Feeling tired can stem from a number of causes, one of which may be vitamin D deficiency. Unlike more visible causes like stress, depression, and insomnia, vitamin D deficiency is often overlooked as a potential cause of fatigue. One study in 480 older adults linked vitamin D deficiency with fatigue symptoms ( 12 ).
The symptoms of vitamin D deficiency are often subtle, so many people don't know they're deficient. Some of the effects of vitamin D deficiency include: Fatigue or tiredness. Bone pain.
Fatigue. Not sleeping well. Bone pain or achiness. Depression or feelings of sadness.
Vitamin D deficiency — when the level of vitamin D in your body is too low — can cause your bones to become thin, brittle or misshapen. Vitamin D also appears to play a role in insulin production and immune function — and how this relates to chronic disease prevention and cancer — but this is still being investigated.
Vitamin D is vital for making our muscles work efficiently and boosting energy levels, new research from Newcastle University has shown.
“Adding an over-the-counter vitamin D supplement can make improvements in just three to four months time. Vitamin D with a strength of 1000-2000 international units daily is the recommended dose for most adults,” Dr. Ropte says.
Vitamin D deficiencies can also result in bone diseases such as rickets in children and osteomalacia and osteoporosis in adults. But you may not be aware that if you're not getting enough vitamin D, you may also suffer from dizziness, headaches, and yes, low energy and fatigue.
Possible culprit: A vitamin or mineral deficiency
One possible reason for feeling tired, anxious, and weak is having low levels of iron, vitamin D, or B12. Many experts believe that a significant percentage of the U.S. population is deficient in vitamin D.
We recommend taking it with a source of quality fat in the morning or when you break your fast. Avoid taking vitamin D in the evening (we'll talk about why below). Since vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin—meaning it doesn't dissolve in water—your body can most easily absorb it when you take it with food.
Symptoms of vitamin D deficiency include bone pain, muscle weakness, fatigue, and mood changes, according to the Cleveland Clinic. While many factors can influence those symptoms, if you haven't changed your lifestyle recently, such conditions may be signs of vitamin D deficiency.
Some factors that may reduce or block its absorption include: Conditions such as celiac disease, chronic pancreatitis, Crohn's disease, and cystic fibrosis. These can all affect the intestines, preventing them from absorbing vitamin D found in food.
Oranges are one of the fruits rich in Vitamin D as its juice is fortified with calcium & vitamin D. This is one of the best sources of vitamin D for people who are lactose intolerant and cannot include milk & dairy products in their diet.
So, if you're taking your Vitamin D supplement at breakfast, lunch, or dinner, you can pair it with a food containing healthy fat. Try eating avocado, whole eggs, fatty fish, nuts, extra virgin olive oil, or full-fat dairy with your supplement to improve Vitamin D absorption.
Growing evidence has demonstrated that vitamin D has a role in sleep regulation [12]. Specifically, vitamin D deficiency (VDD) can increase risk of sleep disorders and is associated with sleep difficulties, shorter sleep duration, and nocturnal awakenings in children and adults [13,14,15].
Muscle weakness due to vitamin D deficiency is predominantly of the proximal muscle groups and is manifested by a feeling of heaviness in the legs, tiring easily, and difficulty in mounting stairs and rising from a chair; the deficiency is reversible with supplementation (15–18).
As summarized in Figure 1, vitamin D deficiency has been mechanistically and clinically linked to neurological diseases and neuropsychological disorders, cognitive impairment and neurodegenerative diseases [20,29,30,31,32,33,34].
Dean. "Adequate levels of magnesium in the body are essential for the absorption and metabolism not only of vitamin D but of calcium as well," Dean states. "Magnesium converts vitamin D into its active form so that it can help calcium absorption.
Magnesium assists in the activation of vitamin D, which helps regulate calcium and phosphate homeostasis to influence the growth and maintenance of bones. All of the enzymes that metabolize vitamin D seem to require magnesium, which acts as a cofactor in the enzymatic reactions in the liver and kidneys.
Research also demonstrated that the higher the level of caffeine, the more it interfered with vitamin D absorption. The study suggested that caffeine did this by reducing the expression of vitamin D receptors on osteoblasts in the body – the cells responsible for producing bone.
A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials that compared the effects of vitamin D2 and D3 supplements on blood levels found that D3 supplements tended to raise blood concentrations of the vitamin more and sustained those levels longer than D2. [76,77] Some experts cite vitamin D3 as the preferred form as it is ...
People considering starting a Vitamin D3 regimen without the advice of a doctor should consider supplementing with magnesium as well to prevent the adverse effects of unabsorbed calcium.
Increased levels of vitamin D and calcium in the body can contribute to several digestive issues like stomach pain, constipation and diarrhea. These can be the signs of other health issues as well, therefore it is important to inform your doctor if you are taking any supplements.
1. Vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 is essential to the body's metabolic process. This vitamin maintains blood and nerve cells, makes DNA, supports brain function, and helps the body convert food into energy.