What Causes Low Vitamin D Levels

Vitamin D is essential for the normal functioning of our body. It is soluble in fat and our body is capable of making this vitamin with the help of sunlight. The main source of vitamin D in our body is the sun. Now, foods like milk, orange juice, cereals are fortified with vitamin D to make up for the deficiency. Vitamin D helps prevent the risk of many diseases like cancer, diabetes and multiple sclerosis. It increases the ability of the body to absorb calcium, which makes our bones strong. Thus, it delays the process of development of osteoporosis.

Effects of Low Vitamin D Levels

Low levels of vitamin D adversely affect the bones of our body. In children, it can lead to a disease called rickets. The common symptoms of this disease are slow bodily growth and deformation of long bones like the bones of legs. Doctors often prescribe fortified milk to those suffering from rickets. In adults, low vitamin D levels can cause thinning of bones and is referred to as osteomalacia. The commons signs of this disorder are fragility of bones and weakness of muscles that can even aches. Another disease caused due to low levels of vitamin D is osteoporosis. This is more commonly found in adult women. In this condition, significant reduction in bone mineral density has been observed which in turn enhances the risk of bone fracture.

What Causes of Low Vitamin D Levels

Low vitamin D levels occur because of less intake of vitamin D, less exposure to sunlight or as side effects of some diseases. Toxic substances, harmful chemicals, side effects of certain medicines can also give rise to such condition that the level of vitamin D goes down the normal level. It is a rare occurrence that the vitamin D levels is low because of some hereditary diseases. Following are some of the causes for low levels of vitamin D.

Lack of Exposure to Sunlight
The layer under the skin produces vitamin D using sunlight. People of certain geographical locations like those in the northern hemisphere have living conditions such that their exposure to sunlight is minimum. Aged people and small babies often do not get enough exposure to sunlight. Aging skin of elderly people needs more time to prepare vitamin D. People with the condition of lupus are sensitive towards sunlight. So, they are advised not to stay out under direct sunlight for a long time. Under all these conditions, the factors responsible for low vitamin D, is absence of sunlight.

Deficiency of vitamin D in Diet
Low vitamin D levels is found in breast feeding infants because vitamin D content in human milk is very low. There are very few food substances that contain naturally occurring vitamin D. Some of the food items that provide us vitamin D are beef liver, fleshy part of the fish, egg yolk, fish oils and cheese. Therefore, vegetarians are more prone to low vitamin D levels.

Effects of Disease
Some diseases weaken the ability of synthesizing vitamin D on the skin surface. Fat absorption capacity of the body is impaired due to cystic fibrosis. As vitamin D is fat soluble, its process of absorption cannot take place in absence of adequate amount of fat in the body. Liver disorder or kidney disorder can lead to a similar condition. In Crohn's disease or colitis, an inflammation is caused in the inner surface of the intestine and colon that results in diarrhea. In this condition, a large quantity of vitamins are excreted and leads to low levels of vitamin D.

Physical Condition
Physical conditions like color of the skin or quantity of body fat are also responsible for low vitamin D levels. Dark skin color could also be the cause of low vitamin D levels in the body. Obesity is another factor that causes low levels of vitamin D. It can happen even if the sun exposure and intake of vitamin D, both are appropriate. The reason behind this is that the vitamin becomes unusable due to its storage in excessive body fat.

People with low vitamin D levels are often advised by the physicians to spend more time under the sun. In some cases, they are prescribed vitamin D as a dietary supplement. Along with vitamin D enriched food, a healthy diet consisting of fresh fruits and vegetables is also recommended to increase the levels of vitamin D. Hope, this clarifies what causes low vitamin D levels.