It’s not the sun

Bangalore’s salubrious weather is not helping your daily quota of Vitamin D, a vitamin most easily attained by the body through the absorption of sunlight. Dr Shonali Sabherwal, a certified macrobiotic food consultant explains why a large number of people are now Vitamin D deficient. It’s not just about the sun.

Adequate fill

Normally speaking, Vitamin D aids a large number of critical functions in the body without which systems begin to fail. It helps absorb calcium in the body and maintains phosphorus levels which are critical for bone development. It also helps with weight loss and reduces muscle fatigue and skin disorders.

It improves your immunity and is also known to reduce the incidence of cancer and heart diseases. According to studies, adequate quantities of the vitamin also help combat depression and type II diabetes.

In spite of your sun tan, you might still be deficient for the vitamin owing to the following reasons:

Junk yard woes

The kidneys play an essential role in converting Vitamin D into a usable substance for the body. Most people in cities suffer from what might be known as ‘adrenal fatigue’. Lifestyle ills such as drinking excessive tea/coffee, not sleeping enough, consuming processed foods and too much salt end up having a snowball effect on your system.

The adrenal glands located above the kidney regulates your stress response and immunity,  which are affected adversely by these excesses. Better immunity, in turn, ensures better absorption of Vitamin D. Help your adrenals by resting adequately, cutting back on sugar and processed foods and eating more vegetables, grains legumes, etc.

Gut instinct

In order to adequately absorb Vitamin D, the body needs to break down fat which doesn’t happen if the digestive system is ailing. When someone suffers from diarrhea or colitis, there is no absorption of the vitamin as the food consumed passes through and is digested in the intestines instead of the stomach. In such cases, liver pumps in reserve Vitamin D that it stores in its system and if the liver is weak as well, the body is denied these stores. People advised to consume oil-based laxatives also suffer from low Vitamin D absorption.