels of vitamin D have been linked to higher levels of inflammation in the body. Low levels of vitamin D have been linked to IBD, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis.
12. Depression
There are many receptors for vitamin D in various areas of the brain and these are responsible for numerous processes within the brain. Low levels of vitamin D have been linked to depression, and scientists are looking into whether vitamin D supplements can play a larger role in treating those with clinical depression.
13. Oral Health
Several studies have recently shown that there is a significant link between periodontal disease and vitamin D levels in the blood. Elderly persons, who tend to have lower levels of vitamin D, also have higher rates of tooth loss due to gum disease, than those who have higher levels of vitamin D.
14. Higher Cholesterol
Although scientists don’t understand everything about how vitamin D works in the body, one thing that is known is that this vitamin helps to regulate cholesterol levels in the blood. In fact, when the body does not get sufficient levels of vitamin D, the vitamin D precursors in the blood turn to cholesterol rather than into vitamin D, which is what happens when the body is exposed to sunlight.
SEE ALSO: How To Fight With Vitamin D Deficiency Infographic
15. Cancer
Low levels of vitamin D have even been linked to the development of cancer. One study showed that more than 75 percent of those with various types of cancer all had low levels of vitamin D. Those who had the lowest levels of vitamin D had the most severe cases of cancer. In fact, some studies show that increasing your vitamin D intake can reduce your risk of developing colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, and many others by as much as 50 percent. More research is needed in this area, but as of this writing, all the studies done in this area have come back with the same results.
There are really very few foods that contain enough vitamin D to keep your body properly supplied with this important vitamin. And even though we call it a vitamin, it’s not like most other vitamins. Vitamin D is actually a steroid hormone that the body is designed to obtain through sun exposure and not through our diet.
If you live in areas that get very little sunlight or have a lifestyle where getting sufficient amounts of sunlight is not possible, you should take a good quality vitamin D supplement to ensure that your body is getting all the vitamin D it needs. You should take about 8,000 IUs each day of a good quality vitamin D supplement to get optimal vitamin D blood levels.
You can also use safe tanning beds- ones that use magnetic ballast system- to get your vitamin D. Don’t use any other type of tanning bed! Be sure to ask before you use any tanning bed. If you hear a loud buzzing type of noise when you are tanning, then you know that tanning bed is indeed using magnetic ballasts.
References:
Video:
