Your small intestine serves as a major source of nutrient absorption: specialized cells in your intestinal lining can take up a range of compounds from your food, allow nutrients to enter your bloodstream and go on to nourish your cells. This absorption proves important to preventing nutrient deficiencies, and conditions affecting your intestinal health can lead to problems absorbing nutrients like vitamin D.
Digestive Upset
In some cases, you might experience short-term difficulty with vitamin D consumption due to digestive upset. Your body must effectively break down and absorb the fat from your foods to absorb vitamin D, since the vitamin remains dissolved in the fat during digestion. Digestive upset, like diarrhea, can cause stool to move through your intestines before your body can effectively absorb the fat, leading to a decrease in vitamin D absorption. Short-term decreases in vitamin D absorption due to temporary digestive issues do not often cause a vitamin deficiency, since your body can still utilize vitamin D already stored within your liver.
Underlying Diseases
In some cases, an underlying disease can hinder your ability to absorb the vitamin D from your diet. For example, Crohn's disease -- a chronic inflammatory condition that hinders proper intestinal function -- can cause long-term difficulty absorbing dietary vitamin D. As a result, patients with Crohn's disease face an increased risk of vitamin D deficiency, and may require vitamin supplements. If you suffer from a chronic disease that affects your digestive tract, talk to your doctor about the risk of a vitamin D deficiency due to problems absorbing the vitamin.
Constipation Treatments and Absorption
In some cases, drug treatments might prevent the proper absorption of vitamin D in your intestines. Taking mineral oil, a common treatment for constipation, can cause difficulty absorbing adequate vitamin D. As the mineral oil moves through your intestines, it collects vitamin D from inside your digestive tract, preventing the vitamin's absorption. Abusing mineral oil as a laxative can therefore potentially lead to a vitamin D deficiency, due to a long-term inability to absorb the vitamin.
Other Sources of Vitamin D
While several conditions can interfere with vitamin D absorption, vitamin D-containing foods and oral vitamin supplements do not represent the only sources of vitamin D. Receiving regular sunlight exposure allows your skin cells to produce vitamin D, helping prevent a deficiency. If you already suffer from a vitamin D deficiency, and cannot effectively absorb vitamin D due to an underlying illness, your doctor might administer vitamin D injections to raise your blood vitamin D levels.
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