Vitamin D Vital For Health

Susan B Trachman

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin found naturally in some foods and has a significant impact on the health of cells. It reduces cellular growth (which promotes cancer) and improves cell differentiation (which puts cells into an anti-cancer state). That makes vitamin D one of the most potent cancer inhibitors and explains why vitamin D deficiency has been linked to colon, prostate, breast, and ovarian cancer.

This supervitamin helps regulate calcium metabolism, which is necessary for bone development. In addition to cancer, it helps prevent cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression, autoimmune disorders, and some forms of dementia. Vitamin D helps fight inflammation in your body. It modulates the immune system by regulating cell signaling pathways through vitamin D receptors found in bone, muscle, kidneys, skin, and the digestive tract.

Inflammation is our body’s defense mechanism against phenomena it recognises as foreign. However, as with any complicated defense system, an error may occur. Inflammation helps our body fight off bacteria, viruses, and other toxins. However, if our immune response continues after the threat has passed, it can damage our healthy tissue, as is the case with autoimmune disorders. Interestingly, in countries where sun exposure leads to high levels of vitamin D in their population, autoimmune disorders are rare.

Vitamin D inhibits the production of inflammatory mediators involved in the development of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Inflammation in the gut leads to increased permeability of the gut protective barrier. This may lead to what is known as the “leaky gut syndrome,” in which harmful bacteria can leak into the bloodstream and travel to distant sites to cause tissue damage. Vitamin D can help maintain the integrity of the gut by keeping inflammatory mediators at bay. Research has shown that higher levels of vitamin D deficiency are found among patients with irritable bowel disease.

In a study published in Clinical Nutrition, researchers reviewed clinical trials in which cancer patients were given vitamin D3 supplementation along with chemotherapy or standard chemotherapy alone. They found that patients supplemented with vitamin D showed a significant reduction in some of the inflammatory markers associated with cancer and precancerous lesions.

Vitamin D receptors have been discovered in the central nervous system and play a role in brain functions. The receptors are particularly prevalent in an area of the brain involved in memory and emotion. Vitamin D deficiency can make it challenging for your body to manufacture a neurochemical known as serotonin, which is involved in numerous human behaviors and mental health disorders. In the elderly population who have co-existing cardiovascular disease, vitamin D deficiency is significantly associated with depression.

Low levels of vitamin D in pregnant patients are associated with an increased risk of depression. In one study, vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy was associated with decreased perinatal depression. In another study, patients with depression were assigned to two treatment groups. One group was treated with antidepressants alone, the other with antidepressants and 1,500 units of vitamin D. The subjects in the group that had the additional vitamin D had lower depression scores at the end of the trial than those who were treated with antidepressants alone.

The best way to obtain vitamin D naturally is through sun exposure. During exposure to sunlight, a substance in our skin called 7-dehydrocholesterol absorbs ultraviolet B radiation, which turns into the precursor to vitamin D3 and then converts to the active form. The effective campaign to prevent skin cancer has contributed to the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency. People who avoid the sun are three times more likely to be vitamin D deficient than those who enjoy being outdoors during sunny days.

Basal cell skin cancers, the most common type of cancer in the United States, are generally not lethal. So, it’s essential for patients to look after their overall health. Thus, getting outside in the sunshine is a good idea. Just remember to take precautions, especially if you are prone to or have been diagnosed with skin cancer.

Some people may need higher doses over the long run to maintain optimal levels because of differences in vitamin D receptors, older age, living in areas with less sunlight, skin pigment, and ethnic background. Aging skin produces less vitamin D. The average 70-year-old creates only 25 percent of the vitamin D a 20-year-old does. Skin color makes a difference as well. People with dark skin produce less vitamin D. In populations where traditional clothing is worn to limit skin exposure, there is a higher incidence of vitamin D deficiency.

-- Psychology Today