2024-01-20 09:40:04
Vitamin D is essential for a carefree life. A deficiency can promote serious illnesses. Here you will find information about causes and treatment.
Vitamins are essential for us. One of them: Vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin, discovered more than 100 years ago. These are so-called calciferols, which are a group of fat-soluble vitamins.
Vitamin D ensures bone metabolism and also plays an important role in other processes in the body. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), it promotes the absorption of calcium and phosphate from the intestine and their incorporation into the bones, and is involved in the formation of proteins and the control of genes.
Sunshine vitamin: Vitamin D supply predominantly via UV-B radiation
Vitamin D is found in fatty fish – such as eel, sardines, sprats or herring -, certain offal, eggs, edible mushrooms if they have been exposed to sunlight, and cod liver oil, i.e. fish liver oil. However, according to the RKI, diet only accounts for around ten to 20 percent of the vitamin D supply because these foods are hardly on the menu in Germany.
The vast majority is formed by the body itself in the skin – thanks to sunlight, more precisely UV-B radiation. But to do this you have to get out into the fresh air, because the rays don’t penetrate through the glass of the window panes. Vitamin D can also be obtained through dietary supplements and fortified foods.
Vitamin D deficiency: causes of the widespread disease in Germany
But especially in the winter months, vitamin D deficiency can occur due to a lack of sun or little time outdoors. Because the body then does not get calcium from food, decalcification and softening of the bones are possible. This has particularly bad consequences for small children in the first few months after birth, because then the bones can bend and the wrists can swell gesund.bund.de explained. Here we are talking about rickets.
Due to the geographical location in Germany, the body’s own production of vitamin D is only possible from March to October, emphasizes the RKI. The body can create reserves that are then used in the winter months. However, UV-B radiation can also be reduced by up to 90 percent in summer, for example in unfavorable weather such as heavy cloud cover. The altitude, the duration of sunshine, the ozone content in the air and air pollution are also important factors.
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Age, skin color and body weight also influence vitamin D levels. Modern lifestyles with more and more time spent indoors are also mentioned, as are clothing habits, because fully covered people make it more difficult for UV-B radiation to reach the skin. Chronic gastrointestinal, liver or kidney diseases, as well as certain medications, can make it difficult to build up vitamin D.
Vitamin D deficiency: symptoms and treatment
However, a vitamin D deficiency is only considered when there is not enough vitamin D in the body over a longer period of time. In addition, clinically relevant symptoms must occur in the event of a vitamin D deficiency.
Identifying features include:
- Osteoporosis
- Rheumatoide Arthritis
- Sleep problems
- depressions
- fatigue
- Bone and back pain
- Bone deformities (primarily the ribs, legs and spine)
- Muscle weakness
- Susceptibility to infections
Determine vitamin D deficiency
Vitamin D levels can be determined in various ways. Loud gesund.bund.de However, a rapid test from the pharmacy is not suitable for a diagnosis. The RKI points to seasonal fluctuations, which is why a low value does not necessarily mean that there is a long-term and serious vitamin D deficiency.
If there is a suspicion of this, doctors ask about typical symptoms, or inquire about diet, exercise in the fresh air, taking medication or illnesses in the family. A physical examination can be carried out or blood samples and laboratory tests can be taken . In children, an X-ray is taken of the hand because deformities could occur there.
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Dietary supplements: This is how you can prevent vitamin D deficiency
To prevent vitamin D deficiency, the German Nutrition Society (DGE) recommends exposing your face, hands and parts of your arms and legs to the sun for five to 25 minutes every day between 12 and 3 p.m. The length depends on the season and skin type. Alternatively, the time for soaking up the sun would have to be doubled between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. or between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Additionally, additional vitamin D should be consumed through your diet. Dietary supplements offer an additional option, but the DGE only recommends this if the vitamin D level cannot be increased through the body’s own production or natural foods. In addition to a vitamin deficiency, an overdose is also possible.
Vitamin D supplements: overdose and risks
Because vitamin D can be stored in fat and muscle tissue, excessive use of dietary supplements, high-dose medications, fortified foods, or a combination of these can lead to poisoning. An overdose can have serious consequences such as:
- increased calcium levels
- nausea
- Loss of appetite
- Stomach cramps
- Vomit
- Diarrhea
- excessive urination or even kidney damage
- Cardiac arrhythmias
Taking more than 100 micrograms of vitamin D daily via tablets or drops is therefore dangerous if this dose is maintained over a longer period of time. Seniors who live in nursing homes are therefore given 20 micrograms of vitamin D per day as a dietary supplement. If necessary, this extent is also recommended for all other people from the age of two.
The Center of Health However, explains that higher doses may be necessary to correct a vitamin D deficiency. For example, 180 micrograms per day are necessary for multiple sclerosis and even 240 micrograms per day for cancer prevention.
Vitamin D deficiency can be compensated for through sunlight, diet or appropriate nutritional supplements. In the latter case, calcium is supplied at the same time.
You can find more helpful information here in our health guide.
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