Boost Your Immune Health with Vitamin D - The Power of the "Sunshine Vitamin"

Vitamin D is a nutrient that’s needed for good health. It helps the body absorb calcium, one of the main building blocks for strong bones. Together with calcium, vitamin D helps protect you from developing osteoporosis, a disease that thins and weakens the bones and makes them more likely to break. Your body needs vitamin D for other functions too. Your muscles need it to move, and your nerves need it to carry messages between your brain and your body. Vitamin D and the immune system are closely linked. Given the close link between vitamin D and immunity, vitamins for an immune system should include vitamin D to fight off invading bacteria and viruses.

Vitamin D can be produced by exposure to sunlight – that’s why it’s called the “sunshine vitamin”. Ultraviolet B rays of the sun activate a protein in the skin called 7-dehydrocholesterol (7-DHC). This is then metabolized to the active form of vitamin D, which is vitamin D3. Vitamin D deficiency level can also be avoided by food vitamin D sources such as egg yolk, milk, cheese, beef, or calf liver and certain fish, certain cereals, soy milk, etc.

The Importance of Vitamin D In Immune Health

Vitamin D supports immune health; there is a strong connection between vitamin D immune system. Those who do not have adequate vitamin D levels might be at increased risk of infections and autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, and inflammatory bowel disease. Vitamin D and immunity are closely linked.

How Vitamin D Supports the Immune System?

There is an important role played by the vitamin D immune system. Vitamin D regulates the production of a protein that selectively kills infectious agents, including bacteria and viruses. It also alters the activity and number of white blood cells, known as T2 killer lymphocytes. This can reduce the spread of bacteria and viruses. Vitamins for the immune system are thus essential to support the immune system, and to reduce the risks associated with vitamin D deficiency levels.

Common Vitamin D Deficiency Symptoms & Risks

The symptoms of vitamin D deficiency may include:

• Tiredness, aches, and pains
• Severe bone or muscle pain or weakness
• Stress fractures, especially in the legs, pelvis, and hips

A healthcare professional can diagnose a vitamin D deficiency by performing a simple blood test. An accurate way to measure vitamin D in your body is the 25-hydroxy vitamin D blood test. A 20 nanograms/milliliter to 50 ng/mL level is considered adequate for healthy people. A level less than 12 ng/mL indicates vitamin D deficiency. If you have a deficiency, your doctor may also order X-rays to check the strength of your bones.

Vitamin D deficiency levels come with several risks such as:

• Loss of bone density. This can contribute to osteoporosis and fractures (broken bones)
• Osteomalacia which causes weak bones, bone pain, and muscle weakness
• Increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease
• Cognitive impairment in older adults
• Severe asthma in children. Children can also develop rickets
• Cancer

Foods & Supplements Sources of Vitamin D

Some foods are naturally rich in vitamin D3. Food vitamin D sources include the flesh of fatty fish and fish liver oils. Smaller amounts of vitamin D are found in egg yolks, cheese, and beef liver. Certain mushrooms also contain vitamin D2. Many foods and supplements like dairy products and cereals are fortified with vitamin D.

Here’s a list of some of the foods and supplements which are excellent sources of vitamin D, which help vitamin D immune function:

• Cod liver oil
• Salmon
• Swordfish
• Tuna fish
• Orange juice fortified with vitamin D
• Dairy and plant milk fortified with vitamin D
• Sardines
• Beef liver
• Egg yolk
• Fortified cereals

How to Optimise Vitamin D Levels for Better Immunity?

Here are some practices that will help optimize vitamin D immune system levels and improve vitamin D immune function:

Spend time outdoors to increase your vitamin D levels through sun exposure. However, be careful about being in the sun for too long without sunscreen, as it increases the risk of skin cancer.

Consume food vitamin D sources and consider a supplement. Since vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, supplements need to be taken with a fat source such as avocado, nuts, and seeds, or full-fat dairy products which can enhance absorption. Some studies also suggest that adequate amounts of magnesium should be consumed to activate vitamin D.

Your health practitioner will be able to best guide you, on how to improve vitamin D and immunity.

The Role of Vitamin D in Fighting off Infections & Diseases

Vitamins for the immune system help develop immunity to fight diseases. Vitamin D and the immune system are linked as vitamin D helps regulate the immune system to fight off invading pathogens like bacteria and viruses. Studies have shown that Vitamin D supplementation helps to reduce the chances of developing flu by acting as a physical barrier against the infection. It modulates the natural and/or adaptive immunity mechanisms to reduce the risk of infection.

Conclusion

Vitamin D has many potential benefits. It may reduce the risk of certain diseases, help improve mood and reduce depression symptoms, help with weight management, and also the enhanced vitamin D helps the immune function healthier, as Vitamin D and the immune system are connected. There are various foods that provide vitamin D sources but it is hard to get enough vitamin D through diet alone. We at Nature’s Source provide you with a high quality professionally recommended healthcare product. As an E-commerce site, we guarantee the safe supply of orders and make your requirements available.

Even Healthcare professionals, Dieticians, and even Nutritionists recommend supplements in case of deficiency, which are prescribed after a blood test and health analysis. So, to conclude vitamin D supplement is essential for immunity and one should adopt measures to preserve health.