THE BENEFITS OF VITAMIN D FOR CHRONIC PAIN
The deficiency of Vitamin D is often linked to chronic pain. Over the last decade, researchers have found the association between low levels of Vitamin D and chronic pain. Chronic pain is often defined as any pain that cannot be cured using treatment. It generally lasts for months and years.
The fact is that the Vitamin D deficiency is more common to people than we actually think and most of these people have reported suffering from muscle pain. Studies on numerous subjects with persistent and agonizing chronic pain show that their Vitamin D levels were barely measurable when everything else was observed to be normal. The treatment of these subjects using high dose Vitamin D supplements showed promising results of improvement. This shows the direct relation between deficiency of Vitamin D and chronic pain. Though there is still debate on whether the link exists, maintaining a healthy Vitamin D level is still necessary for your health.
The ideal Vitamin D blood levels are 30 – 40 ng/ml. Anything below this is considered to be low while anything below 10 ng/mL is considered to be extremely low. If you have chronic pain, get your Vitamin D level checked and consult your doctor for the recommended source of supplements. The intake of Vitamin D supplements, even in high doses, is safe. However, do not take them on your own without the prescription of your doctor. Other sources of Vitamin D include egg yolks, beef, tuna, milk, yogurt, cheese, and sun exposure.
The major benefits of maintaining a healthy Vitamin D level benefit for chronic pain are:
- Strong Bones: We all know Vitamin D as the ‘bone’ vitamin. Intake of Vitamin D helps our bones absorb calcium into our bones, this helps them grow and become stronger hence reducing pain.
- Sleep Better: Low levels of Vitamin D are known to be associated with the abnormal sleep problem. Another benefit of Vitamin D intake is prolonged and comfortable sleep. This allows our muscles and brain to rest, which leads to generally improved health. Lack of proper sleep leads to insufficient time for the body to repair and heal itself that leads to pain in different parts of the body upon awakening.
Improved Appetite: We generally eat more in the summers than winters because of the UV light (source of Vitamin D) absorbed from the sun. Vitamin D helps improve our appetite and hence our metabolism.
