Deficiency Diseases and Good Nutrition
Vitamin D (Calciferol)
Vitamin D is one of those crazy vitamins that can be produced in your body. You can also get your daily requirement from foods. Ultraviolet rays from the sun penetrate deep into your skin and irradiate a cholesterol compound lodged there. This changes the cholesterol into a different form. The new compound, along with ingested D vitamins, goes to the liver, where protivamin D made in the skin and protivamin D eaten is changed to be five times as potent as it was. Then it is transported to the kidneys where it is changed again to be 10 times as potent as the original vitamin D.
C27H43OH The good thing about vitamin D is, if you go outside, you won't get a deficiency. You have to make sure to be out long enough, though. If you have darker skin, the ultraviolet light cannot penetrate as easily (up to 95% of ultraviolet radiation can be blocked by dark skin). Pigmentation is not a problem for getting enough ultraviolet rays unless you are exposed for a very short time every day, such as 15 minutes. Also, if you wear a lot of clothes, such as a nun, you would get a deficiency easier. The higher the latitude where you live, the lower the intensity of the ultraviolet rays. Here's one example of how much sun you need: if you live in Boston and go outside for 15 minutes for 2-3 days a week your body will make enough vitamin D. Of course, it is different for every place and every person, but if you go outside at all you're almost sure to avoid a deficiency. Just about anyone can do that! If you can't get outside very much, use fluorescent lighting if possible because they produce ultraviolet rays also. If you're housebound and you don't have fluorescent lighting, you can also get your vitamin D requirement by eating foods rich in them.
Foods High in Vitamin D Herring, fresh, raw, 1 oz. 6.38 mcg Salmon, 1 oz. 3.55 mcg Milk, cow's, fortified, 1 cup 2.50 mcg Sardines, canned, 1 oz. 2.13 mcg Liver, chicken, cooked, 3 oz. 1.13 mcg Shrimp, canned, 1 oz. 0.75 mcg Egg yolk, 1 0.63 mcg Milk, human, 1 cup 0.025-0.6 mcg Liver, calf, cooked, 3 oz. 0.30 mcg Cream, light 1 Tbls. 0.20 mcg Cheese, cheddar, 1 oz. 0.075 mcg Oysters, 4 0.075 mcg Butter, 1 tsp. 0.035 mcgIf your body makes 2.5 mcg (micrograms; one millionth of a gram) a day, you won't get rickets (vitamin D deficiency). You should get 10 mcg of vitamin D a day until you are about 24 and your skeleton stops growing. After that you only need about 5 mcg to keep your bones in good health. They are constantly being broken down and built up. Remember, you get a new skeleton every 7 years. When you are pregnant or nursing you should be getting 10 mcg of vitamin D a day.
Vitamin D's main function is to increase the absorption of calcium and phosphorus from the digestive tract and to increase their removal from the bones. When there are low levels of calcium in the blood, the parathyroid secretes parathyroid hormone, signaling the kidneys to do the last step in transforming vitamin D to the most potent form. After this, you should have lots of vitamin D floating around in your blood. The extra D stimulates the production of calcium and phosphate binding proteins in the small intestine, thus enabling more of those minerals to be absorbed. More D in the blood also stimulates kidneys to reabsorb more calcium and phosphate from filtered urine. Your body needs so much of these minerals because they are major bone building materials.
Rickets is a disease that occurs in children who do not get enough vitamin D. Healthy babies are born with enough D in their bodies to last them 9 months without getting symptoms of a deficiency. Vitamin D is fat soluble, so it will stay in the body much longer. Mothers, make sure you are getting enough vitamin D to keep your baby healthy. Usually parents don't notice their baby has rickets until they start walking. Their bones are too weak to support their little bodies and their legs bow under the pressure. If you watch carefully, you can see early signs of rickets. The baby is restless, sweats profusely, and when sleeping, often turns their head from side to side so much that it rubs off their hair. When children's bodies don't get enough vitamin D, they cannot absorb enough calcium and phosphorus to mineralize and harden their bones and teeth. These spongy bones cause bowed legs, knock-knees, enlarged joints, pot belly, and beading of the ribs. Their teeth will likewise become soft and irregular shaped. A baby's head grows the fastest at 3 months of age. If the child has a vitamin D deficiency at this time, their head will become abnormally large and square shaped with bulging sides. You can also determine if your child has a deficiency by testing their blood calcium and phosphorus levels. Unfortunately, rickets is a disease that cannot be cured completely and victims will always be short in stature. A good way to make sure your child doesn't get rickets in the first place is to let them play outside every now and again. My Grandmother, a nurse, used to sun each of her babies for 15 minutes, two or three times a week.
When you are an adult and don't get enough vitamin D, you get a disease called osteomalacia. In this disease, your bones become soft and more easily bendable. Sufferers can experience deformities of the spinal cord, thorax, limbs, and pelvis. Vitamin D deficiency can also speed osteoporosis along. This disease is characterized by having light porous bones that break very easily.
You can also get too much vitamin D. When this happens, you have a large amount of calcium in your blood because of the extra amount absorbed from your digestive system and the extra amount taken from your bones. All this extra calcium has to go somewhere, and in this case, hormones don't take the extra calcium to your bones. It gets deposited in your organs! You don't have to be a genius to understand that a bunch of hard calcium stuck in your heart, liver, kidneys, muscles, ect. is very detrimental to your health. Calcium hardens your organs which can be especially scary when you consider your heart. Detrimental effects can still occur months after you stop ingesting so much vitamin D. Toxicities have been known to occur on as little as 45 mcg a day.
One really simple way to avoid the horrible effects of vitamin D deficiency or toxicity is to avoid large dose vitamin D suppliments and get out and enjoy the sunshine! Your body will only make as much as it needs.
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Revised: 14 Sep 99