Vitamin D

Vitamin d plays another important role for the bodies health system. Benefits of vitamin d absorption are normal bone growth and tooth function. Vitamin d facilitates calcium and phosphorus absorption in the small intestine. Since vitamin d aides with bone growth and healthy teeth vitamin d is especially necessary for children. Primary food sources of vitamin d are milk and dairy products fortified with vitamin d. Other foods with vitamin d include several kinds of oily fish such as herring, salmon and sardines. Because of this fact one vitamin d supplement is cod liver oil, which can be obtained in any vitamin store. Another way for our bodies to obtain vitamin d is through our skin. The skin makes vitamin d from sunlight and therefore it is also possible to obtain vitamin d from a tanning bed or just laying in the sun and calling sun rays vitamin d sources. Young children and infants produce enough vitamin d by just spending 5 to 10 minutes exposed to sunlight. Should your child live in a climate where sun exposure is not commonly possible vitamin d deficiencies in children can occur. Rather than giving supplements to these children it is recommended to add fortified foods such as milk and dairy products as sources of vitamin d to their diet.

Vitamin d deficiency symptoms include in young and still growing children bowed legs and flattening of the skull formation. D vitamin deficiency in adults can result in muscular weakness and soft, weak bones. This symptom is called osteomalacia and usually rare in North America and Western Europe. A large intake of fortified foods and vitamin d supplements can result in a vitamin d overdose. Signs of vitamin d toxicity include slowed growth, slowed brain growth, decreased appetite, nausea, vomiting and excess calcium in the blood and overdoses of vitamin d need to be reversed quickly

After a surgery on the gallbladder vitamin d absorption can be a problem. The gallbladder is responsible to break up fats entering the intestinal tract with bile into droplets so small that they can be processed through the intestinal walls and pass into the blood, this way fat soluble vitamins including vitamin d can be absorbed by the body. Is the gall bladder removed or disturbed through surgery this whole process can be disturbed and the body can be at risk of a vitamin d deficiency. Although for the healing process of the gallbladder a low-fat surgery is recommended and therefore another issue with vitamin d absorption occurs.

Vitamin d testing is used to determine bone weakness, malformation and abnormal metabolism of calcium as a result of vitamin d deficiency or an overdose of vitamin d. Another reason vitamin d test sis used for is to check healthy levels in patients with fat absorption diseases after using vitamin d sources such as vitamin d supplements.