When do we talk about vitamin D deficiency?

 As winter approaches, due to a lack of sun exposure, the body lacks vitamin D. Here are six symptoms that can alert you to a possible deficiency.

Vitamin D is produced by our body at 80% thanks to sunlight. However, in winter, between the time change and bad weather, the body is much less exposed to solar rays. Scientists are actually talking about 5 fat-soluble vitamin D since they can be stored in the body. Produced by the latter, they are considered hormones.

Possessing an essential role for bones, a vitamin D deficiency can promote fatigue, depression, or dryness of the skin. Nearly 80% of the Western population and even the majority of the elderly are affected by this health problem, according to a report by the French Academy of Medicine (AMF). Discover the six signs that prove that you are also deficient in vitamin D.

Fatigue and muscle weakness

Vitamin D is synthesized from the sun's rays (UVB) which are rare in winter. It is an essential vitamin that has the function of increasing the absorption capacity of the intestine of calcium (good for bones, cartilage, and teeth). Vitamin D thus strengthens the mineralization of bones. In addition, it also plays a role in maintaining muscle mass. Therefore, a deficiency can lead to muscle weakness: muscle fatigue, loss of strength, difficulty moving.

Vitamin D is therefore essential in the elderly. The latter being less exposed to the sun and having skin that synthesizes less vitamin D, it is necessary to ensure that they have sufficient intakes. Supplementation every 3 months by single dose or via food supplements in the form of daily drops would reduce falls-related to muscle weakness and therefore fracture, in addition to the risk of osteoporosis.

Exhaustion and depression

Winter fatigue and Christmas depression are often linked to a lack of vitamin D. Many studies have correlated the lack of vitamin D with depression. In an Austrian study based on a panel of 25 patients hospitalized for severe depression, depressed patients had a lower rate than healthy people. An American study had shown that lacking vitamin D could be as dangerous as tobacco.

Many doctors consider vitamin D to be a hormone more than a vitamin. Indeed, it plays a role on cells, but also in endocrine glands such as the thyroid or pituitary gland.

Dry skin and cramps

Vitamin D is also involved in the hydration of the skin and tissues since many tissues in the body have vitamin D receptors. It acts on the absorption capacity of phosphorus by the intestines, the latter playing a role in bone mineralization in the same way as calcium, but also in the constitution of cells. The lower the level in the blood, the drier the skin and the more difficult it can be to heal wounds. Dryness can also occur at the level of the joints. These latter poorly lubricated can cause you pain and stiffness when you wake up.

Where to find vitamin D?

Knowing that the sun meets 80 to 90% of our vitamin D needs, doctors recommend exposing ourselves for 10 to 12 minutes a day (arms and legs uncovered). This exposure is sufficient to maintain satisfactory vitamin D concentrations. Fatty fish (herring, salmon, sardines, mackerel), egg yolk, dairy products, and spirulina are also rich in vitamin D. Since the amount of vitamin D is almost zero in plants, it is advisable to turn to fortified products such as soy milk enriched with vitamin D or breakfast cereals.

Gluten intolerant, people suffering from Crohn's disease or inflammatory bowel disease, children, pregnant and lactating women, the elderly are most exposed to the lack of vitamin D. In an adult, the deficiency threshold is set at 50 mmol / L but most specialists of this vitamin estimate that below 75 mmol / L, one is already deficient. If ampoules are often prescribed by doctors, there are fewer dosed dietary supplements to take on a daily basis. This helps maintain our vitamin D levels in the same way that we would expose ourselves to the sun's rays for a few minutes a day.

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