When your skin is exposed to the sun, it produces vitamin D and sends it to your liver. If you take supplements contain vitamin D, your gut also sends the vitamin D to your liver. From here, your liver changes it to a substance called 25(OH)D. When your doctor talks about your vitamin D levels, he means the amount of 25(OH)D you have in your blood.*

This chemical is sent all over your body where different tissues, including your kidney, turn it into activated vitamin D. This activated vitamin D is now ready to perform its duties. From here, it gets a little complicated, but you can think of activated vitamin D working in two ways:

1. Manages calcium in your blood, bones and gut.*
2. Helps cells all over your body to communicate properly.*

As you can see, vitamin D goes a long way and without vitamin D, your body can’t perform at its best.*

If your body doesn’t get enough vitamin D to keep it healthy, this is called vitamin D deficiency. Severe vitamin D deficiency can sometimes cause cause soft, thin, and brittle bones. A long-term lack of vitamin D has also been linked to conditions such as cancer, asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure, depression, Alzheimer’s, and autoimmune diseases.*

The best way to know is to get your vitamin D blood levels. There’s home kits you can order for as low as $25.

There are many since Vitamin D3 is very important to the human body but here are some common symptoms:
- Fatigue
- Muscle pain or weakness
- Joint pain
- Weight gain
- High blood pressure
- Restless sleep
- Poor concentration
- Headaches
- Bladder problems
- Constipation or diarrhea

As always, we recommend speaking with your trusted health practitioner, however The Vitamin D Council recommends everyone take at least 5000IU’s daily to meet modern D3 needs.

Insufficient sun exposure

It is especially important for individuals with limited sun exposure to take a vitamin D3 supplement daily. Homebound individuals, people living in northern latitudes, individuals who wear clothing that completely covers the body, and individuals who always use sunscreen or work in occupations that prevent exposure to sunlight are at significant risk for vitamin D deficiency.*

Obesity is also associated with vitamin D deficiency. Since vitamin D is fat-soluble, it can be taken into fat cells and stored, thus making it potentially less available in our body's metabolism. Production of vitamin D may also be reduced in obese individuals. For example, in one study, when normal and obese subjects were exposed to the same amount of radiation from natural sunlight, obese subjects only produced 55% the amount of vitamin D as normal weight subjects.*

As you age, the production of vitamin D precursors in the skin decreases, and the kidney is less able to convert vitamin D to its active hormone form.*

It is estimated that anywhere from 71 to 98% of Americans, depending upon their age and community living environments, are deficient in Vitamin D. More than half of all American children are vitamin deficient. Supposedly almost 3/4s of pregnant women are vitamin D deficient, predisposing their unborn children to all sorts of problems. Worldwide, it is estimated that the epidemic of vitamin D deficiency affects one billion people.*

No one is exactly sure why this is happening apart from the fact that we spend too much time indoors and when we go out into the sun, we lather sunscreen on ourselves.*