Vitamin D is an essential nutrient, and certain amount of its intake on a daily basis is extremely vital for our health. Apart from promoting the absorption of calcium in our gut and maintaining sufficient serum calcium and phosphate levels, vitamin D also promotes the growth of our bones and cells, and as well prevents or reduces the joint inflammation. Unfortunately, as easily as it is available, a lot of people have been complaining of symptoms which arise from being deficient of this vitamin. And before we even begin to think of overlooking this scarcity, it must be realized that lack of sufficient vitamin D in our body could lead to a number of short as well as long term complications.
Where to obtain Vitamin D from?
There are various sources of obtaining this nutrient from and these options need to ascertained and made use of.
Diet
Most common is by consuming vitamin D rich foods. These are available both in the natural as well as fortified form, and these food options are definitely recommended to be supplemented into our daily diet regimen. Some of these include:
· Natural Foods: Mushrooms, egg yolks, saltwater fish, fish liver oil.
· Fortified Foods: Breakfast cereals, milk, yogurt, margarine, and orange juice, etc.
Health Supplements
On the other hand, we can obtain vitamin D by means of supplements. Various multi-vitamins are available these days in order to make up for any lack of this essential nutrient in our body.
Sunlight
Yet another idea, probably one of the easiest, natural, and most recommended, is to expose our skin to at least 15 minutes of sunlight, each day. Sunlight (Mainly the UV rays from the Sun) is an excellent source, which prompts the production of vitamin D in our body, thus bagging the title – ‘the sunshine vitamin’.
Is This Enough?
However, the vitamin D thus obtained, is not quite useful just yet. It needs to go through two stages of hydroxylation in our body. This results in the production of what is known as calcitriol, which is by far the most active form of vitamin D.
Absorption of Calcium and Vitamin D
Calcium which is an essential nutrient for human body has a major role to ensure that the nerves in our digestive track are able to conveniently transmit signals to each other, thus maintaining a healthy digestive system. The various sources rich in calcium include low fat milk, cheese and yogurt, broccoli, green beans, almonds, and dark leafy vegetables, etc. Supplements rich in calcium carbonate and calcium citrate are also commonly recommended in order to maintain a healthy calcium level in our body. Research, however, has suggested that no matter how much calcium we might consume, it remains insufficient if it is not appropriately ‘absorbed’ by our body. That is where the role of vitamin D comes in.
What Is The Problem?
When calcium is not appropriately absorbed by our body, the cells remain devoid of this nutrient, and then our body has no other option but to extract the required calcium from our bones – the so called calcium stores. However, over a period of time, this process only leads to highly weakened bones. Also, new bones are kept from being formed since most of the calcium goes into providing for the body. In fact, a significant calcium deficiency in our body can also lead to the onset of osteoporosis. In order to prevent the developing the deteriorating malady of osteoporosis, it is rather necessary to include sufficient calcium in our diet, and support its absorption with vitamin D.
Vitamin D for Calcium Management
Vitamin D is believed to perform a systemic calcium management, by increasing the calcium absorption from the intestine during calcium homeostasis. The vitamin D receptor cells are present all along our digestive track. These cells allow the formation of Calcitriol, a vitamin D by-product, which is fundamentally a hormone that leads to sufficient extraction of calcium from our diet as well as from the gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, by regulating the calcium levels in our body, it provides the nerve cells that are present in our digestive system, the necessary calcium that is needed to transmit signals to each other. In the long run this practice mainly aids in suitable digestion. Together with calcium, vitamin D also prevents the symptoms of osteoporosis. Vitamin D, therefore, plays an important role in digestion and promotes a healthy bone mass.
Watch Video: Essential Ayurveda Diet Tips
About the Author:
Dr Sonica Krishan is Author and Speaker in the areas of Healthy and Joyous Living through Ayurveda, Meditation, Yoga and other Contemplative practices. She is a leading Ayurveda Professional in India. She is also Health Writer, Columnist, Editor, Ayurveda Consultant and Holistic Healing Coach. Dr Sonica is open for National as well as International Collaborations with interested people / institutions in fields of Ayurveda, Meditation and Yoga.
Dr Sonica Krishan’s Books are available at Amazon
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