What are the health benefits of vitamin D?

3 May
2021

What are the health benefits of vitamin D?

By Staff Writer

What are the health benefits of vitamin D?

Vitamin D is essential for several reasons, including maintaining healthy bones and teeth. It may also protect against a range of diseases and conditions, such as type 1 diabetes.

Despite its name, vitamin D is not a vitamin, but a prohormone, or precursor of a hormone.

Vitamins are nutrients that the body cannot create, and so a person must consume them in the diet. However, the body can produce vitamin D.

In this article, we look at the benefits of vitamin D, what happens to the body when people do not get enough, and how to boost vitamin D intake.

Benefits

Vitamin D has multiple roles in the body. It assists in:

promoting healthy bones and teeth

supporting immune, brain, and nervous system health

regulating insulin levels and supporting diabetes management

supporting lung function and cardiovascular health

influencing the expression of genes involved in cancer development

Healthy bones

Vitamin D plays a significant roleTrusted Source in the regulation of calcium and maintenance of phosphorus levels in the blood. These factors are vital for maintaining healthy bones.

People need vitamin D to allow the intestines to stimulate and absorb calcium and reclaim calcium that the kidneys would otherwise excrete.

Vitamin D deficiency in children can cause rickets, which leads to a severely bowlegged appearance due to the softening of the bones.

Similarly, in adults, vitamin D deficiency manifests as osteomalacia or softening of the bones. Osteomalacia results in poor bone density and muscular weakness.

A vitamin D deficiency can also present as osteoporosis, for which over 53 million people in the United States either seek treatment or face an increased risk.

Healthy infants

Vitamin D deficiency has links to high blood pressure in children. One 2018 study found a possible connection between low vitamin D levels and stiffness in the arterial walls of children.

Healthy pregnancy

A 2019 review trusted Source suggests that pregnant women who are deficient in vitamin D may have a greater risk of developing preeclampsia and giving birth preterm.

Doctors also associate poor vitamin D status with gestational diabetes and bacterial vaginosis in pregnant women.

It is also important to note that in a 2013 study trusted Source, researchers associated high vitamin D levels during pregnancy with an increased risk of food allergy in the child during the first 2 years of life.

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