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ERIE, Pa. (Erie News Now) — When we don’t see a lot of sun, or are outside as much, the amount of Vitamin D we get decreases. But why does that matter? What does Vitamin D actually do?
“Vitamin D is especially important for bone health and your teeth, because it helps absorb the calcium and calcium helps build the bones,” said pharmacist Ciarra Bodnar of Darling Pharmacy.
It also turns out that Vitamin D can be helpful in strengthening our immune systems. People can get it through foods like tuna, salmon, milk, and eggs. The important thing is that you Vitamin D get it somehow.
“It’s imperative that you get enough Vitamin D, whether that is through diet, whether it’s through the sun, and whether it’s through extra vitamins,” Bodnar said.
To find out if your Vitamin D deficient you actually would have to take a blood test, and epidemiologist Dr. Becky Dawson, says that a lack of Vitamin D isn’t the only thing to look out for.
“You really should see whether or not you have any sort of deficiency not just Vitamin D. Your body is a system, and there’s so many different requirements and so many different vitamins, minerals — different things that your body needs. So you don’t want to be out of sync in any way,” said Dawson.
Vitamin D is actually different then most vitamins. It stays in our system and doesn’t metabolize quickly, which means though we do want to get enough Vitamin D, getting more than we need is also harmful.
“You want to make sure that if you are supplementing that you are also recognizing that there are limits and you shouldn’t be taking too much,” Dawson said.
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