If your bones are getting weak, your immunity has decreased, and you are facing problems like depression or mood swings, then your vitamin D deficiency may be contributing. Often, people think that vitamin D deficiency occurs only due to a lack of sunlight, but it is not so.

There are many other reasons due to which the level of vitamin D in the body can be affected. Therefore, if your vitamin D has decreased, then it is important to pay attention to these reasons (Causes of Vitamin-D Deficiency). Let's know what those reasons are.

Vitamin D deficiency in food
Apart from sunlight, we also get vitamin D from our diet. If your diet does not include foods rich in vitamin D, such as salmon, tuna, egg yolk, milk, yogurt, mushrooms, and fortified cereals, then there may be a deficiency of vitamin D in the body.

Obesity and excess weight
Obesity affects the absorption of vitamin D. Since vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, it gets stored in body fat. In overweight people, this vitamin gets trapped in fat cells and is not able to reach the blood properly, leading to its deficiency in the body.

Kidney and liver problems

To convert vitamin D into its active form, it is necessary to have a healthy liver and kidneys. If the kidneys or liver are not functioning properly, the metabolism of vitamin D is affected. This can lead to a deficiency of vitamin D in the body, even if you are sunbathing or eating foods rich in vitamin D.

Excessive use of sunscreen

Applying sunscreen protects the skin from the harmful rays of the sun, but it also prevents the production of vitamin D. Applying sunscreen with SPF 30 or more reduces vitamin D production in the skin by up to 95%. Therefore, it is also important to sunbathe without sunscreen for some time.

Dark skin tone
Melanin protects the skin from the sun's rays, but it also interferes with the production of vitamin D. People with dark skin need more time in the sun to make vitamin D. If they don't get enough sunlight, they may develop vitamin D deficiency.

Age effects
The skin's ability to make vitamin D decreases with age. Vitamin D deficiency is common in older people because their skin is unable to make enough vitamin D from the sun's rays.

Digestive problems
Celiac disease, Crohn's disease, or any other digestive disease can cause the body to absorb fat poorly. Because vitamin D is fat-soluble, these problems affect its absorption, leading to vitamin D deficiency.

Effects of certain medications
Certain medications, such as steroids, weight-loss medications and cholesterol-lowering drugs, can reduce vitamin D absorption. If you are taking such medicines for a long time, then you should get your Vitamin D level checked.

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