What Are the Symptoms of Low Vitamin D?

One of the most valuable vitamins for our health and is certainly vitamin D. There is one interesting fact about vitamin D we have to realize - this vitamin functions as a steroid hormone, too. This means that it affects every single cell in our body and regulates the expression of genes.

Vitamin D plays a major role in the health of our bones and this is the reason why the most frequent symptoms of vitamin D deficiency are connected to various bone-related diseases. Probably the most popular diseases connected with low vitamin D levels are rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults. In case someone has mild vitamin D deficiency, the symptoms will not appear immediately, but later in life. Unfortunately, in this case, it will be too late to prevent vitamin D deficiency and the affected person will have to live with the symptoms of low vitamin D for the rest of its life.

Besides the symptoms connected with bone health, there are some other symptoms of vitamin D deficiency. They are the most undesired symptoms of all and are usually the symptoms of various types of cancer and heart diseases. There are also acne, depression symptoms, muscular and autoimmune disorders, weight problems and others. Unfortunately, the symptoms of vitamin D deficiency are so different, that in case you have some strange symptoms you r doctor can't figure out, it is wise to mention that they are probably connected with low vitamin D levels.

Now, after you have read this, it is important to make sure to maintain your vitamin D levels at their recommended values. For that reason you have to check your vitamin D levels at least once a year, mainly because if the symptoms of vitamin D deficiency don't show up and it proves that your vitamin D levels are low, it will be too late once the symptoms start to appear. If the test shows that your vitamin D levels are low, you can ask your doctor to determine how much vitamin D supplements you should take.

There are some elements and diseases that can affect the vitamin D levels and the absorption of vitamin D in your body. For example, gluten has the ability to eliminate vitamin D from the body and reduce the absorption of various nutrients including vitamin D in your intestines. On the other hand, magnesium can improve the absorption of vitamin D, so it is often recommended to take vitamin D and magnesium at the same time.

As we have mentioned before, the symptoms of vitamin D can range from bone-related diseases to much severe ones, like cancer or heart diseases. Of course, you won't cure these diseases if you take vitamin D supplements, but keeping your vitamin D at optimal levels, can greatly reduce the chances of developing some of the diseases we have mentioned before. And if you realize that the best source of vitamin D is the sun, you simply have to find time to spend more time outdoors exposed to direct sunlight.