D deficiency – Artificial intake can massively damage your health

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Created: 07/14/2022, 10:30 a.m

Of: Sophia Lother

Split

Vitamin D is important for health. A deficiency can be prevented with dietary supplements. But beware: this can also be harmful.

Frankfurt – Especially in the dark season, when the weather is cold and uncomfortable, only a few people are driven outside. The home office in times of the corona pandemic also means that fewer and fewer people are coming outdoors. This is particularly problematic for health. Because the human body needs sunlight, among other things, to produce an important vitamin: vitamin D.

It is extremely important for humans because it regulates the phosphate and calcium metabolism and therefore contributes to hardening of the bones. Besides that Vitamin D promotes a functioning immune system and affects muscle strength.

A vitamin D deficiency can therefore be bad for your health. As the Ärztezeitung summarizes, the list of diseases that are possibly related to the deficiency is getting longer and longer. It includes diseases such as susceptibility to infections, muscle weakness, heart attack, diabetes, rheumatism, depression, Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis. But when is there a deficiency and what should be done about it?

Health: prevent vitamin D deficiency – this is how it works without pills and co.

According to the “German Society for Nutrition” (DGE), there is a deficiency if the serum concentration of the marker 25-hydroxyvitamin D is below 30 nanomoles per liter of serum. This type of deficiency is not the case for the majority of the population in Germany. However, almost 60 percent of Germans do not reach the best possible blood concentration of 50 nanomoles per liter of serum, emphasizes the specialist society.

As a result, more than half are not fully utilizing the health potential of vitamin D. But according to experts, pills and dietary supplements are not necessarily recommended for healthy people. Because the formation of the vitamin can be promoted by an adapted lifestyle and targeted nutrition.

Vitamin D: how much sunlight is necessary?

Sunlight on the skin can be enough for the body to produce the necessary amount of vitamin D. However, how much of the important vitamin is actually produced depends on factors such as the season, the weather, clothing and skin type. Therefore, the tips from the DGE should only be understood as orientation values. Between March and May in Germany, about ten to 25 minutes of sunbathing is enough, depending on skin type. About a quarter of the body surface should be exposed to the sun, for example part of the arms and legs, hands and face.

The skin type mentioned in the table refers to “light to very light skin colour, light red or blond hair and blue or green eyes” for skin types one and two. Skin type three is “medium skin colour, dark hair and brown eyes”. For other skin types, the German Society for Nutrition no data on.

Prevent vitamin D deficiency: These foods have a high concentration of the vitamin

However, these orientation values ​​only refer to the period between March and October. But what is the best way to behave in the dark season? Of course, it also helps to sit in the sun in winter, but since the angle of incidence of the sun’s rays is very flat, there is not necessarily a significant production of the vitamin, as the “Ärztezeitung” reports. The good thing about vitamin D is that it can be stored in the body. So if you build up a supply of the vitamin in summer, you can draw on it in the colder and less sunny months.

But the right diet can also help to boost vitamin D levels. The concentration of this important vitamin is greatest in fatty fish such as herring and salmon. Eggs also have a significant concentration. Various mushrooms and liver are also recommended. However, the “Federal Institute for Risk Assessment” (BfR), for example, emphasizes that the intake of vitamin D through nutrition only plays a subordinate role. The focus is still on the body’s own formation through sunlight.

Too much vitamin D: Overdosing can be bad for your health

There are not only pills and supplements with vitamin D, some foods are now also fortified with vitamin D. However, the BfR emphasizes that taking such supplements is only recommended if there is a proven vitamin D deficiency and the level cannot be improved by food or exposure to the sun. And that’s for a simple reason.

An oversupply of vitamin D can have a negative impact on health. The “Federal Institute for Risk Assessment” warns: “With a regular daily intake of more than 100 micrograms of vitamin D, which with normal eating habits is currently only possible through excessive intake of vitamin D preparations, undesirable effects such as the formation of kidney stones or kidney calcification can occur . For medical reasons, however, higher vitamin D intake levels may be medically indicated.”

Vitamin D deficiency in risk groups: when experts recommend pills and the like

However, some groups of people belong to the risk groups for vitamin D deficiency. This includes, for example, people who are only able to spend a little time outdoors for health or other reasons (e.g. due to illness). According to the BfR, people who only leave the house with their bodies completely covered with clothing for cultural or religious reasons, or people with dark skin.

Older people also belong to the risk group, because vitamin D formation in the body decreases with age. In addition to older people, the risk group also includes very young people. Because babies only get a very small supply of the vitamin through breast milk and should be spared as much as possible from direct sunlight.

For these risk groups, taking a vitamin D supplement is recommended. However, only if a deficiency has been determined and the doctor recommends it to improve the vitamin level. (Sophia Lother)