Vitamin D: cholecalciferol (fat-soluble)
(This is an excerpt from a University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org, please feel free to visit the school website)
Vitamin D has both vitamin and hormone properties. It is essential for bone and teeth growth and it balances minerals in the body. It is principle in regulation of the heartbeat and normal blood clotting. Vitamin D also has immunity-enhancing properties. It is associated with thyroid function and it can prevent and treat colon and breast cancers and osteoporosis.
Vitamin D deficiency can cause: Rickets in children and osteomalacia, a similar disorder, in adults. It can cause loss of appetite, a burning sensation in the throat and mouth, diarrhea, insomnia, visual problems and weight loss.
Good sources of Vitamin D: You can get Vitamin D from fish, fortified milk, dandelion greens, egg yolks, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, and vegetable oils. It can also be formed from sunlight on the skin. New studies have shown Vitamin D deficiency is more common that once thought.
Vitamin D is an essential vitamin. Most people get their vitamin nutrition from different sources some natural some not. Maybe if weight was not the focus and health was more emphasized food would not be such an unknown area. Even the dictionary defines deficiency as a lacking of something. In the metaphysical perspective one symptom of vitamin D and calcium deficiency is weakened bones. Some people use diet as their major vitamin D source while others exploit the sun to produce vitamin D. The benefit to having darker skin as opposed to lighter is that people with dark skin can absorb more vitamin D from the sun that those with light. Vitamin D overdose is possible but not under normal circumstances. Vitamin D toxicity was not heard of before the invention of artificial sources. Check emedicine for more side effects of Vitamin D. Milk is one of the most common sources for vitamin D. It is however cause for concern that we are the only species on this planet that drinks the milk of another species, and drinks milk throughout life rather than only early.