10 surprising facts about vitamin d

Vitamin D is incredibly important but often overlooked. It’s important to have your levels checked on a routine basis and to make sure that you are not Vitamin D deficient. Here are some reasons why:

1. Vitamin D plays a big role in expressing your genes! Vitamin D modulates about 3 percent of gene transcription in the body. Gene transcription is the process in which the genes you have inherited are put into action.

2. Vitamin D plays a role in almost every single system in your body including your musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, renal, endocrine, and cardiovascular systems.

3. Vitamin D levels play a role in communication between a mom and baby. Having high enough levels of vitamin D when you are pregnant ensures that over 5,000 genes are expressed in your baby.

4. Vitamin D deficiency is very common in people who suffer from pre-diabetes and insulin resistance.

5. Vitamin D deficiency in pregnancy is significantly associated with an increased risk for gestational diabetes, anemia, and preeclampsia.

6. Low vitamin D levels have been found to be a factor in developing Hashimoto’s autoimmune thyroid disease.

7. Vitamin D levels have been found to be low in patients with multiple sclerosis, especially in the severe cases of multiple sclerosis.

8. Vitamin D deficiency increases your chances of death from cancer.

9. Vitamin D plays an important role in your bone mineralization.

10. Vitamin D has a significant effect on your immune system. Its role is similar to the conductor of an orchestra in that it directs the balance between the Th1 and Th-2 cells in our immune system. This balance is crucial for our health and an imbalance of these cells plays a role in developing autoimmune disease. 

And this is just the tip of the iceberg! Now that you know how important vitamin D is for your body, make sure that you spend some time outside everyday to get some sunlight and absorb vitamin D. And have your levels checked to make sure that you aren’t deficient. Ideally, you should aim for levels between 50-75 ng/ml.