VITAMIN D3 1000 IU - 100 SOFTGELS

Vitamin D is used for various preventive and curative purposes. As a preventive, vitamin D is used in preventing as well as treating rickets, prevents falls and fractures in people with osteoporosis, and prevents low calcium and renal osteodystrophy in people with kidney failure. Vitamin D is used in treating osteoporosis, which is a condition of weak bones; osteomalacia (bone pain); bone loss in people with hyperparathyroidism; and osteogenesis imperfects, which is an inherited disease causing bones to become brittle and easy to break.

Vitamin D is also used for heart and blood vessels conditions, including high cholesterol and high blood pressure. It is used for other conditions such as obesity, diabetes, muscle weakness, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bronchitis, asthma, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), as well as tooth and gum disease.

In other instances, Vitamin D is used to treat skin conditions like vitiligo, psoriasis (when in the forms of calcitriol or calcipotriene), scleroderma, actinic keratosis, and lupus vulgaris.

Other uses include boosting the immune system, prevention of autoimmune diseases, and prevention of cancer development. Vitamin D has properties important for the regulation of levels of minerals like phosphorous and calcium, and thus it is used to check conditions resulting from low levels of phosphorous, including familial hypophosphatemia and Fanconi syndrome, and low calcium levels like hypoparathyroidism and pseudohypoparathyroidism.

Vitamin D is crucial for the maintenance of the proper structure of bones. The easiest way of absorbing vitamin D is by exposing oneself to the sun. Exposing the face, arms, hands, and legs to sunlight two to three times a week causes the skin to produce vitamin D. The length of exposure time will depend on the skin type, age, time of the day, and the season. Vitamin D is quickly restored by sunlight exposure and a minimum of six days of sunlight exposure without sunscreen is enough to make up for 49 days of no sunlight exposure. During exposure, vitamin D is stored in the body fats, and once the sunlight is gone, it is released.

Cases of vitamin D efficiency are more common than anyone would expect. People who have reduced exposure to the sun, especially those living in Canada and the northern half of the US, are at risk. It is common to even have cases of vitamin D deficiency in sunny climates; which is possibly because people are mostly indoors and covering up when outside, or constantly using sunscreen to reduce potential cancer risks.

Older people also are at risk of developing vitamin D deficiency. This is because they are less likely to spend much time in the sun, and have few skin receptors that can convert sunlight to vitamin D. They also may not get the vitamin in their diet, and are likely to have more trouble converting the dietary vitamin D to a form that is useful as a result of the aging kidneys. People over 65 years are at the greatest risk of vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D supplements may be necessary for this group of individuals, residents in the northern latitudes, and darker-skinned individuals who need more sunlight exposure but don’t get it.

The vitamin D supplement has no artificial colour, preservatives, flavour or sweetener, no sugar, milk, gluten, lactose, wheat, fish, yeast, and is sodium free.