Do You Need to Take Vitamin D Supplements?

Recently, major studies into the effects of Vitamin D have concluded that the public do not need to supplement with Vitamin D. This conclusion is based on the findings that there is no proven health benefit of taking Vitamin D to improve bone health. This may cause a lot of people to say adios and throw away their supplements, but hold your horses, as supplementing with Vitamin D is essential for a range of other health benefits too!

What is Vitamin D?

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that helps regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in your body. It also plays a vital role in overall health of all individuals.

Why Should You Take Vitamin D Supplements?

The major study on vitamin D discourages the UK population from taking Vitamin D supplements because trials show that it doesn’t present any benefit in protecting against falls and fractures. However, supplementing with Vitamin D produces a whole host of other health benefits. Vitamin D can help with:

  • Your pelvic floor – Vitamin D helps maintain strong pelvic floor muscles and normal bladder function. The Vitamin D receptor is found in the detrusor wall (muscle of the bladder), and insufficient levels may impact bladder function. A lack of Vitamin D can lead to weaker pelvic floor muscles which can cause your pelvic organs to droop from their naturally elevated position. Vitamin D can help fight against this muscle degradation. There is also a strong correlation between women who suffer from pelvic floor disorders and Vitamin D deficiency.
  • Vulvodynia – Women with vulvodynia often lack essential nutrients for the vulvar, vaginal, and pelvic tissues to function optimally; one of these deficiencies is Vitamin D.
  • Vaginal Dryness and Atrophy – Vitamin D is effective in decreasing the pH and dryness of the vagina and improving cell health.
  • Endometriosis – There is a correlation between low Vitamin D levels and endometriosis. Vitamin D can help to reduce inflammation.
  • PMS – Vitamin D can reduce PMS side effects such as irritability, anxiety and sadness.
  • Heart Disease – Low Vitamin D levels can increase the risk of heart disease.
  • Testosterone Levels – Vitamin D deficiency is linked to testosterone deficiency.

Natural Sources of Vitamin D:

The main source of Vitamin D comes directly from sunlight. From late March until the end of September, you should receive your daily dose of Vitamin D from the sun every day. The body can create Vitamin D from direct sunlight on your skin when you are outside. However, between the colder months of October through to early March, you don’t receive enough vitamin D from sunlight.

Vitamin D can also be found in several foods, including:

  • Fish – such as salmon, herring, sardines, mackerel and fresh tuna
  • Red meat
  • Liver
  • Egg yolks
  • Fortified foods (foods with added nutrients) – such as most fat spreads and certain breakfast cereals

Remember that supplementing with Vitamin D can help you to improve and maintain a variety of health issues, not just bone health. Take a look at Kegel8’s supplement range to find out what vitamins and minerals can help you!

Kegel8 Supplements can help improve your pelvic floor

Sources

[1] Drummond, J., Ford, D., Daniel, S., Meyerink, T. (2016) Vulvodynia and Irritable Bowel Syndrome Treated with an Elimination Diet: A Case Report. Integrative Medicine: A Clinician’s Journal. 15(4), pp. 42-47.

[2] Judd, S.E. and Tangpricha, V. (2009) Vitamin D Deficiency and Risk for Cardiovascular Disease. American Journal of Medical Sciences. 338(1), pp. 40-44.

[3] Miyashita, M., Koga, K., Izumi, G., Sue, F., Makabe, T., Taguchi, A., Nagai, M., Urata, Y., Takamura, M., Harada, M., Hirata, T., Hirota, Y., Wada-Hiraike, O., Fujii, T., Osuga, Y. (2016) Effects of 1,25-Dihydroxy Vitamin D3 on Endometriosis. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 101(6), pp. 2371-2379.

[4] Navaneethan, P.R., Kekre, A., Jacob, K.S., Varghese, L. (2015) Vitamin D Deficiency in Postmenopausal Women with Pelvic Floor Disorders. Journal of Midlife Health. 6(2), pp. 66-69.

[5] NHS (2017) Vitamin D [online]. NHS [viewed 05/10/2018]. Available from https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-d/

[6] Pilz, S., Frisch, S., Koertke, H., Kuhn, J., Dreier, J., Obermayer-Pietsch, B., Wehr, E., Zittermann, A. (2011) Effects of Vitamin D Supplementation on Testosterone Levels in Men. Hormone and Metabolic Research. 43(3), pp. 223-225.

[7] Rad, P., Tadayon, M., Abbaspour, M., Latifi, S.M., Rashidi, I., Delaviz, H. (2015) The Effect of Vitamin D on Vaginal Atrophy in Postmenopausal Women. Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research. 20(2), pp. 211-215.

[8] Sharma, S. and Aggarwal, N. (2017) Vitamin D and Pelvic Floor Disorders. Journal of Midlife Health. 8(3), pp. 101-102.

[9] Tartagni, M. et al. Vitamin D Supplementation on Premenstrual Syndrome-Related Mood Disorders in Adolescents with Severe Hypovitaminosis D. Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, 2016.

[10] Tovey, A. and Cannell, JJ. Does vitamin D help treat PMS symptoms? The Vitamin D Council Blog & Newsletter, January, 2016.