Low Vitamin D Level Increases Your Risk Of Death
Vitamin D is crucial in strengthening your bones and your immune system. It’s also important for cell growth.
But what if you don’t get enough Vitamin D?
Your risk of death increases by 26%.
This comes from a study of 13,000 men and women by Johns Hopkins researchers. These participants were initially healthy and came from diverse backgrounds.
But a commonality eventually appeared.
For those people with an unhealthy low level of vitamin D — which is 17.8 or fewer nanograms per milliliter of blood — they were 26% more likely to die from any cause.
From this and previous studies, a serious vitamin D deficiency may be linked to higher rates of depression and breast cancer in the elderly, a substantially higher risk of peripheral artery disease, and possibly heart disease.
You can boost your vitamin D intake by eating foods like mackerel, sardines, salmon, and dairy products. Or you can take cod liver oil or vitamin D supplements.
With vitamin supplements, some experts believe that taking between 200 and 400 international units of D is enough to stay healthy.
But be careful not to take too much vitamin D in the form of supplements. That’s because an excess may cause weakness, nausea, poor appetite, confusion, weight loss, and/or constipation.
So it may be better to get more vitamin D naturally.
Just 10 to 15 minutes a day of sun exposure will produce vitamin D naturally in your body. That’s why it’s called “the sunshine vitamin.”
However, in northern cities, the sun’s rays may be too weak to generate vitamin D during the months of October through March.
Because of the twin dangers of too much vitamin D and too little vitamin D, you should always consult your doctor for the best way to get this vitamin for you.
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