How to Increase Vitamin D Levels in Your Body

by: Julie Stewart (SELF magazine)

Whether you want to strengthen your bones or bolster your immune system, you might be wondering how to increase vitamin D in your body. And there’s a decent chance you may need to. Estimates of how many people have low vitamin D levels vary, but data from the 2011 to 2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey show that inadequate or deficient levels are relatively common in the U.S., with the risk of inadequacy (24%) and deficiency (8%) peaking among adults ages 20 to 39.

Vitamin D is a key nutrient that we can get through our diets or make for ourselves with the help of sun exposure. Not getting enough of it can be an issue, since it does a lot for our bodies. Vitamin D is best known for working in tandem with calcium to help you build and maintain strong bones. But vitamin D is important for many other aspects of our health as well, playing important roles throughout the body much as a hormone does. As SELF has reported, research suggests that getting enough vitamin D may help protect you from respiratory infections, promote healthy blood sugar levels, prevent pregnancy complications, and perhaps even reduce your risk of developing or dying from various types of cancer.

So how do you get more vitamin D? And how do you know if you need more in the first place? Here’s what you need to know about getting enough vitamin D, and the best ways to get more.

How to know if you need more vitamin D

Vitamin D deficiency happens when you don’t have enough of this nutrient circulating through your blood. READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE HERE…