Getting enough vitamin D daily is crucial for maintaining a healthy lifestyle since it has many advantages, including improving our overall health. Additionally, it aids in promoting our children's growth by strengthening their bones and immune systems.

What is Vitamin D?

Vitamin D is referred to as the Sunshine Vitamin since sunlight is its primary source; when we are exposed to the sun's ultraviolet (UV) rays, our bodies generate this liposoluble vitamin beneath the skin. That's why it is always recommended to expose our skin to direct sunshine for sufficient durations, even in winter or hot summer days.

A few foods are naturally rich in vitamin D, such as oily fish, eggs, milk, and dairy products. Using these foods, you may prepare delicious meals highly rich in vitamin D to improve your health and support your children’s growth.

So, what are the benefits of vitamin D?

1- Vitamin D and Building Bones

Vitamin D improves your body’s efficiency in absorbing calcium and phosphorous, which grow and strengthen bones. You may suffer from calcium deficiency if your body has a low concentration of vitamin D.

2- Vitamin D and Rickets

The prolonged deficiency of vitamin D may lead to rickets, the weakening and softening of children’s bones. Vitamin D helps your body to absorb calcium and phosphorous, which aid in building strong and healthy bones.

3- Vitamin D and Immunity

Vitamin D boosts your immunity to defend your body against viruses, bacteria, and diseases. Also, it plays a vital role as an anti-inflammatory.

Scientific studies indicate that vitamin D deficiency is associated with a high risk of respiratory diseases and infections.

4- Vitamin D and Cancer

Cancer is a serious chronic disease that threatens lives. However, medical research and observational studies proved that intaking vitamin D makes it less likely to develop some cancer types, such as colon cancer, breast cancer, and prostate cancer.

Some new studies linked the high vitamin D concentrations in blood with curing cancer types, decreasing the activity of cancer cells, and reducing cancer death rates.

5- Vitamin D and Diabetes

Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas produces insufficient insulin or when the body can’t use the produced insulin effectively.

Some scientific studies proved that vitamin D helps improve insulin resistance and sensitivity, so they linked diabetes with vitamin D. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood glucose.

6- Vitamin D and weight loss

Some people struggle to lose weight because they may be deficient in vitamin D.

Researchers observed many people who intended to lose weight and divided them into two groups. Later, the study proved that the group who ate balanced diets and maintained sufficient vitamin D lost more weight than the other group.

Maintaining the recommended daily dose of vitamin D may speed up weight loss.

7- Vitamin D and mental health

Vitamin D plays a vital role in improving mental health, decreasing depression symptoms, and elevating mood.

Research linked depression with the deficiency of vitamin D. Also, the symptoms of the deficiency of vitamin D are tiredness, fatigue, and depression.

Recommended daily dose of Vitamin D

It’s essential to fortify your daily meals with food rich in vitamin D to get the daily recommended dose that improves our health and wellness.

Vitamin D daily recommended dose differs from one age group to another as follows:

• 0 to 1 year: 400 IU
• 1 year to 70 years: 600 IU
• Older than 70 years: 800 IU

Naturally get sufficient vitamin D concentration either by getting exposed to the sunlight or by eating food rich in vitamin D, such as milk, dairy products (new Puck Cream Cheese enriched with vitamin D and made from 100% milk), eggs, meat, oily fish, or supplements. It’s recommended to consult a doctor to know the needed daily dose of vitamin D.

The importance of Vitamin D for your children

It would help if you prepared meals rich in vitamin D and other key nutrients for your children to enhance their physical and mental growth and maintain their wellness.

Puck products made it easy to prepare various delicious and nutritious meals, whether breakfast, lunchbox, lunch, and dinner. The tasty lunchbox meals will grow on your children while providing them with key nutrients throughout their school day.