Vitamin D is one of several necessary vitamins that help you function at your best. You rely on vitamin D to build and maintain healthy bones. Without vitamin D, your body couldn’t absorb calcium. Calcium is the main building block of bone.
Supporting bone health isn’t the only benefit vitamin D offers. It also supports your immune system, brain, muscles, and nerves. Most people can get all the vitamin D they need in four ways:
If you have a vitamin D deficiency, you don’t have enough vitamin D to properly support body functions. Anyone at any age can experience a vitamin D deficiency, and many people have it without knowing it. In fact, around 35% of adults in the United States lack sufficient vitamin D.
Fortunately, you can work with an endocrinologist to identify a vitamin D deficiency. A registered dietician can help ensure you get vitamin D and other important nutrients in your diet.
Through clinical nutrition counseling, Anastasios Manessis, MD, and our team at neXendo Wellness in Long Island City and Murray Hill, New York, help people get the nutrients they need to feel well.
How can you tell if you have a vitamin D deficiency as an adult? Sometimes, vitamin D deficiency doesn’t cause symptoms. However, in other cases, symptoms can tell you when your body is in need.
In this article, we’ll review five common signs of a vitamin D deficiency so you can get the help you need.
Vitamin D is hard at work in your bones, supporting the calcium that creates them. Without enough vitamin D, adults are at a higher risk for bone pain, bone softening, and fractures.
Children with a severe vitamin D deficiency can develop a condition called rickets, which causes bones to weaken and grow improperly. Their bones can become bowed or bent. Bone pain is a major symptom of rickets. It can also affect adults with vitamin D deficiencies.
You might feel extra tired as a result of your vitamin D deficiency. Fatigue is especially common in older adults with insufficient vitamin D. Experts suspect vitamin D deficiency contributes to fatigue in a few ways, like causing inflammation and reducing nervous system function.
Vitamin D is active in your musculoskeletal system, supporting the function of your nerves and muscles. When you’re vitamin D deficient, you might notice muscle soreness, aches, twitches, or cramps.
In addition to muscle discomfort, a vitamin D deficiency can lead to muscle weakness. Weakness related to a vitamin D deficiency usually affects the upper thighs and upper arms. Because of this weakness, you might notice a change in your walking pattern.
Have you ever sat in one position for too long only to feel pins and needles in your feet when you adjust? This tingly sensation often happens in the extremities (hands and feet) and is a sign of low calcium levels in your blood. Low blood calcium commonly occurs with a vitamin D deficiency because the two nutrients work closely together.
Does your mood seem lower than usual? Your depression, anxiety, or mood swings could be a sign you don’t have enough vitamin D. Low vitamin D is a risk factor for depression and anxiety, and healthcare providers are increasingly screening for deficiencies as they treat and prevent mood disorders.
Vitamin D supports healthy brain function, including the regions of the brain that control your mood. If depression and anxiety aren’t new to you, you might experience increased symptoms when your vitamin D is low.
For more information on endocrinology or clinical nutrition services to manage a vitamin D deficiency, call neXendo Wellness or request an appointment online.
