Vitamin D For Bone Health and Strength
Vitamin D works in partnership with several other vitamins and minerals to keep the body strong and healthy. Of all the essential vitamins, D is among the most difficult to obtain the daily requirement through naturally occurring sources. Most users rely upon vitamin D fortified foods and dietary supplements to achieve sufficient daily intake.
Vitamin D helps to ensure calcium absorption, especially important in bone health and strength.
The use of this nutrient can increase calcium absorption by 30% to 80%! For those who consistently do not meet the daily intake requirements of this vitamin, rachitis (rickets) and other diseases that cause the bones to be weak are a great risk.
In addition to being beneficial to the immune system, recent scientific research has found that this vitamin also plays a significant role in cell growth and cell differentiation, meaning the cells take on the specialized characteristics necessary to perform tasks in specific parts of the body.
In making Vitamin D useful for the body, sunlight is one the more important natural ways of helping to obtain the daily intake requirement of this important nutrient.
As lifestyles have changed through the years, people are not getting the same degree of sun exposure today as they have in the past.
In addition, in certain geographic regions, sun exposure is reduced for a good part of the year due to winter weather conditions.
That means that there is a important portion of the population that fails to meet the daily requirement levels.
For example, those who work inside, those who live in the northeast, and those who may be older and have health problems that keep them inside more than they were when more active, may suffer deficiencies.
People who have a high melanin level (with darker skin tones) may also not be getting enough Vitamin D, for the melanin that offers certain protections also interferes with Vitamin D production.
Vitamin D supplements should be seriously considered for these groups specifically.
Breastfed babies also may suffer from Vitamin D deficiency. However, with the nearly immeasurable benefits of breastfeeding, a simple oral supplement prescribed by a health care professional is the very best option.
In order to have a sufficient intake of Vitamin D, people from 14 years of age through to 50 years should have 200 IU daily, and children should also have a daily intake of 200 IU.
Adults older than 70 should have 600 International Units, or IU, per day and those from 51 years of age to 70 should have 400 IU each day.
Using a safe and simple dietary supplement containing Vitamin D can be an important part of maintaining your health.
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