Do you need a daily vitamin D supplement?

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For the human body, vitamin D is an extremely important substance in participating in the process of bone structure, and it also helps maintain calcium levels in the blood at a stable level. However, how to properly supplement vitamin D is still something that many people wonder about.

1. Vitamin D is necessary for the body how?

Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble steroids. Its main function is to enhance the intestinal absorption of calcium and phosphate. For each person's body, vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) and vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) are the most important compounds in the vitamin D group.
Some typical roles of vitamin D in the body, such as:
For bones: Vitamin D3 is an important factor in the body's bone formation process, it also helps maintain calcium levels in the blood. Moreover, vitamin D3 is a bridge leading calcium to growth cartilages. It can be said that the catalytic role of vitamin D3 is very necessary to build a strong bone system. For the digestive system: For the digestive system, especially in the small intestine and duodenum, vitamin D helps transfer calcium to prevent calcium accumulation and clumping in the intestines. This also helps to reduce and improve indigestion, bloating, and increase the body's ability to absorb other nutrients. For the respiratory system: Vitamin D helps the body fight harmful agents to the respiratory system and significantly reduces phenomena such as shortness of breath, asthma, respiratory inflammation. For the kidneys: Vitamin D plays an important part in preventing the risk of kidney stones and reducing calcium reabsorption in the renal tubules. Support the prevention and treatment of some dangerous diseases: if the body can maintain a stable vitamin D level, the risk of serious diseases such as colorectal cancer and breast cancer will be significantly reduced. tell. In addition, vitamin D also helps prevent stroke, cardiovascular disease and peripheral vascular occlusion. Vitamin D is also a substance that helps the spirit to be happier and more excited; is an effective therapy to treat women with problems such as depression, affective disorder, schizophrenia, and other mental disorders.

2. The body's need for vitamin D

The amount of vitamin D will depend on many different factors, including an individual's race, age, latitude, sun, clothing, and health status. When it comes to the body's need for vitamin D, it means that the vitamin D intake can ensure that our body is not deficient in vitamin D. The vitamin D intake will be determined through the 25-content test. (OH)D in the blood.
For many years ago, scientists thought that the vitamin D requirement of both adults and children would be only 200-400 IU/day (IU- International unit, 1 IU corresponds to 1 IU). 0.025 μg vitamin D) with an estimate that the body's vitamin D can also be synthesized from the skin. Adults over the age of 50 need more vitamin D.
However, recent studies in both adults and children have shown that the 25(OH)D level in the blood cannot be kept at a balanced level if the vitamin D requirement is only 400 IU/day. is for women who are pregnant and breastfeeding, or people of advanced age.
The nutrition advisors of the US Government have set out the appropriate daily vitamin D requirements for each different audience, namely:
Infants up to 1 year old: need at least 400 IU/day. However, it should be noted that it should not exceed 1,000 IU/day for infants up to 6 months, and 1,500 IU/day for infants 6 months to 1 year. From 1-18 years old: need 600-1,000 IU/day, not to exceed 2,500 IU/day for 1-3 years old children; 3,000 IU/day in children 4-8 years old and 4,000 IU/day in children over 8 years old. From 19-70 years old: need 1,500-2,000 IU/day, at least 600 IU/day, not to exceed 4,000 IU/day) Over 70 years old: need 1,500-2,000 IU/day, at least 800 IU/day day, however, should not exceed 4,000 IU.day. For those that include children, adults who are obese, and people who are taking glucocorticoid medications, anti-seizure medications, the antifungal drug ketoconazole, or medications for AIDS, higher doses of vitamin D are needed. 2-3 times more than normal.

3. What problems does vitamin D deficiency cause?

When the body is not provided with the necessary amount of vitamin D, it will cause the following health problems:
Easy to break bones because the body takes calcium from the bones Muscle pain, joint pain, bones become weak leading to bone malformation. The body is constantly tired for no apparent reason Children under 2 years of age with vitamin D deficiency may have atypical initial disorders, such as fatigue, irritability, profuse sweating, slowness teething, hair loss at the nape of the neck, easy to convulse, fontanel heals slowly, curvature of the spine when standing or walking with bows.

4. What problems does an excess of vitamin D cause?

Oversupply of vitamin D to the body also causes serious health consequences and counterproductive of vitamin D. These problems include:
Increased calcium/blood causes dangerous complications Children under Overdose of vitamin D at 1 year old causes symptoms such as irritability or convulsions due to hypercalcemia/hypercalcemia, leading to growth retardation, even kidney failure or death. For other ages, high doses of D2 and D3 can be toxic. With adequate diet and sunbathing, if taken in excess of 1,800 IU/day (45μg), growth will be delayed because of early ossification of cartilage. When taken over 50,000 IU/day, it will be extremely toxic to both children and adults, can cause problems such as loss of appetite, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, mental confusion, urine. If the state of hypercalcaemia/blood is prolonged, it will cause calcification of soft tissues, even kidney failure and death.

5. Vitamin D for pregnant women

Pregnant women, in addition to paying attention to calcium supplements, also need to provide an adequate amount of vitamin D for the body. Because vitamin D is an essential substance for the absorption of calcium and phosphate, contributing to the process of bone structure of the body. For women who are in pregnancy, vitamin D from the mother's body will be a source of vitamin D to the fetus. If the mother does not have enough vitamin D, the fetus will be deficient in this vitamin and seriously affect the development of the baby.
When vitamin D deficiency, calcium will be difficult to absorb, causing serious consequences such as rickets in the mother's womb, or when the fontanelle is born, problems related to birth defects, contractions convulsions due to hypocalcemia or osteomalacia.
About 80% of the body's important vitamin D supply comes from synthesis in the skin under the influence of sunlight. Therefore, pregnant women should spend a certain amount of time outdoors and can supplement vitamin D through foods derived from animals rich in vitamin D such as eggs, avocados, milk, fatty fish. However, it should be noted that the use of drugs to supplement vitamin D for pregnant women should follow the instructions of the doctor.

6. How should vitamin D supplements be taken?

In fact, there are not many natural foods that contain adequate amounts of vitamin D. However, there are still some foods that you can use every day to make up for the lack of vitamin D in your diet. body, such as:
Fatty fish: Fatty fish such as mackerel, tuna, salmon, eel are all ideal fish to provide vitamin D for the body. In particular, salmon is not only rich in vitamin D, but it is also a very good food for the cardiovascular system. Mushrooms: Each 1 cup of mushrooms will correspond to 400 IU of vitamin D. However, most mushrooms only produce vitamin D2, while the human body produces vitamin D3. Eggs: One egg contains up to 40 IU of vitamin D. However, according to the American Heart Association, it is not recommended to eat too many eggs. Milk and dairy products: a glass of milk can provide about 100 IU of vitamin D, a box of yogurt will have about 80 IU of vitamin D. One of the very effective ways to supplement vitamin D is sunbathing. Because the source of vitamin D is mainly endogenous, our body can synthesize vitamin D by itself under the effect of ultraviolet rays in sunlight. Therefore, in the winter with little sunlight or when the body is not sunbathing, it will be deficient in vitamin D, thereby leading to the risk of rickets in children. To ensure that the body is provided with an adequate amount of vitamin D, you should sunbathe for about 20-30 minutes every day in the morning (before 9 am).
In case you can't sunbathe regularly, you can take vitamin D instead. Vitamin D supplements have an outstanding advantage of providing the necessary amount of vitamin D for the body without having to be directly exposed to harmful UV rays to the skin. In addition, when using the drug also helps you easily control the amount of vitamin D put into the body to adjust accordingly.
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Article referenced source: patient.info