6 ways this 1 Vitamin Can Significantly Improve Your Health and Prevent Disease
Right now, more than ever, we ALL need to be taking our health and immunity very seriously. At ProActive Health Group, we care deeply not only about helping our patients do the activities they love, pain free, year after year, but also, live up to our name and do our best to ensure our patients are aware of deficiencies in their overall health.
Catching areas of needed improvement allows us to be proactive about our health, and change the course of potential disease.
One of the KEY essential nutrients we want to make sure all of our patients have OPTIMAL levels of is vitamin D. This one nutrient can significantly improve health by:
1. Influencing Gut Microbiome Composition: The Gut Microbiome is a hot topic these days, and rightfully so. It is intimately connected to our immunity, mood, and hormone status, to name a few. New research has shown that vitamin D can change the internal ecosystem in a favourable manner. Specifically, it increases the production of Akkermansia species.
2. Calcium homeostasis. Vitamin D in the form of calcitriol binds to intestinal cells to enhance absorption of calcium and phosphorus, two key nutrients needed for strong bones.
3. Cell differentiation. Vitamin D is required for the differentiation of stem cells into active immune cells
4. Blood Pressure regulation. Vitamin D down regulates the production of renin and angiotensin, which lowers blood pressure.
5. Immune system Modulation. Vitamin D is intimately connected with a type of immune cells cell regulatory T-cells. Regulatory T-cells function to keep other immune cells in check, thereby playing a critical role in the prevention of autoimmune diseases. In fact, inadequate vitamin D levels are linked with rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and type 1 diabetes mellitus.
6. Pancreatic Beta-cell Function. Higher vitamin D levels are associated with increased insulin sensitivity and decreased insulin secretion.
Furthermore, this past year vitamin D has been studied in detail regarding the important role it plays in preventing severe outcomes of COVID-19. A meta-analysis of 27 studies showed that subjects were 64% more likely to have a severe outcome from COVID-19 infection if their vitamin D levels were insufficient, compared to those participants who had sufficient vitamin D levels.
Yes, we have a vaccine now, but in order for the vaccine to be the most effective it can be, we need to mount an immune reaction. Vitamin D, being an immunonutrient, plays an important role here too.