Solgar Vitamin D Supplement
What is Vitamin D?
You'll probably recognize the most well-known benefits of vitamin D from the popular "Got Milk?" ads of yesteryear; vitamin D helps your body absorb phosphorus and calcium which promote strong teeth and healthy bones. Vitamin D plays a critical role in overall health. It regulates the maintenance of several organ systems in your body, increases the flow of calcium in your bloodstream, and helps your intestines absorb that calcium effectively. Vitamin D also promotes phosphorus absorption and regulates the reabsorption of calcium into your kidneys, all of which allows the mineralization, or hardening, of your bones. It also plays a few other roles such as inhibiting cartilage degradation which improves joint health, and reducing inflammation.
How much do I need?
The recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vitamin D increases with age. For men and women from young adulthood through middle age, 5 micrograms a day is the recommended allowance. The RDA doubles to 10 micrograms once you reach fifty years of age, and increases to 15 micrograms after your seventy-first birthday. Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, meaning that it can be difficult for your body to rid itself of any excess, making it dangerous to consume in large amounts. The recommended daily allowance of vitamin D is measured in micrograms, unlike some water soluble vitamins such as C and B which are measured in milligrams; your body requires far less vitamin D than some other vitamins in order to function normally. It's important to know that vitamin D is measured in two ways, micrograms and international units (IU). Generally speaking, one microgram is equivalent to forty international units; it's best to read the "percent daily value" number on your food or supplement label so that you don't accidentally assume the wrong unit of measurement. Vitamin D supplements are most often recommended for breast-fed babies and vegetarians. Remember, vitamin D can be dangerous in large amounts, so it's best to consult a physician if you are considering taking supplements.
Where can I find it?
Vitamin D comes from two major sources; specific foods contain vitamin D, and it is produced from inside your body when you are exposed to sunlight. Foods that contain naturally high concentrations of vitamin D include liver, egg yolks and cream, which aren't necessarily part of a balanced diet due to their fat and cholesterol content. There are, however, some healthier foods that contain vitamin D in lesser amounts, like tuna, cereals, and yoghurt. Additionally, almost all milk products are fortified with vitamin D – normally 100 international units (that's about 2.5 micrograms) per cup. That would mean that two cups of milk a day is just about sufficient for most adults. Your body can also produce vitamin D from exposure to sunlight. The amount of vitamin D that your body can create in the sun depends on your skin color, because the pigment in your skin can filter out the sun's UV rays. A light skinned person can produce a sufficient amount of vitamin D for a day in about twenty to thirty minutes in the sun; a dark skinned person could take as much as three hours of exposure to sunlight to produce the same amount.
How will I know if I'm not getting enough?
Vitamin D deficiency can occur from an insufficient or imbalanced diet, inadequate exposure to sunlight, or various disorders that limit the absorption of calcium in the intestines. Vitamin D deficiency in infants and young children is known as rickets. Some signs of rickets in infants include delayed sitting, crawling and walking, or misshaped bones or skull. Rickets symptoms in older children include bowed arms or legs, excessive curvature of the spine, knobby deposits on the ends of their bones, and knock-knees, or the inward leaning of the legs. Bowed legs and knock-knees, however, are a normal part of development in children under the age of five or six, and don't necessarily indicate rickets.
