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Vitamin D's functions
Vitamin D has many important functions in the body, unrelated to calcium regulation.
Some of these functions require blood levels of Calcidiol (the storage form of vitamin D) to be several times higher than those required to prevent rickets.
Author's Message
I created this website so you would know
- why you need vitamin D3
- how best to take it.
It's a long story, but this is the short version:
Vitamin D3 will increase your quality-of-life and life-expectancy.
Best way to get D3? Sunlight, nature's own prescription.
But if we avoid the sun, we still have two choices:
- supplement an effective dose, or
- remain vitamin D-deficient.
Choose wisely!
Alex St Clair
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This page contains...
What is vitamin D?
Three forms of vitamin D.
What causes Low Vitamin D?
Why vitamin D can transform your health.
Vitamin D3 Capsules (5000 IU)
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Vitamin D - Power Nutrient Promotes Good Health
What is vitamin D?
Vitamin D is the name given to a vitally important group of micro-nutrients which includes vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol).
When activated in the body, vitamin D3 becomes a potent steroid hormone, switching genes on or off, and instructing our cells what work to do.
Vitamin D's effects are varied and profound.
More than 50 serious diseases including cancer, heart-disease and diabetes have been linked with low vitamin D blood levels.
Hi there, I'm Alex St Clair. Welcome to this website. I've got good news and bad news.
Good news: Medical research has shown that we can all be much healthier if we build up our vitamin D reserves to the optimum level. Most of us are way short.
Bad news: Vitamin D is complicated - hard to understand. Some people can't (and many more won't make the effort).
Got a few minutes? Here are D basics:
In our bodies, we find three main forms of Vitamin D:
1. Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol) is raw vitamin D
Where does it come from? Pre-vitamin-D.
That's a cholesterol-like compound stored in our skin, which is made in the liver.
When sunlight shines on our skin, pre-vitamin D changes into vitamin D3.
Here is what you need to know about this process:
- UV-B light is part of the ultraviolet spectrum naturally present in sunlight whenever the sun is high (above 30 degrees or so) in the sky.
- When the sun is low in the sky, the light has to travel through a thicker layer of atmosphere, which absorbs nearly all the UV-B. Result? No vitamin D.
- Clouds and heavy air pollution also absorb most UV-B, so direct sun through clean air works best.
- Even a thin layer of window glass absorbs UV-B.
- There's only so much pre-vitamin D in your skin at any one time, and once it's all been converted to vitamin D3, the process stops - even if you stay in the sun.
2. Calcidiol is the storage form of vitamin D
Cholecalciferol doesn't hang around in the body for long. It gets converted by enzymes in our liver, to Calcidiol, the storage form of vitamin D.
Calcidiol is also known as 25-hydroxy-vitamin-D, or 25(OH)D.
Still with me? O.K. Nearly done.
Calcidiol is stored in fat, muscle, blood, and in the liver itself, creating a vitamin D reserve.
But calcidiol is not the active form of vitamin D. There is one more step:
3. Calcitriol - the active form of vitamin D
Calcidiol is converted by enzymes in our kidneys (and other body tissues) to the active form of vitamin D, calcitriol.
Calcitriol is a potent steroid hormone, responsible for all the powerful health benefits of vitamin D.
It's production in the body is carefully regulated by enzymes and counter-enzymes, and controlled by the parathyroid gland in the neck.
But it depends primarily on the level of calcidiol stored in our body tissues. If we haven't stored enough calcidiol, we can't make enough calcitriol.
What Causes Low Vitamin D?
Basically, we just don't get enough sunlight on our skin, so we can't make enough vitamin D3. Why?
- Most of us live far from the tropics
- We work indoors and clothe our bodies
- For city-dwellerss, high-rise buildings create perpetual shade
- City haze absorbs most of the UV-B
- When we travel to work or relax at home, we stay behind glass, leaving all the UV-B outside
- Finally when we do venture outdoors, we cover up with sunscreen to protect our skin from sun damage, aging and cancer.
Is it any wonder that we are vitamin D deficient?
It's true we can obtain a little vitamin D from food, but not nearly enough to prevent deficiency. (See Vitamin D Sources.)
Fortunately, we can boost our vitamin D3 by taking it as a supplement.
Why Vitamin D Can Transform Your Health
The activated form of vitamin D is a powerful hormone.
Optimum quantities of this vitamin D hormone improve the condition and function of our
- immune system
- brain and nerves
- bones and joints
- muscles.
In addition, vitamin D
- improves mood
- reduces pain and inflammation
- helps control blood sugar levels
- reduces blood pressure.
That's just the short list. If you want to know the full story, take a look at Vitamin D Benefits.
More benefits are being discovered by researchers every year.
Vitamin D Deficiency
Unfortunately for many, the health consequences of chronic vitamin D deficiency include greatly increased risks for
- heart disease
- cancer
- arthritis
- immune disorders
- Over 50 other diseases.
So here is the good news I promised you:
If you are young, the damage to your health may be easily (and cheaply) avoided.
Even if you are older, you may still be able to reverse the damage caused by vitamin D deficiency.
You just need to know how to safely raise your vitamin D level.
