A Guide to the D Vitamin
The D vitamin is the only vitamin that is not obtained from foods that are consumed. As an alternative, the D vitamin is in fact obtained by sunlight on the skin. There has been a lot of media coverage about the dangers of obtaining too much sun but it is vital that the skin is exposed to sunlight to obtain the recommended every day allowance of the D vitamin. In reality, the quantity of time that a person has to invest in the sun to receive a adequate dose of the D vitamin is particularly little and just a few minutes a day will be sufficient and not have any adverse effects from the amount of ultra-violet light received.
The most essential function of the D vitamin is to aid control how much calcium is absorbed from food. The majority of the calcium is utilised to create sturdy teeth and bones but it is also needed to send messages along the nerves and to assist muscles, such as the heart muscles, to contract. It is the success D vitamin that ensures that there is constantly enough calcium in the blood to perform these tasks. Other functions that need the D vitamin relate to the immune system and it is believed that it is also a contributing element in lowering the risk of contracting cancer and, in certain, colon cancer.
The variant of the D vitamin that is formed under the skin is known as vitamin D3, or cholecalciferol. This D vitamin is created when the ultraviolet in the sunlight reacts with a variety of cholesterol that is discovered below the skin naturally. The D3 is converted into a much more active form of the d vitamin in the liver and is then diverted to exactly where it is necessary the most. Some of the D vitamin remains in the liver and kidneys to aid reabsorb the calcium from the blood. The rest of the D vitamin is dispersed to the bones to aid them retain their calcium and the intestines to help absorption of calcium from food.
Even though the majority of the D vitamin is formed by means of the exposure of the skin to sunlight there are some foods that do include some of the vitamin naturally. This form of the D vitamin is identified as vitamin D2, or ergocalciferol. This is employed in the same way as the other D vitamins and is the kind utilised to create the majority of D vitamin supplements.
