While winter continues to rage on, people tend to spend more time indoors, therefore, getting less sun on top of the limited amount of time the sun is out during the winter. This can cause an increased risk for your vitamin D levels to drop. But vitamin D deficiency isn’t limited to one part of the world but is a widespread problem.
Vitamin D plays a big part in keeping your teeth, bones, and muscles healthy by promoting the body’s absorption of calcium. This is critical when it comes to the proper functioning of our immune system protecting us from bacteria and viruses.
Weather is a large contributing factor as much of our vitamin D levels are obtained through being outside in the sunshine. In the winter, many people are below the appropriate cut-off of Vitamin D levels for healthy bones.
How Can You Keep Your Vitamin D Levels Up?
While many people can produce their own vitamin D anytime their skin is exposed to ultraviolet light (UV) from the sun, you do not need to be out in the sun for long to generate sufficient levels. 20-30 minutes in the sun is good enough.
Where the challenge lies in the winter, in many parts of the world, is that the days are shorter with the sun going down earlier in the days during winter so we do not get enough sun to produce as much Vitamin D as we need. However, there are other ways to obtain more Vitamin D.
Foods such as fatty fish or egg yolks are great natural sources of Vitamin D. But the easiest way to guarantee the correct amount of Vitamin D recommended would be to take a supplement.
What Are The Risks Of Low Vitamin D?
There are many risks when it comes to Vitamin D deficiency there is an increased chance of many bone issues including osteoporosis (bone weakness) in adults, rickets (bone deformity) in children, osteomalacia (bone softening in older adults), myopathy (a disorder of muscles attaching themselves to the bone), and it can cause the low-bone density in elderly as well as menopausal women.
It is important to maintain a good level of vitamin D in your body, especially in these dark and cold winter months. To understand further and figure out how much vitamin D you need in your life, schedule an appointment with your doctor to go over what is necessary for your diet and health.
The experts at LIG Solutions have licensed health insurance professionals with the goal of offering a simple and transparent view of healthcare coverage. There’s no need to spend hours trying to understand different plan options – we’ll work with you to understand your needs and budget to recommend a plan that will work the best for you. And because we have no vested interest in which insurance carrier you go through, you can rest easy knowing we are truly looking out for your best interests.
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