It turns out that vitamin D not only supports a balanced mood and immune resilience, but also helps the gut. Emerging research suggests that vitamin D status affects the health of the gut and its highly beneficial bacteria, Mind Your Body Green.
Vitamin D and the gut microbiome
Research indicates that vitamin D contributes to a diverse gut microbiome and restores good bacteria along the GI tract, considering other determinants of microbial diversity such as age and antibiotic use. To fully support gut health, it seems wise to address the condition of vitamin D, which is deficient or insufficient for millions of adults around the world.
Professor Adrian F. Gumbert, Professor of Biochemistry at Oregon State University’s Linus Pauling Institute, said, “The vitamin D pathway is important in regulating immune responses and gut health. There are also different genes regulated by vitamin D receptors that can affect the integrity of the gut barrier and immune defenses in the gut. With Vitamin D deficiency, one could hypothesize that changes in these aspects of the gut could lead to changes in the composition of the microorganisms.
The gut deserves more attention, too. A diverse gut microbiome, a key indicator of digestive health, protects against unwanted invaders, helps improve nutrient and energy extraction, and contributes to healthy immune function, which means better digestion, better mood and cognition.
Two-way road
Not only does vitamin D affect the gut, but the gut also affects vitamin D, particularly how well it is absorbed, which is a two-way street. Previously thought to be a negative process, research indicates that vitamin D absorption is affected by the upper GI tract and the proteins in it. In other words, a healthier gut will be able to absorb vitamin D more effectively. But there is much more room for understanding, according to Gombart, as it is an emerging area of research, and additional studies will allow for a better and deeper knowledge of this important interaction.
Enough Vitamin D
Many adults do not consume enough vitamin D each day. Since many factors affect the body’s ability to make vitamin D in the skin during sun exposure, high-quality diet and supplementation are key to achieving optimal vitamin D status (and even diet is not the most effective way to get enough vitamin D.
These sun confounders include time of day, time of year, geographic location, skin color, SPF wear, air pollution, and even age. So compared to the realities of our lives, of which many of us spend a large part of it mostly indoors, these factors make getting enough D from the sun unrealistic.
When it comes to food sources of vitamin D, it is not so simple, as when recommending eating certain vegetables and foods, because the food source richest in vitamin D is really mushrooms, but the type that contains the essential nutrients is radioactive mushrooms, which are exposed to UV rays UV rays to get vitamin D2 (a less effective form of vitamin D).
Other modest sources of vitamin D include a list of animal products (such as cod liver oil and eggs) and fortified foods such as milk, juices, and cereals. But the problem arises when one considers how much of those nutrients they actually need to consume to get an ideal dose of 5,000 IU or more per day.
According to nutrition expert Professor Ashley Jordan Ferreira, a person needs to eat 294 cubes of cheddar cheese or 7 cups of radioactive mushrooms every day, but unless a person wants to live on cheese cubes for the rest of their life, they may want to choose an effective supplement that contains Contains Vitamin D3 and D2, providing 5,000 IU of sustainable D3 derived from organic algae, organic olive, avocado and flaxseed oils for optimal absorption, in just one softgel per day.