What is Vitamin D3?

What is Vitamin D3?

Cholecallllllllfffffol? How do you say that and what is it?

Vitamin D3, also know as cholecalciferol, is essential to our good health.  D vitamins aren’t actually vitamins, they are pro hormones and, they are the only vitamins which are produced by our bodies.

What are Sources of Vitamin D3?

Our natural source of vitamin D3 comes from sunlight which promotes vitamin D synthesis from cholesterol in the skin. This is fine for those of us who live in tropical climes but for those of us who live in colder climates, with dull, dark winters, it can be a problem getting enough D3.  People with darker skins will also need more vitamin D3 than those with fair complexions, as the extra melanin found in darker skin slows down the absorption of vitamin D3.

Other sun blockers include: –

  • Using too much sun block
  • Heavy pollution
  • Living in cities with sky scrapers constantly blocking the sunlight
  • Not venturing outdoors

Vitamin D3 can also be found in the following foods: –

  • Cod liver oil
  • Sardines
  • Salmon
  • Mackerel
  • Swordfish
  • Herring
  • Tuna
  • Raw milk
  • Caviar
  • Eggs

It’s important to note that when a product says it’s fortified with vitamin D, it’s usually referring to vitamin D2 and not D3.

What Does Vitamin D3 Protect Us Against?

Rickets is the most common disease of old that comes to mind when we think of vitamin D3 deficiency but today, we have a far greater knowledge of the health problems that are associated with a lack of vitamin D3.  It is therefore vital that we keep up our vitamin D3 intake, either through sunlight, food or supplements, to potentially help us prevent the following problems occurring: –

  • Weakened immune system
  • Osteopenia or osteoporosis
  • Bone and muscle pain
  • Stress fractures
  • Hair loss
  • Hypertension
  • Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s
  • Autoimmune diseases
  • Depression
  • Cancer, especially breast, prostate and cancer of the colon
  • Eczema
  • Psoriasis
  • Type 1 diabetes
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