Vitamin D Deficiency: A Global Medical Issue
What is Vitamin D?
Vitamin D is an extremely important fat-soluble vitamin with a variety of functions. Its primary functions are promoting calcium uptake in the gastrointestinal tract and balancing proper ratios of calcium and phosphate. This promotes proper bone mineralization and prevents bone-related diseases like rickets in children, osteomalacia in adults and osteoporosis in older adults. The vitamin also plays a key role in many bodily processes, including cell growth, replication and even neuromuscular and immune functions.
Global Deficiency
A recent study found that more than 33% of the world’s population has deficient serum vitamin D concentrations. On top of this staggering statistic, there were a couple of other interesting facts. Vitamin D values were higher in North America than they were in the Middle East and Europe. This may seem surprising, but the fact is that darker-skinned people have higher protection from UV penetration, which the body needs in order to make vitamin D naturally. Plus, both Canada and the United States are legally required to fortify milk and other foods with vitamin D. There are age-related variances only in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. This can be extremely critical for geriatric care in the coming years, given the record number of seniors this generation and the fact that there has been a fourfold increase in osteoporosis-related hip fractures since 1990.
Steps You Can Take
You can get Vitamin D through three sources: sunlight, food, or supplements. Natural vitamin D production requires exposure to sunlight, specifically UVB rays. There are many factors that affect your vitamin D production — including time of day, time of year, skin tone and location. As we mentioned before, the darker your skin, the longer you need to expose yourself to sunshine. It’s also a good idea to expose more of your skin to boost your body's vitamin D production. This is especially crucial for darker-skinned people who live in colder climates that receive few UVB rays, especially during the winter. Generally, if your shadow is shorter than you are, the sun’s rays are ideal. If your shadow's longer than you, you aren’t producing vitamin D right now.
Not everyone can rely on sun exposure alone for their vitamin D production. Plus, Studies have found the average UK citizen spends only 17 minutes outdoors, and people in the US spend 87% of their time indoors. So certain climates prevent reliable vitamin D production from the sun. For example, if you live in Edmonton, vitamin D production from October to April (longer the darker you are) is impossible. This means you have to rely on dietary vitamin D either through foods or supplements. Fish liver oil and meat from salmon, tuna and mackerel are your best bets for food-derived vitamin D. Other foods, like beef and eggs, also contain small amounts.
However, if you’re vegetarian or vegan, you’re only left with taking supplements. The Institute of Medicine’s Food and Nutrition Board and the Endocrine Society recommend 600 and 2,000 IU per day, respectively. But this figure can vary, depending on medical conditions. Ideally, you'll want 50 nmol/L (nanomoles per litre) serum concentrations, but as low as 30 nmol/L is still acceptable. To ensure that most people will fall within the range of 30–50 nmol/L serum concentrations and aren’t at risk of toxicity, and given the growing trend of vitamin D deficiency globally, the Vitamin D Council recommends an intake of 5,000 IU per day.
So, are you getting enough?
Feature Image: wikimedia.org
Vikram Bettadapura
Author
When he’s not blogging, Vikram Bettadapura works at a busy vet clinic. Born in Bangalore, he grew up in Abu Dhabi and later moved to Ontario, where he earned a BSc from the University of Guelph. Currently based in Toronto, he's an avid reader, passionate about culture, social issues, and ...
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