Vitamin D is essential for our body. However, it is not naturally found in many foods. There are some types of food that can give you vitamin D, such as fatty fish (salmon, mackerel and sardines), fortified cereal and fortified milk. Your body will also make vitamin D when it is exposed to direct sunlight as it converts a chemical in your skin into an active form of vitamin.
Vitamin D is not only beneficial for women, but for everyone. One of the types is vitamin D3. It’s good for children. Read more about it in health benefits of vitamin D3 for children.
1. Strengthen bones
Vitamin D is beneficial for the management and absorption of calcium. Therefore, it is essential to build strong bones. Calcium is the most common mineral in the body.
In order to the body to be able to absorb calcium, your body needs vitamin D. By having adequate calcium and phosphorus, you will be able to prevent some diseases, such as tooth loss, osteoarthritis, and joint pain.
2. Improve the brain function
Besides strengthening bones, vitamin D has also been linked to a variety of some body processes, including the brain’s function. Almost all parts of the brain and spinal cord have vitamin D receptors. Vitamin D helps stimulating nerve growth and repair.
Vitamin D gives benefits to the brain by decreasing the inflammation and preserving neurons. In most animal studies, vitamin D has been shown to protect neurons. As a result, it may promote alertness and quick reaction time.
Brain health can also be maintained by consuming some types of food, such as Gelfilte fish. Benefits of Gelfilte fish will help you to optimize your brain properly.
3. Prevent cancer
Even though there should be more studies conducted about this issue, it has been proven by animal study that vitamin D can inhibit the development of tumors and slow down the growth of certain tumors, such as breast, ovary, colon, prostate and even brain.
There’s also a human study conducted which show that higher serum level of vitamin D is related to the lower rates of colon, pancreatic and other types of cancer.
Do you know that tempeh, the famous Indonesian food, can prevent cancer too? Read more about it in benefits of tempeh for cancer. It’s delicious and healthy too!
4. Prevent osteoporosis
There are some studies which suggest that people who get enough vitamin D and calcium are able to slow down bone mineral loss. Furthermore, it helps preventing osteoporosis and reduce bone fractures as well.
If you need to prevent or treat osteoporosis, you can contact your doctor to get the right amount of calcium and vitamin D supplement.
5. Support immune system
It’s not only vitamin C that plays an important role in boosting immune system. Surprisingly, vitamin D is as beneficial as vitamin C. Vitamin D can support the immune system by fighting the harmful bacteria and viruses. No wonder, vitamin D has been very viral and vital during the Covid-19 pandemic.
6. Support oral health
There’s a review in Nutrients which concluded that vitamin D helps our body to absorb calcium better. As a result, it may lower the risk of tooth decay, cavities, and gum disease. In other words, it helps maintain oral health.
7. Battle depression
Depression is very annoying, isn’t it? Women are exposed to depression because of some reasons, such as work, hormones and many more. As we know, the greatest source of vitamin D is sunlight.
Do you believe that the sun can brighten up your mood? It surely does! So, if you are feeling bad mood or depressed, make sure to have enough amount of sunlight.
Furthermore, there’s also a significant relationship between depression and deficiency of vitamin D.
8. Help treating hypertension
Vitamin D deficiency may lead to high blood pressure and organ damage. There’s also a high correlation between hypertension and vitamin D. On the other hand, sufficient supply of vitamin D will be beneficial to treat hypertension.
To cure hypertension, go try drinking some types of tea, such as pirated root tea or earl gray tea as mentioned in health benefits of earl gray tea for the body and benefits of pirated root tea.
Best sources of vitamin D
The next question is how to get vitamin D. The first way is by sunbathing. The cheapest and best source of vitamin D is sunlight. You can try walking around for 20 minutes of sunlight several times a week. However, it is not enough. You may need some supplements to support your vitamin D supply.
According to the ODS, adults age 19 to 70 as well as breastfeeding and pregnant women should take 15 mcg of vitamin D per day. Adults over 70 years old should get 20 mcg of vitamin D.
You can also obtain vitamin D from foods like milk, orange juice, cereals and fatty fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel and sardines).