The body uses vitamin D to regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body to keep bones, teeth, and muscles healthy.
The body does not make enough of the vitamin from sunlight, so it is recommended to take vitamin D supplements between months of less sunlight.
After this period, the body begins to produce enough of the vitamin from sunlight. Vitamin D deficiency can cause a number of complications; A number of signs are present when someone has a serious deficiency.
This includes severe pain and weakness in the muscles that can make it hard to do everyday things like climbing stairs or getting up from a chair.
As a result, this can lead to a person developing a waddling style of walking.
Other symptoms of severe deficiency include bone pain if moderate pressure is applied and the development of a hairline fracture causing tenderness and pain in the back, hips, pelvis, thighs, and feet.
While vitamin D symptoms in adults are uncomfortable, they can be harmful in children.
When a child is growing, he needs strong bones and muscles to maintain growth progress; a child with vitamin D deficiency is more likely to have poor growth.
In addition, a bone condition known as rickets may also develop; This is a condition that affects bone development and causes pain and can lead to bone deformities.
A vitamin D deficiency not only affects the child physically but also their mental health and children experience a higher degree of irritability.
In extremely rare cases, children can develop the rare heart condition cardiomyopathy.
Vitamin D isn’t just about getting too little, it’s possible to get too much.
While it is impossible to overdose on vitamin D from sunlight, other conditions such as heat stroke and dehydration are possible, it is possible to overdose on vitamin D.
The maximum recommended dose of vitamin D for an adult is 100 micrograms per day or 10 micrograms for children.
Too much vitamin D can lead to its own set of complications, including a condition known as hypercalcemia, in which excessive calcium buildup leads to weak bones along with kidney and heart damage.
Vitamin D, like other supplements, is best consumed in moderation and as part of a balanced diet and not consumed in excess.
During the pandemic, vitamin D has risen to prominence as it has been promoted as a way to treat or prevent COVID-19.
In response to rumors about the link between vitamin D and COVID-19, the NHS says: “There have been some reports of vitamin D reducing the risk of coronavirus. But there is currently not enough evidence to support taking vitamin D alone to prevent or treat COVID-19.»
That is not to say that vitamin D does not have health benefits, simply with regard to COVID-19 those “benefits are possible, but the evidence is scant, indirect, and inconclusive”.
Outside of supplements, vitamin D can be found in a number of foods such as oily fish, red meat, liver, and egg yolks.
For more information on vitamin D deficiency and dietary information, please consult a dietitian or your GP.