What are the causes of vitamin D deficiency? Believe it or not, most vitamin D deficiency causes are related to a person not getting enough exposure to sunlight.
Vitamin D And Sunlight
Our bodies manufacture vitamin D naturally. The rays of the sun trigger this built-in mechanism. This means that people who suffer from this vitamin deficiency are most often folks who have a limited exposure to the sun. Light skinned people require only 10-15 minutes of exposure to the sun on their face and arms a few times a week. People with darker skin are at a higher risk for developing a vitamin D deficiency. People with darker skin need more exposure to sunlight than light-skinned people for their body to produce the same amount of vitamin D.
Sunscreen, smog, smoke, clouds, clothing and even windows can filter out the sun's ultraviolet rays that produce vitamin D in our bodies. If you think you're getting an adequate amount of sunlight, but live in an area that has a lot of smog or is consistently cloudy, you may still be suffering from a vitamin D deficiency.
Other vitamin D deficiency causes include having a medical problem with the kidneys or the digestive tract. People that are obese are also at higher risk of having a vitamin D deficiency.
Are you getting enough vitamin D? It's hard telling because vitamin D deficiency symptoms are often “silent” and you do not know you have a deficiency until it's too late. So, if you have any doubts about the amount the ultraviolet rays you're getting or the amount of vitamin D in the foods you eat, you should seriously consider getting a proper diagnosis.
How A Vitamin D Deficiency Is Diagnosed
If you believe you might have a vitamin D deficiency, your healthcare provider can give you a simple blood test as the active form of this vitamin can be measured through the blood. A normal range is 30.0 to 74.0 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL). A lower level than this would indicate that you do have a vitamin D deficiency and you should definitely discuss this with your healthcare provider.
In addition, to knowing vitamin D deficiency causes, you should also know how to prevent vitamin D deficiency from occurring in the first place…
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