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How to Tell if You Have Low Vitamin D

Jul 29, 2011 | By Julie Miller
How to Tell if You Have Low Vitamin D
Photo Credit Roger Weber/Digital Vision/Getty Images

Vitamin D is certainly a unique vitamin, since your body can produce all it needs with a little help from the sun. However, for as simple as getting enough vitamin D seems to be, a large number of people are deficient in this key vitamin. About 36 percent of healthy young adults aged 18 to 29 years old have low levels, and the numbers are even higher amongst African Americans and others with dark skin pigmentation. Vitamin D is linked most directly to bone health, and has also been linked to mood and muscle strength disorders.

Step 1

Determine if you get enough vitamin D from sun exposure. Exposing your arms and legs to the direct sun without a coating of sunscreen for a total of just 10 to 60 minutes per week is enough for most people to synthesize all the vitamin D they need.

Step 2

Evaluate your diet. Children and adults without sufficient exposure to the sun need 800 to 1000 IUs per day of vitamin D to meet their needs. Sources are limited, so if you don't regularly drink fortified milk, which has 120 IUs per cup, or eat fatty fish - a 3 oz. portion of salmon provides 450 IUs - chances are good that your vitamin D levels are low.

Step 3

Consider your mood. Especially in the winter months, low vitamin D levels are associated with seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, and general mood negativity. If you notice your mood dropping and can't determine why, low levels of vitamin D could be the cause.

Step 4

Monitor your muscle strength. Since your muscles require vitamin D to be effective, a deficiency may explain why your trips to the gym seem harder and harder to complete even with no change in your workout.

Step 5

Talk to your doctor. The only way to be completely sure of the status of your vitamin D levels is via a blood test.

Tips and Warnings

  • Unfortunately, there are no clear-cut signs of low vitamin D. This means it is even more important that you are aware of your intake, since a long-term deficiency is linked with weakened and brittle bones and an increased risk of osteoporosis. Supplements are readily available should you wish to increase your intake. A daily vitamin D tablet may provide relief from mood disorders and muscle fatigue, if your vitamin D levels are to blame for those conditions. Sometimes, in the dead of winter, it may feel like it has been ages since you've seen the sun. However, this alone may not be indicative of low levels of vitamin D. Safe and sensible sun exposure during the summer can actually provide you with enough vitamin D to get through the winter, since your body can store this fat-soluble vitamin.

References

Article reviewed by SPEstes Last updated on: Jul 29, 2011

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