Do you feel tired when you wake up in the morning? Are your energy levels reducing by the end of the day? Do you feel pain in your limbs, as though the pain is in the bones themselves?
Many youngsters these days are suffering from inexplicable body aches and pains. They are seemingly healthy individuals who are not suffering from disease, are pronounced fine by doctors and yet they get body stiffness and pain in their body.
It has been found that a maximum number of youngsters between the age of 16 and 26 suffer from Vitamin D deficiency due to wrong lifestyle and food habits. Vitamin deficiency is so silent that is goes unnoticed most of the times and when it shows itself in symptoms like body pain, we mistake it for fatigue or other diseases. If it goes undetected, the symptoms increase in intensity.
Prolonged Vitamin D deficiency can lead to:
· Osteomalacia in adults, where the bones become thin and brittle.
· Muscular weakness.
· Osteoporosis, where there is thinning of bone tissues and age related degeneration.
· Studies show that it may even cause diabetes, cancer, cardiac problems, neuromuscular and brain disorders.
· In children, it can lead to rickets, where the bones are weakened.
So How Do We Regain All the Lost Vitamin D?
Sun
Sunlight is the best source of Vitamin D.
Sunbathing in the morning and evening time is recommended in Yoga and Naturopathy. This is a time when the sun’s rays are soft and have healing powers. Avoid sunbathing in the afternoons when sun rays are harsh as that is when the harmful UV rays are most intense.
However, in most urban areas like Mumbai, it is almost impossible to actually sunbathe. There is so much pollution 24x7 that it forms a layer blocking the healing rays of the sun.
So which other sources can provide us with Vitamin D?
Milk
Bathing with raw milk is advised as it not only provides vitamins but also is an excellent exfoliant.
Consuming milk and its products like cottage cheese, ghee, buttermilk etc. is an excellent way to stock up of Vit D.
Injections/ Supplements
For those of you who are vagan, you have the option of getting regular Vit D shots from the doctor or have supplements.
Vitamin supplements as such have no side effects. However, ask your doctor when is the best time to take the supplements. Generally vitamins are best taken with breakfast but if you are also taking supplements for iron etc, you have to avoid certain vitamin combinations with it. So know your supplements well before taking them, or they will have an adverse effect on you.
Exercise and Pranayama
Apart from the above mentioned sources, many regular vegetables have minute quantities of Vit D which can be absorbed by the body.
Absorption capacity of the body improves if there is a regular exercise and pranayama regime. It does not mean you have to spend 1 to 2 hours a day doing rigorous exercise. Even a regular 15 minutes of basic asanas and pranayamas daily is enough to keep you healthy.
So any of you suffering from Vit D deficiency symptoms, go get a blood test, check all your vitamin levels, and start on this regime right away. While those of you who don’t have these symptoms, might as well incorporate these few healthy changes for prevention.
Stay Healthy!
