Vitamin D: Essential for Healthy Eyes

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble nutrient, a hormone that is necessary for all human health. It plays an important role in cell growth, neuromuscular function, immune health and reducing inflammation. Vitamin D is essential for developing bones, otherwise they remain soft and fragile. High vitamin D levels are associated with high cancer survival rates. Skin cancer cases have escalated since people began protecting themselves from the sun, even in areas of the world where there has been no change in the ozone layer—commonly thought to be the cause. Alzheimer’s disease is associated with low levels of vitamin D as well as autism, ADD and ADHD; neurons in the brain have receptors for vitamin D, possibly enhancing important brain chemicals that help to protect the brain and foster fetal brain development.

Keep in mind that our bodies are like factories that synthesize the sun’s rays and are far more efficient than taking supplements.  If you are on cholesterol medication, you cannot synthesize vitamin D so you need supplementation–hopefully this will work.  Twenty minutes in the sun is equivalent to 20,000 IU’s of vitamin D3.  Most often 400 IU’s are recommended, a minuscule amount equal to about a minute of sunshine, not enough to make a difference.  Consider taking about 5,000 or more; no less than 2,000 IUs.

Here at the arkansas acupuncture center we treat a number of eye diseases with a specialized form of acupuncture called microacupuncture. we perform treatments for macular degeneration, acupuncture treatment for stargardt’s, retinitis pigmentosa acupuncture, and acupuncture treatment for glaucoma.

Consider reading Vitamin D:  Is This the Miracle Vitamin? by Ian Wishart.

Lizbeth Ryan, DOM, LAc