Many people have an aversion towards sunlight for many reasons. But do you know sunlight is not all that bad? in fact, sunlight is essential for our well-being. Why? It is because of Vitamin-D.
Our bones form the basic framework of our body. Its strength determines the stability of our body. People with weak bones won’t even be able to stand up from their bed. Our bones need calcium for its growth. Vitamin-D is necessary to make our bones absorb calcium. Sourcing calcium directly from foods and supplements won’t be enough. Without Vitamin-D all those calcium will be flushed out of the system. Additionally, we need vitamin-D for insulin secretion, strengthening immunity, and to prevent heart problems.
Our body generates new cells which replace the old cells every day. This happens to bone cells as well. The generation of new bone cells is called osteoblast and destruction of old bone cells is called osteoclast.
We need Vitamin-D for both strengthening and growth of bones. Deficiency of Vitamin-D leads to bone weakness.
Sunlight gives out many types of radiation, among these radiations, UV rays enter our body through the skin. Then it enters the kidneys through our liver and turns into 1,25 Dihydroxy Vitamin-D. This helps with absorbing calcium into our system which in turn strengthens our bones.
We no need to consume any vegetables, fruits, and supplements to source Vitamin-D. It is enough if you are exposed to sunlight for 30 minutes a day. Sunlight Between 7:30 am to 9:30 am and 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm is best suited for our health. You can do exercise, pranayama, yoga, and meditation in this mild sunlight to source the needed supply of Vitamin-D. This will strengthen our body tissues and bones. Among foods, fish, and eggs have a little Vitamin-D content.
Who will become Vitamin-D deficient?
People living in United States of America, Europe, and Australia are not exposed to sufficient amount of sunlight. So these places have higher numbers of Vitamin-D deficient people. In warm countries like India, people suffering from Vitamin-d Deficiency is on the rice for the past 5 years. This is due to the increase in the number of people who do daytime jobs at the office in an Air-conditioned room. This is the main reason why we are witnessing many people suffering from joints and bone problems lately.
How to come out of Vitamin-D deficiency
- Vitamin -D injection can supply us with the needed level of the vitamin.
- You need to expose yourself to mild sunlight for at least 30 minutes a day.
- Avoid drinking alcohol, carbonated drinks, drinks rich in caffeine content, protein shake, and tinned juice.
- Include food items like walnut, almond, greens, fruits, and vegetables regularly in the diet.
- Avoid using sunscreen when you are exposed to mild sunlight. Sunscreens and beauty creams will prevent all the nutrient supply to the skin and it can sometimes cause skin cancer.
So being healthy is not staying inside your home, so come out and expose yourself to Sunlight.
How to test for Vitamin-D levels
We can test for Vitamin-D deficiency through a blood test. The level of Vitamin-D should be more than 30 ng/ml. If it is less than 10 ng/ml it means you have a severe deficiency and need to get it treated immediately. This can lead to severe body pain.
What will happen due to Vitamin-D Deficiency
- Vitamin-d deficiency will lead to weak bones.
- Will lead to diseases like Osteomalacia and Osteoporosis.
- Children will be affected with Rickets. Rickets affected children will have bone deformation, and it will also affect their growth.
- Deficiency of Vitamin-D will affect Pancreatic beta cells which are responsible for insulin secretion.
- When insulin secretion is affected, it will lead to diabetes or increase in sugar levels in the blood.
- It leads to contraction of arteries and blood vessels. This paves way for many heart problems.
- Vitamin-D deficiency can become a primary reason for liver cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, and pancreatic cancer.
- Increases the chances for Arthritis problem.
