Pregnancy and Vitamin D

When being pregnant we tend to take care of ourselves more often, luckily our hormones help us out by giving our skin a natural glow! but what if you need a bit more?! how about heading down to the beach to set that golden skin and soak in that vitamin D.

1. Is the “Sunshine Vitamin” [vitamin D] really a vitamin?

Vitamin D isn’t like most other vitamins. It is the unique “Sunshine Vitamin” which can be ‘BLENDED’ from the sun exposure and food. Basically, it shouldn’t be interpreted just a vitamin, because this interpretation is not accurate. Sometimes vitamin D is called the “Sunshine Vitamin” because it is produced in your skin in response to sunlight. The “Sunshine Vitamin”, a lipid–soluble vitamin D may be more correctly considered as the prohormone, because it is a substance produced by the skin that travels through the bloodstream to target end organs. The so–called “Sunshine Vitamin” is the essential constituent for the functioning of the multiple endocrine systems. Vitamin D affects bone metabolism through regulation of calcium and phosphate homeostasis, modulates immune responses and even glucose metabolism.

2. Where is the “Sunshine Vitamin” [vitamin D] hidden? 

The “Sunshine Vitamin” [vitamin D] is hidden in ‘two dimensions’: natural and pharmaceutical [medications]. These dimensions reveal the two main ways to get vitamin D are by exposing your bare skin to the gorgeous sunlight [plus including in your healthy diet food, which contains vitamin D] and by taking vitamin D supplements. The daily norm hasn’t been established yet, but it is highly recommended to take at least 400 IU of vitamin D a day. But you should take into consideration that your doctor can recommend and prescribe you to consume 4,000 IU of vitamin D a day. Vitamin D in supplement form can be written in two different measurements—using micrograms or international units. A measurement of 1 μg equals 40 IU, so a supplement of 150 μg/ day is the same as one of 6,000 IU/day.

3. How does Vitamin D work?

The “Sunshine Vitamin” [Vitamin D] mostly comes from your skin when it is exposed to sunlight. In other words, when you are exposing your bare skin to sunlight (ultraviolet B), your skin “GENERATES” Vitamin D. After that “SUNSHINE VITAMIN GENERATION EVENT”, your body goes through many synchronized chemical processes to change it so that your body can use it. If it is sparkling spring day with glittering golden sunlight, with gorgeously–scented air flows, and pure whirls of blushed tightly–closed peony buds’ bouquets, just bundle up! It is the most beautiful time to stroll down the streets and get the delicate touch of glowing sunlight on your bare skin, even if it is only your face skin, or your wrists skin, or your décolleté skin. Let those ‘glittering golden drops’ of the sunlight that leave a sticky trail sliding over your face, over your décolleté, over your wrists, and past your fingertips.

If it’s cold outside, but the sun is shining brightly, bundle up! To keep yourself warm and to make you shine in the cold early spring afternoon, accessories are necessary. Get a warm coat that’s one size bigger and put on additional layers to keep the warmth. Invest in some flannel leggings to wear under your jeans. Put your hands into spring gloves. Go outside and get some fresh air. Even though it feels cold, but the sun is throwing its golden rays, you can get a dose of vitamin D. The amount of time spent in the sun to produce vitamin D varies depending upon a variety of factors which include how light to dark your skin is, the season, the time of day. If you have the dark skin with intriguingly gold hues, you need to stay in the sun longer than those who have gorgeously–pastel–colored skin, or, in other words, fair skin to produce the same amount of vitamin D. It is highly recommended by the most experts to spend 15 to 30 minutes a day in the sun without sunscreen to produce enough vitamin D to meet the standard levels. However, too much sun exposure can potentially lead to skin cancer, so be careful not to spend more than the recommended time in the sun without sunscreen.

4. 16 Foods Highest in Calcium and Vitamin D, or in Vitamin D only

1. Almond Milk (fortified with vitamin D – one glass of almond milk [240mL] provides you with 30 percent of the calcium you need each day and 25 percent of your daily value of vitamin D);
2. Coconut Milk (fortified with vitamin D – one glass of coconut milk [240mL] provides you with 45 percent of the calcium you need each day and 25 percent of your daily value of vitamin D);
3. Coconut Milk Yogurt (fortified with vitamin D – one glass of coconut milk yogurt [175 g.] provides you with 40 percent of the calcium you need each day and 40 percent of your daily value of vitamin D);
4. Camel’s Milk (fortified with vitamin D – one glass of cow’s milk [240mL] provides you with 30 percent of the calcium you need each day and 6 percent of your daily value of vitamin D);
5. Cow’s Milk (fortified with vitamin D – one glass of cow’s milk [240mL] provides you with 30 percent of the calcium you need each day and 30 percent of your daily value of vitamin D);
6. Soy Milk (fortified with vitamin D – one glass of soy milk [240mL] provides you with 25 percent of the calcium you need each day and 19 percent of your daily value of vitamin D);
7. Rice milk (fortified with vitamin D – one glass of soy milk [240mL] provides you with 1 percent of the calcium you need each day and 16 percent of your daily value of vitamin D);
8. Fortified Tofu (fortified with vitamin D – one cup [226g.] provides you with 38 percent of your daily value of vitamin D);
9. Fortified Yogurt (fortified with vitamin D – one cup (245g.) provides you with 28–49 percent of the calcium you need each day and 21 percent of your daily value of vitamin D);
10. Organic egg yolk (or one large egg provides you with 10 percent of your daily value of vitamin D);
11. Cremini mushrooms (Serving Size: 1 cup whole (87.00 g.) provides you with 0.7 percent of your daily value of vitamin D);
12. Caviar (1 oz. provides you with 8 percent of your daily value of vitamin D);
13. Oily Fish [Salmon (3 ounces provide you with 100 percent of your daily value of vitamin D);
14. Tuna (3 ounces provide you with 57 percent of your daily value of vitamin D);
15. Sardines (3 ounces provide you with 41 percent of your daily value of vitamin D);
16. Mackerel (3 ounces provide you with 100 percent of your daily value of vitamin D).

5. The main risk factors for vitamin D deficiency

The main risk factors of vitamin D deficiency are those that inhibit the body’s production of vitamin D in the skin, including dark pigmentation, too little bare skin exposure to sunlight, clothing that limits exposure of skin to sunlight, the season of the year, environmental pollution, and use of sunscreen.

6. Why is the “Sunshine Vitamin” so Essential? The consequences that follow the Vitamin D deficiency

Vitamin D deficiency is thought to be common among pregnant women, particularly during the winter months, and has been found to be associated with an increased risk of preeclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus, preterm birth, and other tissue–specific conditions, because the growing fetus is entirely dependent on the mother for acquiring vitamin D [vitamin D travels to the fetus by passive transfer], and 25(OH)D readily crosses the placenta. Particularly, vitamin D has an increasingly recognized repertoire of nonclassical actions, such as promoting insulin action and secretion, immune modulation and lung development. Therefore, it has the potential to influence many factors in the developing fetus. Especially, the growing fetus needs more vitamin D during the latter half of pregnancy, when the bone growth and ossification are most prominent.

The deficiency of the “Sunshine Vitamin” [Vitamin D] in pregnancy is closely associated with an increased risk of preeclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus, preterm birth, small–for–gestational age infants, impaired fetal skeletal formation causing infant rickets, and reduced bone mass, as well as other tissue–specific conditions. Immune dysfunction, placental implantation, angiogenesis (abnormal growth of new blood vessels from pre–existing vessels), excessive inflammation and hypertension in the mother have also been associated with vitamin D deficiency, although the underlying pathogenic mechanisms are not perfectly understood.

CONCLUSION: 

The “Sunshine Vitamin” is of crucial importance during the pregnancy because it has been concluded that its deficiency may cause such adverse outcomes as increased risk of preeclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus, preterm birth, small–for–gestational age infants, and other tissue–specific conditions. The best way to get the necessary amount of the “Sunshine Vitamin” is through sun exposure, because the body turns UVB sun rays that touch the skin into vitamin D. Therefore, if it is sparkling spring day with glittering golden sunlight, with intensively glittering gold–colored sunshine’s drops, with glowing pastel–golden–colored sunshine’s droplets, with gorgeously–scented air flows, and pure whirls of blushed tightly–closed peony buds’ bouquets, just bundle up! It is the most beautiful time to stroll down the streets and get the delicate touch of glowing sunlight on your bare skin, even if it is only your face skin, or your wrists skin, or your décolleté skin. Let those ‘glittering golden drops’ of the sunlight that leave a sticky trail sliding over your face, over your décolleté, over your wrists, and past your fingertips. If it’s cold outside, but the sun is shining brightly, also just bundle up! Even though it feels cold, but the sun is throwing its golden rays, you can get a dose of vitamin D. It is highly recommended by the most experts to spend 15 to 30 minutes a day in the sun without sunscreen to produce enough vitamin D to meet the standard levels.