Most of us try to maintain a healthy diet, get enough sleep, and take in enough vitamins and minerals – even if it means popping a multivitamin to make up for the greasy burger and fries a couple times a week. However, sometimes the body just doesn’t get the nutrition it needs and can become vitamin deficient in one area or another, which may lead to potentially serious consequences. Vitamin D is one such vitamin that nobody can afford to fall short on, which is a bummer for those individuals who miss out on food sources of vitamin D due to milk allergies or have an aversion to the sun. Learn why a vitamin D deficiency puts one’s health – including sexual health – at risk and how to maintain the healthy penis and body for the long haul.
Why is vitamin D important?
Any one who has ever seen a milk commercial knows that vitamin D is most famous for creating strong bones and healthy teeth. Studies have also shown that vitamin D may be beneficial for the following health reasons: improving weight loss, staving off respiratory infections, reducing risk of rheumatoid arthritis, reducing bone loss, reducing risk of multiple sclerosis, preventing cancer, treating osteoporosis, keeping the skin healthy, preventing premature aging and wrinkling, supporting cardiovascular health, keeping a man’s sperm count steady, supporting penis health and reducing incidence of erectile dysfunction. These are just some of the many health benefits of vitamin D, with new research underway to help us further understand this powerful vitamin.
What is a vitamin D deficiency?
Simply put, a vitamin D deficiency occurs when an individual’s body does not have enough vitamin D in it. Pretty easy to see the correlation on that one! Vitamin D comes from food sources such as dairy products, fish, eggs, and fortified grain products, but the body also produces vitamin D in response to sunshine. When an individual does not take in enough or produce enough vitamin D, health issues can arise.
What are the health side effects?
Perhaps the most well known symptom of vitamin D deficiency is rickets – which is a painful disease characterized by skeletal deformities, bone disease, and slow growth. Rickets is relatively rare in the United States, as it is associated with severe malnutrition, but it occurs in other parts of the world. Other potential side effects of a D deficiency that are liable to pop up in an otherwise healthy individual include the following:
* Increased risk of cardiovascular disease – including death from the condition
* Severe asthma symptoms – particularly in young children
* Increased risk of cancer
* Cognitive impairment in the elderly
* Possible erectile dysfunction – in part due to circulation issues caused by poor cardiovascular health
How to stock up on vitamin D
Skipping milk for a week is not going to cause a vitamin D deficiency, it occurs over time, from a consistently low amount of vitamin D in the system. In order to avoid it, one can stock up on food sources such as cheese, milk, fish, egg yolks, and liver. Being sure to get sunshine whenever possible will help keep the body’s natural production up — try to soak up a little sun before slathering sunscreen on, as sunscreen slows down the body’s production of D. It is also important to note that individuals who have darker skin are at more of a risk of deficiency because the pigment melanin inhibits the body’s production of the vitamin; therefore, they may need to rely on other methods of stocking up on D. Vitamin D supplements can also help, especially if a special diet or the time of year inhibits one from getting enough vitamin D. In terms of sexual health, a man can keep his penis healthy and stock up on D by using a penis vitamin cream every day (health professionals recommend Man 1 Man Oil). A health cream delivers a daily dose of vitamin D right on the manhood so it can be absorbed easily which is important as Vitamin D may help keep a man’s swimmers at the ready, while supporting penis health – if that isn’t reason to believe in the power of D, nothing is!