Of all the essential vitamins, vitamin A and D are two that many people are deficient in. While it’s important to get all of the essential vitamins and minerals through your diet or supplementation, some are easier to get than others, which leads to more frequent deficiencies of certain vitamins.
Vitamin A
Typical sources of vitamin A include fruits, vegetables, eggs, liver and dairy products, but many people eating large quantities of processed foods and other low quality food substitutes often aren’t getting sufficient amounts. This is especially a problem for children on poor diets and people in developing countries who don’t have access to high qualities foods. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of people die and go blind every year due to vitamin A deficiency.
That’s not to say everyone should supplement vitamin A, as people eating a health diet with plenty of whole foods are most likely getting enough, but for those of us who don’t have our diets handled yet supplementation may be a good idea.
Vitamin D
Lack of vitamin D commonly leads to bone diseases such as rickets in children because vitamin D regulates the body’s ability to use calcium to build strong bones. Vitamin D also regulates many other processes in the body such as hormone levels and hair growth. Because of its influence on hair growth cycles, there seems to be a high correlation between vitamin D deficiency and hair loss.
Unlike vitamin A, diet alone is unlikely to produce sufficient amounts of vitamin D, since vitamin D is mostly produced by the body in response to sun exposure. Considering the frequency of sedentary behavior and limited sun exposure (and poor diets), it’s been estimated that as many as 50 percent of people are deficient in vitamin D. For this reason, supplementation is likely to be a good idea for many people.
