Vitamin D and Its Health and Beauty Benefits

You may recognize vitamin D as nutrient added to milk and cereal, but do you know what vitamin D does, and why it’s important to your health? This article discusses vitamin D’s use, its sources, and why we need it.

Written by Andrea Lewis, Green Health Research Contributor

What Is Vitamin D and Where Is It Found?

Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin which is added to some food products and can be taken as a supplement. Vitamin D is also obtained we are exposed to the sun and the suns’ UV rays trigger our skin to produce the vitamin. However, in an age where we know how dangerous the sun can be, it is best to seek vitamin D in other sources.

Vitamin D is not naturally found in most types of food, which makes it different from many other vital nutrients. Vitamin D is found in certain types of fish, like salmon, tuna, and mackerel, and also in beef and chicken liver. Since vitamin D is not present in most food, it is added to many dairy products like milk and yogurt, as well as most ready-to-eat cereals.

What Are Vitamin D’s Benefits?

Vitamin D has many health and beauty benefits. Some of the most important follow:

The Development & Health of Bones

Vitamin D is critical to the development of healthy bones and teeth. Vitamin D helps to develop and protect bones by ensuring that our bodies can properly absorb the calcium we ingest. Without vitamin D, our bodies could not adequately absorb and process calcium and so bone development would be impossible. Insufficient vitamin D can lead to bones that are thin, brittle, and misshapen.

Because of this, vitamin D is vital to women and children, whose bones are the most fragile. Vitamin D deficiency in children leads to the bone condition Rickets, and in women inadequate vitamin D can contribute to osteoporosis.

Cancer & Immune System Functions

Several studies have shown that vitamin D can help prevent colon, prostate, and breast cancer. People with similar risk factors for these types of cancers who were given vitamin D were consistently less likely than their peers to develop these cancers. Vitamin D has also been shown to actually attack cancer cells that were present in patients’ bodies, and to fight fibroids and other tumors.