How Vitamin D Benefits Your Health

Vitamin D benefits the body by strengthening your bones, aiding your natural defences against diseases and helps maintain your muscles. To see these essential vitamin D benefits, you need to obtain a sufficient amount of the sunshine nutrient. Vitamin D supplementation can help you fight against signs of deficiency.

Table of Contents:

• What is Vitamin D?
• 6 Benefits of Vitamin D
• How Much Vitamin D?
• How to Increase Your Vitamin D Intake
• 5 Signs of Vitamin D Deficiency
• Testing Your Vitamin D Levels
• 6 Sources of Vitamin D

What is Vitamin D?

Vitamin D is a vital nutrient which contributes to your body’s wellbeing. Whether you take vitamin D supplements or focus on a rich vit-d diet, the benefits of calciferol and cholecalciferol (D2 and D3 vitamins) are vital to keeping your body healthy.

Also known as the “sunshine” vitamin because it’s made in the skin when exposed to sunlight. What many people don’t know is that in the UK, there is rarely enough sunlight for healthy vitamin D levels between the months of November and March. Vitamin D benefits your mood, regulates your calcium levels, and aids regular muscle function.

6 Benefits of Vitamin D

Vitamin D benefits essential processes in your body. Supplements can help you reap the benefits of vitamin D and regulate your levels. That way, you can focus on what really matters. Some benefits of vitamin D include:

1. Bone health - Vitamin D plays a vital role in regulating the calcium and phosphorus levels in your bones. It is included in bone supplements to support strong and healthy bones. Vitamin D and vitamin K actually work together with calcium in your bones. This helps to move calcium into the bones, instead of depositing in your blood vessels. You may consider taking vitamin K supplements alongside the sunshine vitamin.
2. Immune health - Vitamin D benefits your immune system by helping you fight infection. Not getting enough may mean your immune defences do not react properly when you come into contact with a cold. Immune system supplements could help you see the benefits of vitamin D in fighting diseases.
3. Conception - This vital vitamin can also benefit fertility chances and health during pregnancy. Maintaining normal levels of vitamin D is important for partners trying to conceive, as well as taking vitamin D in pregnancy. Some may consider taking pregnancy supplements to help support prenatal and postnatal health.
4. Good mood - Serotonin levels in the brain can be affected by the sunshine vitamin. Serotonin is known as the happy hormone because it is important in keeping your mood up and you feeling your best. Vitamin D benefits your mood, and pill-free vitamins can help to improve your intake.
5. Muscle function - Vitamin D benefits your muscles by helping them function normally. Taking supplements can help to encourage proper strength and healthy muscle recovery.
6. Teeth strength - Just as vitamin D benefits your bones, it also helps promote strong teeth thanks to its role with calcium.

 

 

These benefits of vitamin D show how essential the nutrient is to your everyday life. Including it in your daily routine can ensure you’re giving yourself the best chance of reaping these vitamin D benefits and steering clear of the health concerns that come with low levels of vitamin D. This vital nutrient can be found in many natural sources, as well as supplements which ensure you’re getting your share of the sunshine nutrient.

How Much Vitamin D?

In order to avoid a lack of vitamin D, you need to know how much vitamin D you require. According to the NHS, adults need at least 10 micrograms of vitamin D a day. This includes children from the age 1 and up, and those who are pregnant or breastfeeding, or at risk of deficiency.

How to Increase Your Vitamin D Intake

Increasing your nutrient levels can help to ensure you give yourself the best chance of reaping the benefits of vitamin D. Increasing your intake is easy with BetterYou’s answer to easy supplementation. BetterYou have pioneered oral sprays, which are pill-free supplements, an effective alternative to taking tablets.

Our oral sprays mean you can easily include the ‘sunshine’ vitamin in your daily routine and help ensure your body receives the vitamin D benefits it needs. Always acknowledge nutrient reference value guidelines when supplementing vitamins, and ensure you stay below the safe upper limit.

The BetterYou range of vitamin D supplements have been specially formulated to deliver the benefits of vitamin D directly into the mouth. BetterYou’s award-winning range of Vitamin D Supplements are available for the whole family. From lower-dosage children’s vitamins, to vegan supplements made from plant-based sources. That way, everyone can see how vitamin D benefits them, and help to avoid the health problems which can come with low levels.

5 Signs of Vitamin D Deficiency

Spotting vitamin D deficiency is important to ensure your body is getting what it needs. Without the right levels, you won’t be able to experience the benefits of vitamin D. Some signs you have a lack of vitamin D are more easy to spot than others. We’ve created a list of what to look out for when considering your vitamin D levels.

1. Aching Bones - One of the benefits of vitamin D is that it works to support your bones by regulating calcium levels within the body. If you aren’t getting enough vitamin D, or the other nutrients needed for healthy bones, your bones can weaken and you could be more at risk of stress fractures. If your bones are aching, it may be due to deficiency.
2. Weak Muscles - The ‘sunshine’ vitamin is needed for normal muscle function. If your muscles are feeling weak, they may be losing strength due to low levels. This can be more common in older people because elderly people’s skin cannot produce vitamin D as well as when they were younger, and therefore won’t feel the benefits of vitamin D so readily.
3. Feeling Low - Another benefit of vitamin D is its role in serotonin levels in the brain. Low vitamin D has been linked to a low mood, especially the winter blues, could be helped with vitamin D.
4. Constant Coughs and Colds - Vitamin D benefits your immune system, and not getting enough may mean your immune defences do not react properly when you come into contact with viruses.
5. Gut Problems - Vitamin D is a fat-soluble nutrient and so it is affected by any gastrointestinal conditions that affect your body’s ability to adsorb fat. Issues such as IBS may be linked to vitamin D deficiency. If this occurs, you may be at a greater risk of deficiency and might not experience the benefits of vitamin D.

If you think you have any signs of vitamin D deficiency you should speak to a medical professional. You may be advised to increase your levels in order to see the benefits of vitamin D, or to have your levels tested.

Testing Your Vitamin D Levels

You can easily test your vitamin D levels and potential symptoms with a blood spot test. BetterYou have a Vitamin D Test Kit to check your levels from the comfort of your own home.

You’ll receive a personalised supplementation plan and a complimentary supplement based on your results. With BetterYou, it’s easy to check if you are at risk of vitamin or mineral deficiency. If you have insufficient levels, you won’t reap the essential benefits of vitamin D.

6 Sources of Vitamin D

Vitamin D is produced in the skin from sun exposure. Your skin uses UVB radiation to make this type of vitamin. Vitamin D can be found in a variety of food sources to increase your intake alongside supplements. That way, you can ensure you get the right dosage of vitamin D. These sources include:

1. Oily fish (tuna, mackerel, salmon)
2. Eggs
3. Dairy products (milk, cheese)
4. Beef liver
5. Fortified foods (cereal, breads, juices)
6. BetterYou vitamin D supplements

Eating more of these foods alongside supplements can help you to see the benefits of vitamin D.

Those with a diet that excludes animal products may struggle to obtain enough vitamin D from their food. Vitamin D is one of the supplements that vegans should take, to help those who consume fewer animal products experience the benefits of vitamin D.

Vegetarian supplements help to bridge the nutrient gap that may be caused by a restricted diet. Due to these dietary requirements, this vitamin is also one of the supplements vegetarians should take,

Supplementing with BetterYou

We specialise in key nutrient supplementation. With pill-free supplements, you can support your body with magnesium supplements for better sleep and iron supplements for energy. Encourage your healthy lifestyle today with BetterYou.