7-Serious Signs And Symptoms of Vitamin D Deficiency
Vitamin D has become an extremely popular vitamin, partly because there is growing recognition that a vast number of people may be vitamin D deficient. In fact, this pattern is so prevalent that vitamin D deficiency may be a hidden epidemic.
Such an epidemic might seem strange, especially if people do often ask, what are the symptoms of a vitamin D deficiency?
One problem is that the symptoms of vitamin D deficiency can seem fairly vague and generic, so they’re easy to overlook.
Now, low levels of vitamin D are particularly concerning because vitamin D plays a number of key roles in the body. Furthermore, vitamin D deficiency may be linked to a number of chronic diseases, including both cancer and cardiovascular disease (1).
At the same time, vitamin D is actually a hormone, even though we call it a vitamin. Because of this, there are receptors for vitamin D in the cells across your entire body, which is part of the reason that vitamin D is so critical for health.
Estimations of the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency vary dramatically but one study indicated that vitamin D deficiency was present in 41.6% of the American population and is especially common among people with poor overall health and as high as 82% for African Americans (2).
How much Vitamin D should I take?
However, there remains considerable debate about how much vitamin D humans need. Official recommendations tend to suggest that people get between 400 and 800 IU of vitamin D each day (3), although other estimates suggest anywhere from 1,000 IU (4) to 5,000 IU or higher (5) to get the best health benefits.
Regardless of the ideal amount of vitamin D that we need, it’s clear that many people simply aren’t getting enough of this critical hormone. One of the reasons for this is that people often assume they have enough vitamin D. After all, vitamin D is produced in the presence of sunlight and many foods are also fortified with vitamin D.
So, it’s easy to be unaware that you could be deficient, especially if you need to ask, what are the symptoms of low vitamin D?
1. Tiredness or Fatigue
Many of us feel tired or fatigued on an almost daily basis. In fact, this problem is so common that people often dismiss it as a simple fact of life. Yet, feeling consistently fatigued can be an indication of a health problem, especially if you are already getting enough sleep.
To make matters worse, fatigue is often poorly characterized in patients that experience it and many people don’t find solutions. This can have dramatic impacts on quality of life.
The connection between vitamin D and fatigue may seem unusual but there is evidence supporting it. For example, research has shown that those with higher levels of vitamin D in their blood were less likely to experience fatigue than those with lower levels of vitamin D (6).
2. Aches and Pains
Another extremely generic set of symptoms for vitamin D deficiency is the presence of overall aches and pains, particularly in the muscles but also in the joints and bones (9,10) . This pattern is another reason why vitamin D deficiency is often confused with fibromyalgia.
Research into the mechanism for this effect is still in its early stages but there is evidence that there is a vitamin D receptor in nerve cells, which have the ability to sense pain. As such, a deficiency in vitamin D does have the potential to increase sensitivity and lead to generalized aches and pains (11).
3. Depression
Vitamin D deficiency has also been linked to depression. This relationship has mostly been found in observational studies and appears to be especially common in older adults, who are also a high-risk group for vitamin D deficiency (17,18,19).
However, results from experimental studies are less clear, with some studies finding that vitamin D supplementation can help to fight depression in patients with vitamin D deficiency and other studies failing to find that outcome (20,21,22).
4. Loss of Bone Density
Speaking of the connections between vitamin D and other compounds, another one of the symptoms of vitamin D deficiency is the loss of bone density.
5. Hair Loss
In most cases, hair loss tends to get attributed to genetic factors or to stress. However, sometimes nutrient deficiency can also be a cause, including vitamin D deficiency.
6. Slow Wound Healing
One unexpected symptom of vitamin D deficiency is slower-than-normal wound healing. This action may be connected to the role that vitamin D has in controlling inflammation, although the precise mechanism is not known (34).
7. Compromised Immune System
Your immune system plays a critical role in protecting you from disease and in fighting off harmful microbes.
Our immune systems are complex and involve many different components, but vitamin D does play a role in their effectiveness (37). As such, vitamin D deficiency can mean that your immune system does not function as well.
Such an epidemic might seem strange, especially if people do often ask, what are the symptoms of a vitamin D deficiency?
One problem is that the symptoms of vitamin D deficiency can seem fairly vague and generic, so they’re easy to overlook.
Now, low levels of vitamin D are particularly concerning because vitamin D plays a number of key roles in the body. Furthermore, vitamin D deficiency may be linked to a number of chronic diseases, including both cancer and cardiovascular disease (1).
At the same time, vitamin D is actually a hormone, even though we call it a vitamin. Because of this, there are receptors for vitamin D in the cells across your entire body, which is part of the reason that vitamin D is so critical for health.
Estimations of the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency vary dramatically but one study indicated that vitamin D deficiency was present in 41.6% of the American population and is especially common among people with poor overall health and as high as 82% for African Americans (2).
How much Vitamin D should I take?
However, there remains considerable debate about how much vitamin D humans need. Official recommendations tend to suggest that people get between 400 and 800 IU of vitamin D each day (3), although other estimates suggest anywhere from 1,000 IU (4) to 5,000 IU or higher (5) to get the best health benefits.
Regardless of the ideal amount of vitamin D that we need, it’s clear that many people simply aren’t getting enough of this critical hormone. One of the reasons for this is that people often assume they have enough vitamin D. After all, vitamin D is produced in the presence of sunlight and many foods are also fortified with vitamin D.
So, it’s easy to be unaware that you could be deficient, especially if you need to ask, what are the symptoms of low vitamin D?
1. Tiredness or Fatigue
Many of us feel tired or fatigued on an almost daily basis. In fact, this problem is so common that people often dismiss it as a simple fact of life. Yet, feeling consistently fatigued can be an indication of a health problem, especially if you are already getting enough sleep.
To make matters worse, fatigue is often poorly characterized in patients that experience it and many people don’t find solutions. This can have dramatic impacts on quality of life.
The connection between vitamin D and fatigue may seem unusual but there is evidence supporting it. For example, research has shown that those with higher levels of vitamin D in their blood were less likely to experience fatigue than those with lower levels of vitamin D (6).
2. Aches and Pains
Another extremely generic set of symptoms for vitamin D deficiency is the presence of overall aches and pains, particularly in the muscles but also in the joints and bones (9,10) . This pattern is another reason why vitamin D deficiency is often confused with fibromyalgia.
Research into the mechanism for this effect is still in its early stages but there is evidence that there is a vitamin D receptor in nerve cells, which have the ability to sense pain. As such, a deficiency in vitamin D does have the potential to increase sensitivity and lead to generalized aches and pains (11).
3. Depression
Vitamin D deficiency has also been linked to depression. This relationship has mostly been found in observational studies and appears to be especially common in older adults, who are also a high-risk group for vitamin D deficiency (17,18,19).
However, results from experimental studies are less clear, with some studies finding that vitamin D supplementation can help to fight depression in patients with vitamin D deficiency and other studies failing to find that outcome (20,21,22).
4. Loss of Bone Density
Speaking of the connections between vitamin D and other compounds, another one of the symptoms of vitamin D deficiency is the loss of bone density.
5. Hair Loss
In most cases, hair loss tends to get attributed to genetic factors or to stress. However, sometimes nutrient deficiency can also be a cause, including vitamin D deficiency.
6. Slow Wound Healing
One unexpected symptom of vitamin D deficiency is slower-than-normal wound healing. This action may be connected to the role that vitamin D has in controlling inflammation, although the precise mechanism is not known (34).
7. Compromised Immune System
Your immune system plays a critical role in protecting you from disease and in fighting off harmful microbes.
Our immune systems are complex and involve many different components, but vitamin D does play a role in their effectiveness (37). As such, vitamin D deficiency can mean that your immune system does not function as well.
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