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VITAMIN D FACTS
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble nutrient
that the human body naturally produces through exposure to
sunlight. As with all fat-soluble vitamins, vitamin D requires
specific proteins to break it down allow the vitamin to interact with
the cells and tissues. Vitamin D can also be stored in the body,
usually in the liver.
The majority of people produce enough vitamin D naturally to fulfill
their needs. Ultraviolet radiation from sunlight will cause skin
cells to change other nutrients into vitamin D3. This is an
inactive vitamin, but is changed by the liver and kidneys into the
active form of vitamin D.
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Dietary
supplements, including fortified foods, also provide the
inactive form of vitamin D which undergoes the same chemical
transformation in the liver and kidneys.
Vitamin D acts as a hormone and regulates the amount of calcium and
phosphorus in the blood, and also regulates the amount of these
chemicals that get absorbed into the bones. Both calcium and
phosphorus are required to strengthen your skeletal system.
Vitamin D
is a necessary ingredient in the prevention of rickets.
Studies have been conducted that show
that vitamin D may be used in the
immune, nervous and reproductive systems. Vitamin D is also
utilized
by the pancreas, skin and muscles.
As a person ages, the body is less effective at converting the inactive
vitamin D into the active vitamin D. As a result, most people
will
require additional intake. However, for most people, this will
not
mean having to take a supplement, just ensure that you have adequate
(but not excessive) amounts of sunshine and eat a healthy, well
balanced diet and you should produce all of the active vitamin D that
your body needs.
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