What Are the Health Benefits of Vitamin D?

Vitamin D is essential to the human body. Unavailable from most plant sources, vitamin D is best obtained from natural sunlight, which forms vitamin D in the skin. A 15-minute walk in mid-morning sunlight should provide you with all the vitamin D you need for the day. But why is this vitamin so important? What does it do for us?

Blood Regulation

• Vitamin D regulates blood levels of various essential minerals such as phosphorus and calcium. Without vitamin D, the body will not absorb sufficient amounts of these minerals, leading to deficiencies in the bones and other body systems.

Bone Health

• Aside from its indispensable role in the absorption of calcium, vitamin D also aids in the proper use of calcium in the bone structure. The cells that form and control the bones, osteoblasts and osteoclasts, are regulated by the parathyroid gland, which is in turn regulated by vitamin D. Proper levels of vitamin D go a long way in preventing bone diseases such as rickets and osteoporosis.

Immune System

• Vitamin D is essential to our immune system as well. Many of our important disease-fighting cells, including those that fight cancer, have vitamin D receptors. Scientists believe that risk of autoimmune diseases and various types of cancer is lowered by vitamin D.

Hypertension

• Studies by scientist Roger Bouillon and others, at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, on mice have shown that vitamin D may also play a role in preventing hypertension and high blood pressure. Vitamin D limits the action of certain enzymes which raise blood pressure by increasing sodium and water retention in the blood.

Sources

• Sunshine is the most efficient source of vitamin D; it also produces the most effective form, vitamin D3. Other food sources include fish oils and eggs. Certain types of mushrooms also have considerable amounts.