The sunshine vitamin

Your bones need Vitamin D for strength. Dr. Nidhi Kumar talks about the importance of this sunshine vitamin for seniors.

A happy dose of sunshine

Ever thought how plants use solar energy to grow tall and strong? Place these plants indoor and chances are that they will die. The phenomenon that helps plants grow strong and healthy can be applied to human bones too. I’m talking about the sun and its innate connection with us, especially with regard to vitamin D and our bones. Vitamin D is an important vitamin, which is taken through food, e.g., papaya, mango, pumpkin, fish, milk and green leafy vegetables. Our body too has its own mechanism to manufacture vitamin D from cholesterol in the presence of sun. This vitamin D is found in skin and is in an inactive form (Cholecalciferol, D3). It undergoes hydroxylation process (a chemical process) in the liver and kidney. This active vitamin D then reaches the gut and enhances the absorption of calcium. The food we eat is broken into small particles in the mouth and stomach and the nutrients are absorbed in the small intestine. Even if you take in food that is a high resource of calcium, it will only be absorbed from the gut if vitamin D is present in sufficient quantities. The calcium, which is absorbed in gut is taken up by blood and enters the circulation. The bones uptake their calcium from circulation. Thus the calcium when absorbed by the bones, provides them with the strength and endurance to bear the stresses of daily life. Lack of strength in bones predisposes them to fracture even with trivial trauma.

The story doesn’t end here. Once fractured, the bones again need calcium for union. If there is lack of either vitamin D or calcium in the body, the bones undergo non-union, which implies that the particular bone is not stable enough to bear stresses or weight. This enhances the duration of morbidity.

Thus vitamin D has an important role to play in giving strength to bones. Irrespective of high calcium intake, the bones will remain weak if the calcium isn’t absorbed properly. Thus only enough vitamin D can help you attain strong and healthy bones. Healthy bones are like a strong base on which the whole building stands upright and tall. This is of special importance to seniors as with increasing age,

Avoid too much coffee or tea

the ability of the gut to absorb nutrients, whether calcium, vitamins or others reduce. One way to combat this is to cut the intake of aerated drinks, coffee and tea, as they either hamper the uptake of calcium or increase the flow of calcium from bones to circulation, thereby weakening the bones. This also implies to children who consume colas in large quantities. They not only have poor bone strength but also may get muscle injuries.

What’s important for seniors to know is that they should eat healthy and nutritious food and give their body good sun exposure for at least 20 minutes daily, especially after 50 years of age. Also do some exercises regularly to keep your bones and muscles healthy, be it half an hour of slow/brisk walk or yoga or pranayams. God has made the body to work constantly, thus do not break the nature’s rules. Health should be your prime priority once you reach the silver side of life. Take care!