Are You Getting Your Dose of D?

High levels of vitamin D have been linked to stronger immune systems, while low levels are associated with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. The full extent of vitamin’s D impact has yet to be fully understood—nearly every cell and tissue in our body has vitamin D receptors (proteins that bind to vitamin D); and in its active form, vitamin D can interact with the vast majority of the body’s cells. 

Your body absorbs sunlight using cholesterol, which helps convert sunlight into a form of vitamin D that your body can use. And you might not guess it from its name, but vitamin D is actually more like a hormone than a vitamin. It helps to regulate hundreds of different pathways in your body.

Here are some benefits of vitamin D from the sun:

The sunshine vitamin feeds your brain
When your skin is exposed to the sun it starts synthesizing good ol’ vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin., What is vitamin D from the sun good for? It is responsible for the proper workings of hundreds of different pathways that control your mood, immune system, and brain function. Every single cell of your body needs vitamin D to do its best work. Which time of sunlight is good for vitamin D absorption? There is no better time to bask in that vitamin producing sunshine than in the summer or clear afternoons (assuming you are practicing safe skin care simultaneously). When it comes to vitamin d, sun benefits are abundant. 

More sun means better sleep
The presence and absence of sunlight talks to your brain’s pineal gland, telling it to slow down the production of that sleepy-time hormone melatonin when it’s light, and increase production when it’s dark. When the dark hours are longer, and you are outside in the sunlight less often, it can be harder to wake up in the morning, and you may feel sleepier during the day. This can also leave you with less melatonin production at night, reducing sleep quality because your pineal gland isn’t getting those natural signals.

Sun calms over-reactive immune responses
Sunlight is sometimes used to treat autoimmune diseases of the skin, like psoriasis, because sun exposure can actually help suppress an overactive immune system. This may be because sun exposure increases white blood cells, which help fight disease and defend the body against infection.

This may surprise some people, but gut inflammation is also linked to serotonin: Not the serotonin in the brain, rather serotonin that is produced in the gut. We need vitamin D for healthy immune cells. A meta-analysis of controlled clinical trials concluded that vitamin D supplements were good for respiratory tract health, especially in people with low blood levels of the vitamin. Getting adequate vitamin D is an important immune-supporting strategy, especially in the winter or anytime you are stuck inside. And as a hormone, vitamin D controls the growth of breast, prostate, and colon cells.