13 DISEASES CAUSED BY VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY
“The sunshine vitamin,” Vitamin D is crucial for our health as it influences your entire body.
Did you know that Vitamin D is actually a steroid hormone which we get from sun exposure, food sources and supplementation? In fact, Vitamin D receptors are present in most human cells.
Unfortunately, most “health professionals” tell you to avoid the sun to minimize skin cancers.
This is because these “professionals” fail to understand that vitamin D deficiency raises your risk of skin and other cancers. Vitamin D deficiency can also cause heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis and other chronic diseases.
THESE ARE THE SIGNS OF VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY
- Weak bones. Vitamin D helps your body to pull calcium and phosphate from the digested food in your intestines. Vitamin D deficiency can lead to a loss of bone density, which can contribute to osteoporosis and fractures (broken bones).
- Frequent illnesses. If get sick more often than usual, experiencing cold-like or flu-like symptoms, low vitamin D levels may the underlying cause.
- Muscle pain. Because your muscles contain pain receptors called nociceptors that respond to different stimuli. A vitamin D deficiency leads to a chemical stimulus that causes the nociceptors to send pain signals.
- Inflammation. A study done at the University of Missouri nutritional sciences has found that vitamin D deficiency is associated with inflammation, a negative response of the immune system, in healthy women.
- Asthma – Vitamin D supplementation of 1,200 IU daily has been has been found to minimize asthma attacks and reduce their severity.
- Depression – Vitamin D deficiencies have been linked to depression and anxiety.
- Heart disease – Recent studies also show that vitamin D deficiency is linked to more serious health risks such as coronary artery disease, heart attacks, and strokes.
- High blood pressure – Vitamin D Deficiency has been associated with high blood pressure.
- Rheumatoid Arthritis -Studies have found that vitamin D can ease the pain and stiffness associated with RA.
- Multiple sclerosis – Current evidence supports that vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of developing MS.
- Cancer – Various kinds of cancer have been linked to D deficiencies, including breast cancer, prostate cancer and colon cancer.
- Periodontal disease – Vitamin D helps in the formation of defensins and cathelicidins which, in turn, can minimize harmful bacteria in the mouth.
- Diabetes -An observational study from the Nurses Health Study that included 83,779 women > 20 years of age found an increased risk of type 2 diabetes in those with low vitamin D status.
Unfortunately, it’s hard to get vitamin D from a normal diet. It’s found at the highest concentration in fatty fish such as tuna, mackerel and salmon. Some mushrooms such as reishi are also high in vitamin D!
Reishi Contains Vitamin D
Mushrooms are one of the only good dietary sources of Vitamin D which makes them a particularly beneficial supplement for vegetarians and vegans. In fact, mushrooms can convert ultraviolet light from the sun into vitamin D.
Additionally, reishi mushrooms exhibit incredible health benefits—antioxidant, immune-boosting. The compounds in reishi interact with human cells at the microscopic level and are able to stimulate a natural process called autophagy in the body. Autophagy is the body’s way of cleaning out damaged cells, in order to regenerate newer, healthier cells. .