It feels like an epidemic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nearly two-thirds of Americans are deficient in vitamin D, experts say. This is worrisome since this vitamin is crucial for our bone health. Lack of it can result in muscle pain, bone loss, muscle cramps, and fatigue. Eventually, it can lead to osteopenia or osteoporosis, conditions that may lead to bone deterioration and fractures.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some people are at a higher risk than others, including non-Hispanic Black Americans, women, older adults, and those with low income or education, according to the GrassrootsHealth Nutrient Research Institute. Those who have had bariatric surgery may also have difficulty absorbing vitamin D.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vitamin D is absorbed into the body through sunrays and proper nutrition.<\/p>\n
The fear of getting cancer by exposure to the sun has increased the trend for vitamin D deficiency, said experts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alyson Marquez, a registered dietitian with UM Dining at the University of Miami, shares her thoughts on the risks related to this deficiency and how to remedy it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why do so many Americans have a vitamin D deficiency?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vitamin D deficiency can occur for a variety of reasons.\u00a0The\u00a0location in which one lives, the season,\u00a0the time of day, and\u00a0the amount of time spent outdoors, and if the skin is covered with clothing or sunscreen,\u00a0skin color\u00a0(the darker the pigmentation, the longer the time duration is needed in the sun),\u00a0health conditions such as inflammatory\u00a0bowel\u00a0disease, weight loss\u00a0surgeries,\u00a0or one\u2019s weight status are all factors that can impact one\u2019s vitamin D status. Individuals who are overweight require higher levels of vitamin D.\u00a0Nearly two-thirds\u00a0of\u00a0Americans are insufficient or deficient in vitamin D levels per data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data from 2001-2018.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Can it be improved by nutrition?\u00a0<\/p>\n
A vitamin D deficiency is treated through improved dietary intake of foods high in vitamin D as well as\u00a0through\u00a0vitamin D supplementation.\u00a0Often, dietary intake is\u00a0not enough to improve a deficiency. Depending on the season, time of day,\u00a0and geographical location, one can also improve vitamin D levels through\u00a0direct skin exposure to the sun.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What foods are rich in vitamin D?\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s\u00a0important to note that there are not a lot of foods that are naturally high in vitamin D. Foods\u00a0and beverages need\u00a0to have\u00a0vitamin D added to the\u00a0product. Taking foods that are fortified with vitamin D can help meet one\u2019s vitamin D needs. You would want to check the food label\u00a0for\u00a0vitamin D on the food or beverage and see that it has at least 2 micrograms or 10 percent daily value, of vitamin D\u00a0to be\u00a0a good source\u00a0of vitamin\u00a0D.\u00a0Foods that are\u00a0typically\u00a0fortified with vitamin D\u00a0include grains (ready to eat cereals), fish (cod, halibut, herring, mackerel, salmon, sardines, sea bass, snapper, trout, or tuna\u00a0and cod liver oil), egg yolk, milk,\u00a0yogurt, soy milk, and other plant based milks,\u00a0ricotta cheese, mushrooms exposed to UV light or portobello mushrooms,\u00a0and\u00a0orange juice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
How many grams of vitamin D are needed daily?<\/p>\n
The Recommended Dietary Allowance for vitamin D for\u00a0adults age 19-70 years requires 15 micrograms per day, and adults 71 years and older require 20 micrograms per day\u00a0(600-800\u00a0IU). This is set by the Food and Nutrition Board at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It feels like an epidemic.\u00a0 Nearly two-thirds of Americans are deficient in vitamin D, experts say. This is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":224573,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[97,269],"class_list":{"0":"post-224572","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-nutrition"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}