Vitamin D deficiency and its implications! Know what celebrities Gwyneth Paltrow and Isa Souza have to say about their vitamin D deficiency and bone thinning!
- Vitamins are a necessity for survival.
- They serve essential services in our body and without them, these functions would fall apart and go on a strike!
- But present-day foods and fast life can make us overlook the requirements, needs, and benefits of these vitamins!
Vitamin D is one such vitamin that is of immense use for our bone and teeth health. It is acquired from food as well as the sunshine falling on our skin.
Temperate regions of the world have diminished sunshine for most of the year and hence this mode of production of this vital vitamin would be limited.
Even celebrities are not spared deficiencies of this vitamin and many have come forward and openly discussed their disease to raise awareness of it.
Gwyneth Paltrow opens up about her vitamin D deficiency
American actress, singer, and food writer, Gwyneth Paltrow is one such celebrity who has come out in the open about her vitamin D deficiency. In 2010, she revealed on her social media:
“My doctors tested my vitamin D levels which turned out to be the lowest thing they had never seen — not a good thing.”
Gwyneth suffers from osteopenia or bone thinning due to low vitamin D levels. That carries a risk of fractures with minimal trauma to our body and bones. Dental caries could also be rapid in people with this deficiency.
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Gwyneth Paltrow’s vitamin D regimen
Gwyneth Paltrow took medical advice on her health issue and was prescribed a high dose of vitamin D and advised to spend more time in the sun when available.
She has been taking regular doses of vitamin D ever since she was diagnosed with this ailment. She also takes a healthy diet which comprises Vitamin D3, fish oils, and probiotics.
She was a bit baffled about the sunlight exposure she was told to take. She said:
“I was curious if this was safe, having been told for years to stay away from [the sun’s] dangerous rays, not to mention a tad confused!”
Brazilian Chef Isa Souza’s symptoms due to vitamin D deficiency
Brazilian celebrity chef Isa Souza has for many years been talking about easy-to-make, healthy, and tasty diet recipes. But, it came as a surprise for her when she had the vitamin D in her blood tested and found it to be extremely low.
She used to have symptoms of chronic fatigue for many years and had attributed it to long working hours and travel until she found out that the culprit was the low vitamin D levels in her blood.
She had said about it:
“Like most people, I linked symptoms of chronic fatigue to long hours of work and travel- a common mistake in our work-intensive society. Becoming vitamin D deficient was a tough reality check for me. My first signs were chronic fatigue, lack of stamina and motivation; something we all need to get things done.”
Vitamin D deficiency and its treatment
Vitamin D deficiency is rampant in the developed world. It affects nearly 90% of the population. The indoor life has further aggravated the situation. It can exist without any symptoms.
Even if there are symptoms, these could be vague and hence often overlooked or misdiagnosed.
Its deficiency has been implicated in the causation of chronic conditions such as cancer, diabetes mellitus, and kidney, respiratory, liver, and immune disorders.
The best way to know whether one is Vitamin D deficient or not is to perform a blood test to know the level of it in one’s blood.
If low, vitamin D supplementation is required. One cannot wait for a bone fracture to take place with a trivial injury to diagnose that one is vitamin D deficient.
Vitamin D is essential for the integration of calcium into the bones and teeth. Hence its deficiency could upset this function.
Foods considered rich in Vitamin D are Fatty fish such as tuna, salmon, mackerel, cheese, fortified dairy products, beef liver, and egg yolks.
Foods that we eat every day may not be able to provide the daily requirements of vitamin D that our body needs.
Fortification of certain food items with vitamin D also may not be able to meet their daily needs. Along with vitamin D, calcium should also be taken simultaneously.
Hence vitamin D and calcium supplementation may be useful to avert this deficiency and for better bone and teeth health.
Short Bio on Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow is an American actress, singer, comedian, and food writer. She is best known for her roles as Tracy Mills in the 1995 film Seven and as EmmaWoodhouse in the 1996 hit drama Emma. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the 1998 film Shakespeare In Love. Paltrow also won a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards for the same film. More Bio…