Low Vitamin D Levels Linked to Poor Liver and Kidney Function

(NaturalHealth365) Ideally, the entire human body ought to work together, as a harmonious system, keeping us safe from harm and pain-free – all the days of our life.  Naturally, if one part of the body doesn’t work well, it will affect other areas of the body.  Having said that, oddly enough, most people have no idea how a simple vitamin D deficiency can influence liver and kidney function, in a negative way.

Whether deriving vitamin D from food or the skin, both your liver and kidneys must be working correctly.  In other words, poor kidney function, a fatty liver or other types of liver disease can result in a vitamin D deficiency, further affecting those organs and the rest of the body.

The link between poor kidney function and vitamin D deficiency

In addition, the kidneys are essential to helping the body produce vitamin D3 – which is the active form of this vitamin. They’re also critical for filtering and removing waste from your blood, maintaining proper pH, and regulating levels of chloride, sodium, bicarbonate, and potassium.

Studies have found that vitamin D levels have the potential to help predict the early signs of kidney disease. When the kidneys do not function correctly, they’re unable to provide the body with enough metabolic vitamin D, eventually resulting in additional symptoms related to a deficiency.

One study published in Ethnicity and Disease discovered that patients who have chronic kidney disease have an extremely high rate of severe vitamin D deficiency as well. Deficiency becomes a cycle because, with poor kidney function, deficiency becomes exacerbated because of the kidneys reduced ability to take vitamin D absorbed by the body and convert it into the active form the body can use.

Anyone with low levels of vitamin D should also have their kidney function tested since the early stages of kidney disease often have few other symptoms.

Low vitamin D levels confirmed in people with fatty liver disease

Responsible for bile production, detoxification, synthesizing blood components, converting nutrients, and more, the liver is also an essential organ needed in the processing of vitamin D within the body.  The liver produces the form of vitamin D known as calcidiol – which is the precursor to the active form of vitamin D.

Due to impaired synthesis, studies have found that low levels of vitamin D are quite common in individuals with liver failure.

Liver disease also can impair the absorption of the vitamin.  Low levels of vitamin D, as well as bone disease, have been recognized for some time as complications of fatty liver disease.

However, studies have also confirmed low levels of vitamin D in individuals with noncholestatic (non-fatty) liver disease. In one study, more than 92% of patients with liver disease had some level of vitamin D deficiency, even in patients who were not currently in liver failure.

In many cases, fatty liver goes undiagnosed early on because it has few symptoms and may not show up in ultrasounds or liver function tests. Going forward, on a practical level, low levels of vitamin D could be a warning sign of a fatty liver and should be addressed, before it’s too late.

Sources for this article include:

NIH.gov
NIH.gov

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