90% of the Population is Deficient in Vitamin D: The Importance of Sun Exposure and Effective Supplementation

26-year-old Ms. Lin pursues whitening. She always wears sunscreen and takes taxis when she goes out. In addition, she is almost nocturnal due to work factors, so she can’t get out of the sun at all. The vitamin D concentration in her body is even as low as 1.9 ng/ml (recommended value) for a long time. ≥30 ng/ml), leading to severe chronic inflammation of the body, and also suffering from autoimmune diseases such as allergic rhinitis and herpes zoster. Dr. Zheng Naiyuan, Chief Director of Lian An Preventive Medicine Institute, said that vitamin D deficiency will not cause acute symptoms or dangers, but long-term deficiency will affect bones, muscles, autoimmunity, skin, and increase the risk of various diseases.

Vitamin D is one of the important nutrients for the human body. Recent studies have pointed out that vitamin D controls the transmission of cell information in most tissues in the body, so deficiency or deficiency will affect cell functions, such as proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, etc., while asthma, cancer, coronary artery disease, etc. Diseases, depression, osteoporosis, atopic dermatitis, metabolic syndrome and other diseases are also related to vitamin D deficiency or deficiency.

Nearly 90% of the people have vitamin D deficiency and avoiding sun exposure is the key

Lian An Preventive Medicine Institute analyzed the health examination data from 2015 to 2022, and analyzed 125,292 vitamin D data, and found that as many as 87% of the people are insufficient or deficient in vitamin D, which means that almost 9 out of every 10 people abnormal.

Dr. Zheng Naiyuan further analyzed by gender and found that nearly 85% of men have vitamin D abnormalities, and nearly 90% of women do not reach the recommended value. It is speculated that women are more pursuing whitening and sun protection than men, and they do not have the habit of supplementing vitamin D. D Abnormal status remains high. Among all age groups, young people aged 21-30 are the most abnormal, as high as 93% are insufficient or lacking.

However, Chinese people do not ignore its importance. Not only are newspapers and magazines calling for it, but there are also many nutritional supplements on the market, but why are the vitamin D levels of Chinese people still generally below the recommended value? Dr. Zheng Naiyuan said that the main reason is that the body consumes vitamin D every day, but the daily diet can only supplement 5% to 10% of the body’s needs. Therefore, it is more difficult to maintain the recommended concentration in the body without supplementing with sufficient daily sunlight or health food.

Is extra vitamin D supplementation enough for sun exposure?Suggest additional supplements

Vitamin D deficiency or deficiency can be said to be the same in all countries. Taking the United States as an example, the vitamin D standard in the United States is looser than that in Taiwan. It is considered abnormal if it is less than 20 ng/ml, but there are still as many as 42% of people who do not reach the recommended value. Especially for those with dark skin, the statistics are higher, and nearly 82% of African-Americans are deficient. Even tropical areas with plenty of sunlight have deficiencies. A study in Hawaii showed that more than half of surfers who love outdoor sports still have deficiencies.

If a large amount of relevant nutritional supplements are supplemented every day, is it possible to cause an overdose problem? Nutritionist Xu Jingyi responded that among the 120,000 records, no one exceeded the standard, and he has not come into contact with too many cases so far. It is recommended to draw blood to check the value, and add additional supplements, and then test again after half a year to confirm whether the value has improved.

The 63-year-old Ms. He found that the vitamin D value was only 15.3 ng/ml in 2018, and the bone density T value was as low as -2. It is speculated that it was caused by menopause, long-term vitamin D deficiency and lack of proper exercise. Afterwards, vitamin D supplementation was recommended by the doctor. In just four years, vitamin D returned to the recommended value of 33.2 ng/ml, and the bone density T value improved to -1.4.

To effectively supplement vitamin D, master 4 principles

It is actually not difficult to effectively supplement vitamin D. If you grasp the following four principles, you can easily build a healthy body.

• Appropriate sunlight: Sunlight is an important source of vitamin D conversion. Pay attention to the exposure time. It is recommended to sunbathe for at least 10 to 15 minutes every day from 10:00 to 14:00, and it is best to avoid the sun at noon to avoid sunburn. And pay attention to the blocking of glass, clothing, sunscreen and other substances. At least 40% of the skin of the whole body must be bathed in the sun to effectively supplement.
• Take more foods rich in vitamin D: the recommended “sunshine” foods are black fungus, salmon, saury, dried shiitake mushrooms, mackerel, duck, fresh shiitake mushrooms, and pork liver.
• Appropriate supplement of health food: It is recommended to choose vitamin D health food in the form of D3, or choose the compound dosage form with vitamin K, which can help calcium absorption and strengthen bones.
• Regular testing: In addition to recommending that vitamin D testing be included in the annual health checkup, it is also recommended that those who regularly supplement vitamin D health food take back-testing every 3 to 6 months in order to grasp the health status of the first line. Learn about supplementation effectiveness.

Dr. Zheng Naiyuan reminded that although sunlight is an important source of vitamin D, most people work indoors, where it is difficult to get sunlight, and supplements from diet are limited. Sufficient doses of health food should be supplemented according to the situation. The most important thing is to have health awareness, face up to one’s own condition and actively adjust it, which is the true meaning of practicing preventive medicine, avoiding diseases, and then getting healthy early.