Vitamin D is a collection of forms of a pro-hormone fat-soluble nutrient. A crucial element in many reactions and processes in the body, there is a well-reported and well-documented widespread deficiency in Vitamin D. This deficiency is due to several factors including lack of exposure to direct sunlight and an imbalanced diet that provides poor nutrients. Many are caught in a Catch-22 scenario of having a condition caused by a Vitamin D deficiency that is now blocking the body’s strategies for synthesizing more.

Any Vitamin D is acquired through food, exposure to sunlight and supplements but these forms are inactive until converted into its bioactive form, 25-hydroxy vitamin D, through an enzymatic process in the liver and kidneys. Almost every cell in the body has receptor sites for this converted form of Vitamin D but there are conditions limiting this conversion. People with fat malabsorption, toxicity syndrome, inflammatory condition (including obesity), or impaired liver/kidney function (often caused by painkillers like NSAIDS to relieve inflammation abetted by a lack of Vitamin D) are unable to convert Vitamin D into its bioactive form.