Vitamin D is an important vitamin for the proper body functioning. It plays a crucial role in regulating the calcium intake into the body. It ensures that calcium consumed in foods goes to the bones through induction of several hormones. In other words, vitamin D or the sunshine vitamin is as essential as calcium for healthy bones. Milk is a major source of vitamin D. Since that is prohibited to the lactose intolerant, one needs to look for other sources of the vitamin to maintain bone health.
Lactose Intolerance and the sunshine vitamin: Lactose Intolerance is indirectly related to the depletion of vitamin D in the body. Just as calcium is cut off from milk and dairy products, vitamin D is too cut off from the body. What happens in case of such a deficiency? Vitamin D deficiencies are revealed only in later stages. None of the symptoms are obvious before that. A major lack in vitamin D can lead to Hypovitaminosis D Osteopathy, a collection of vitamin D symptoms which causes unusual breaks in bones and reduced height in men and women.
Several other critical conditions like colon cancer in men, prostrate cancer in African-American men and breast cancer in women before menopause are said to be caused by lack of vitamin D. Since vitamin D can be produced by exposure to the sun, many people who live in cold countries or countries that are far from the equator suffer from the symptoms (if they don’t take vitamin D supplements or foods). Vitamin D is normally found in reduced levels in Muslim women who are fully covered, people in the northern United States, Canada, northern Europe, Siberia, Alaska, New Zealand etc. It has also been found out that dark-skinned people produce less vitamin D from the sun than light-skinned people. This is why 42% of African American women living in the United States are vitamin D deficient compared to 4% of white women.
How to avoid vitamin D deficiency? Avoiding vitamin D deficiency is a must for the lactose intolerant. You need to supplement your body with enough calcium and vitamin D to maintain bone health. Below are a few ways through which you may lose natural vitamin D produced from the sun and how to avoid them:
Who can be at risk?
1. The aged and the lactose intolerant: You can be at high risk for vitamin D deficiency if you are lactose intolerant. Age can also reduce your vitamin D production as aged people often stay indoors. Some of them may have skin cancers which may make them deficient in the vitamin.
2. Dark-skinned people need to be extra careful: Dark skin produces less vitamin D from sunlight than light skin. Hence dark-skinned people living in cold countries or far away from equator should supplement vitamin D in the form of foods.
3. Covered skin: Muslim women who are all-covered up or people who use sunscreen lotions with SPF factor of 8 produce less than 95% vitamin D than other people.
4. Breastfed infants: Infants that are exclusively fed with breast milk or have lactose maldigestion (and are few with lactose free formulas) are at greater risk for developing vitamin D deficiency. The American Academy of Pediatrics says that an infant should get at least 200 IU of vitamin D per day.
5. IBS and Obesity: People with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and obesity (on account of insolubility of fat) have high risk of becoming vitamin D deficient.
Steps to avoid vitamin D deficiency:
6. Foods: If you are lactose intolerant, you can take lactose free, vitamin D fortified milk. Or take vegetables/foods rich in the vitamin. These include – Cod liver oil, raw herrings, dried mushrooms, canned salmon, canned sardines, orange juice fortified with vitamin D, egg yolk, fortified cereals etc.
7. Supplements: If you cannot produce vitamin D, you need to take them in the form of vitamin D supplements or tablets. Some prescription tablets deplete you of your vitamin D resources. Such tablets are phenytoin, fosphenytoin, phenobarbitol, rifampcin, carbamazepine etc.
