Obesity Contributes to Vitamin D Deficiency

Lack of vitamin D can cause osteoporosis, diabetes, heart disease, degenerative arthritis, infertility, autoimmune diseases, and cancers of the breast, prostate, colon or skin. Sunlight is the best way to meet your needs for vitamin D, but dermatologists have been telling us for years that sunlight can cause skin cancer. Increased use of sunscreens use may have had the unwanted side effect of widespread vitamin D deficiency. The rise in obesity may also be contributing to increased rates of vitamin D deficiency. Once vitamin D gets into fat cells, the fat cells hold on to that vitamin so tightly that it is not easily released into the rest of the body to do its job. Furthermore, vitamin D lowers blood levels of leptin, a hormone released by fat cells to tell your brain that you are full and to stop eating. So obesity can make you deficient in vitamin D, and lack of vitamin D can make you even fatter.

Very few people are able to meet their needs for vitamin D from food. People who tan easily and are not sensitive to sunlight should probably use sunscreen only on their faces and arms, allowing their legs and backs to be exposed to the sun. However, many people, particularly those with dark skin and those who live in northern latitudes, may need to take vitamin D supplements. Check with your doctor. More