Vitamin D’s importance for skin and hair

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Have you ever noticed that you don’t feel your best when you are cooped up in your home on a sombre, rainy day? That could be due to a lack of vitamin D.

Vitamin D, or the sunshine vitamin, plays an important role in keeping our overall health in check. Vitamin D is naturally made in our bodies in response to sun exposure.

We can also get it from other sources, like various foods and supplements. The following article talks about the importance of vitamin D for our general health, especially our skin and hair.

What is the importance of Vitamin D?

Here is a list of reasons why vitamin D is important for our general health.

It makes our bones strong as it helps in the absorption of calcium and phosphorus. Hence, it prevents us from breaking bones, resulting in fractures.
It keeps our teeth healthy and our blood sugar levels in check.
As we get older, so does our brain. Vitamin D keeps our brains young, healthy, and focused.
Vitamin D keeps the immune system strong and helps the lungs work properly.
It makes sure that our arteries are open so that the blood can carry nutrients like oxygen to our hearts.

Even though we get vitamin D naturally from the sun, it is also important to get it from other sources like the following:

Egg Yolks
Red Meat
Salmon
Mushrooms
Liver

100 IU is the vitamin D requirement for adults, 400 IU for pregnant women, and 200 IU for children and infants. A deficiency of the vitamin can cause rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults.

Vegetarians and vegans are the most prone to vitamin D deficiency as most of the natural sources of vitamin D are fish and meat.

The Importance of Vitamin D for Skin

The presence of sufficient vitamin D is significant for healthy skin. The lack of vitamin D is associated with skin diseases like psoriasis and atopic dermatitis.

Even though we naturally get vitamin D from sunlight, it is always a good option to get prescribed supplements from a doctor. Due to various factors, including the presence of melanin in the skin, particularly in Indians, the absorption of the vitamin may not be occurring as it should.

Excessive exposure to sunlight can also cause skin damage, premature ageing, and skin pigmentation.

The Importance of Vitamin D for Hair

If you have tried everything to prevent hair fall but nothing seems to work, it is time to get your vitamin D levels checked.

A lack of vitamin D in your body may cause hair fall and hair brittleness and lead to diseases like alopecia for both men and women.

This happens because the deficiency of the vitamin in our body causes a loss of serum. The serum is what helps prevent hair fall. So if you are losing a lot of hair, it may be more than just stress.

You can increase your intake of vitamin D in your diet or take prescribed supplements.