Scientific Facts About Vitamin D

Vitamin D is an important nutrient for bone health and its deficiency considered as a disease of the past has re-emerged as an significant health concern. Exposure of the skin to sunlight is the major source of vitamin D and only a small proportion comes from food intake. Vitamin D also has a role in innate and adaptive immunity. The following is a list of facts about vitamin D based on research studies published.

• In the United States, drinking milk is associated with higher levels of Vitamin D in the blood.

• The vitamin D in the edible white button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) can be amplified 400 times using a UV light.

• Vitamin D may reduce cerebral vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage.

• Vitamin D deficiency is repeatedly reported in colorectal cancer.

• Vitamin D metabolites are positively correlated with total cholesterol concentration in colorectal cancer patients.

• Vitamin D is positively correlated with serum albumin in dysphagic patients.

• Vitamin D supplementation is well documented to reduce the risk of developing type 1 diabetes.

• Most deaths due to COVID-19 viral infection are statistically attributable to vitamin D deficiency.

• In Ireland, South East Asian descent could be at a significantly increased risk of rickets, impaired bone metabolism, and osteoporosis which are correlated with vitamin D deficiency.

• Vitamin D deficiency is associated with acute and chronic illnesses, such as infectious, autoimmune, and cardiovascular diseases, stroke, and diabetes.

• Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent in patient with chronic kidney disease.

• Active vitamin D treatment can improve intestinal barriers against bacteria.

• Low vitamin D levels is associated with chronic heart failure.

• Vitamin D treatment can improve the ejection fraction of the heart.

• Vitamin D supplementation does not improve liver enzymes, insulin resistance, glucose metabolism parameters, and lipid levels in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

• Vitamin D insufficiency during childhood and adolescence could cause adverse health outcomes.

• In the elderly, low vitamin D status was associated with low-frequency and speech-frequency hearing loss.

• Men with higher levels of vitamin D are more likely to possess butyrate producing bacteria that are associated with better gut microbial health.

• Prenatal vitamin D supplementation may reduce blood pressure and improves placental angiogenesis.

• Vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased arterial stiffness in newly diagnosed hypertensive patients.

• A woman with vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy will have her breast milk also deficient unless she is taking higher doses of vitamin D.

• Inadequate vitamin D in infants can lead to increased risks of poor bone mineralization and rickets.

• Evidence suggests that vitamin D deficiency contributes to the seasonal increase of viral infections of the respiratory tract, from the common cold to influenza, and now possibly also COVID-19.

• Vitamin D supplementation is particularly important for individuals with dark skin tones.

• Vitamin D improves absorption of calcium however, in some animal studies, vitamin D also increases the absorption of toxic metals, such as lead and cadmium.

• In human studies, vitamin D supplementation from the second trimester of pregnancy do not influence maternal cadmium, mercury, or manganese levels at delivery.

• Combination supplement of vitamin D and calcium significantly decreased the incidence of lung cancer.

• In a rural population exposed to sunlight many hours a day throughout their lives, low vitamin D levels is associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and acute exacerbations.

• Vitamin D can inhibit the proliferation, invasion and metastasis of non-small cell lung cancer cells, promoting cell apoptosis and up-regulate the sensitivity of chemotherapy drugs.

• Study suggest that active vitamin D such as alfacalcidol are more effective in the treatment of osteoporosis and prevention of fractures compared to plain vitamin D (cholecalciferol).

Keywords: vitamin d, vitamin d supplement, vitamins

Sources:

Torres-Gonzalez, M., Cifelli, C. J., Agarwal, S., & Fulgoni, V. L., 3rd (2020). Association of Milk Consumption and Vitamin D Status in the US Population by Ethnicity: NHANES 2001-2010 Analysis. Nutrients, 12(12), E3720. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12123720

Heo, T. Y., Kim, Y. N., Park, I. B., & Lee, D. U. (2020). Amplification of Vitamin D₂ in the White Button Mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) by UV-B Irradiation and Jet-Milling for Its Potential Use as a Functional Ingredient. Foods (Basel, Switzerland), 9(11), 1713. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9111713

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Santos, C. A., Nunes, G., Barata, A. T., & Fonseca, J. (2020). Vitamin D in dysphagic patients who have undergone endoscopic gastrostomy for long-term enteral feeding. Gastroenterologia y hepatologia, S0210-5705(20)30247-8. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gastrohep.2020.05.016

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Hassanzadeh-Makoui, R., Jamei, M., Hassanzadeh-Makoui, M., & Khederlou, H. (2020). Effects of Vitamin D on Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction in Patients with Systolic Heart Failure: A Double-Blind Randomized Clinical Trial. International journal of endocrinology and metabolism, 18(3), e103528. https://doi.org/10.5812/ijem.103528

Wei, Y., Wang, S., Meng, Y., Yu, Q., Wang, Q., Xu, H., Yuan, H., Li, X., & Chen, L. (2020). Effects of Vitamin D Supplementation in Patients with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. International journal of endocrinology and metabolism, 18(3), e97205. https://doi.org/10.5812/ijem.97205

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