6 Surprising Ways to Beat Vitamin D Deficiency

Julie Bitely

| 2 min read

Woman walking in park wtih dog in winter
It’s crucial to consume sufficient vitamins and nutrients, there’s just no getting around it. But how do you know if you’re vitamin deficient, especially for vitamin D?
Vitamin D comes in lots of different forms, most of which drop down when it gets cold and less sunny during the winter. You can regularly get vitamin D from:
  • Fatty fish like salmon, trout and tuna
  • Sunlight
  • Fortified milk (almost all cow’s milk in the U.S. is fortified)
  • Certain mushrooms
  • Vitamin supplements
If you think you’re not getting enough vitamin D, here are a few warning signs to watch out for:
  1. Your head sweats: Excessive sweating, especially in newborn babies, is said to correspond to neuromuscular irritability, an early symptom of Vitamin D deficiency.
  1. You feel achy way more than normal: Common symptoms of fatigue, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome can also align with not getting enough vitamin D. These feelings usually come down directly in bone structures, but can also take effect in joints and entire limbs.
  1. You’re in a funk: Serotonin, the brain hormone that makes us happier, is associated with the vitamin D found in bright light and sunlight. With decreased amounts of vitamin D comes decreased mood satisfaction, so if you’re feeling blue, a vitamin D deficiency may be the issue.
  1. You’re getting older: Some studies show that with age comes a decreased ability to synthesize vitamin D from sun exposure.
  1. You’ve got tummy trouble: Low vitamin D is linked with issues such as Crohn’s disease, celiac and non-celiac gluten sensitivity, and inflammatory bowel disease. If you’re experiencing powerful stomachaches or food sensitivities, vitamin D concentrations could be to blame.
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Photo credit: Oleh_Slobodeniuk

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