Vitamin D (Known as 1-25-dihydroxyvitamin D, Calciferol, Calcitriol, Calcitrol, Cholecalciferol, Ergocalciferol, Vitamin D)

Aids health 
Vitamin 


Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin found in certain foods and is manufactured in the skin as a result of direct exposure to sunlight. The liver and kidneys convert vitamin D from food sources or sunlight to its active form, calcitriol.Vitamin D is important for anyone who is healthy and wants to stay that way. It's especially important for vegetarians (who can easily become deficient in vitamin D) and those living in dark climates, as sunlight helps to synthesise vitamin D.The fat-soluble vitamin D's most important role is maintaining blood levels of calcium, which it accomplishes by increasing absorption of calcium from food and reducing the loss of calcium in the urine. Both help to spare the calcium stored in bones.

Vitamin D helps to maintain the strength of your immune system, aids in the formation of blood cells, and may also help to protect against various diseases [1, 2]. Vitamin D receptors have been found in the pancreas where insulin is made, suggesting that vitamin D is needed for adequate blood levels of insulin [3, 4].

Vitamin D deficiency is common in strict vegetarians (who avoid vitamin D-fortified dairy foods), dark-skinned people, alcoholics, and people with liver or kidney disease. Foods sources of vitamin D include cod liver oil, high-fat cold-water fish (e.g. salmon, mackerel, or sardines), and eggs.
Taking too much vitamin D (more than 1,000 IU daily) can cause a number of adverse effects including excessive thirst, poor appetite, weight loss, tiredness, sore eyes, and itching skin.

Vitamin D helps the body maintain healthy levels of calcium and phosphorus and is essential for building and maintaining healthy bones.Vitamin D should be taken in combination with other vitamins and minerals, preferably as part of a multi-vitamin and mineral supplement.

1. Hayes CE, Cantorna MT, Deluca HF. (1997). Vitamin D and multiple sclerosis. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med, 216, 21-27
2. Cantorna MT. (2000). Vitamin D and autoimmunity: is vitamin D status an environmental factor affecting autoimmune disease prevalence? Proc Soc Exp Biol Med, 223, 230-233
3. Labriji-Mestaghanmi H, Billaudel B, Garnier PE, Sutter BC. (1988). Vitamin D and pancreatic islet function. I. Time course for changes in insulin secretion and content during vitamin deprivation and repletion. J Endocrinol Invest, 11, 577-587
4. Boucher BJ. (1998). Inadequate vitamin D status: does it contribute to the disorders comprising syndrome ‘X'? Br J Nutr, 79, 315-327

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