Can A Vitamin D Deficiency Cause Hypertension?

If you’re looking for a natural remedy for high blood pressure and you haven’t had your vitamin D levels checked recently, now is the time.

It’s likely you have a vitamin D deficiency and are in need of vitamin D supplements to help lower your blood pressure, according to the results from two recent studies.

What is Vitamin D Deficiency?

Vitamin D is produced by the skin when it comes in contact with ultraviolet B radiation from the sun. We also obtain Vitamin D through dietary sources, however, it is not widely found naturally in food sources and food fortification has been found to be largely inconsistent or inadequate as reliable sources.

While we rely on sun exposure primarily for our Vitamin D absorption, depending on where you live, the time and day and what you are wearing, you may not be getting as much as you need. In fact, an estimated that 45-70% of our population is deficient in Vitamin D.

If you are vitamin D deficient, you may experience depression, bone pain, fatigue or tiredness, and pain and weakness in the joints and muscles. Vitamin D deficiency is also linked with osteoarthritis, autoimmune disorders, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and cancer.

It’s also important to note that low levels of vitamin D are common in African Americans. Also  people with obesity, chronic kidney disease, and digestive disorders like Crohn’s disease or celiac disease, as well as those over the age of 65.

Vitamin D and High Blood Pressure

Vitamin D deficiency is a sign of cardiovascular conditions such as high blood pressure. Research also suggests a connection between low vitamin D levels and an increased hypertension risk.

In a study published in the peer-reviewed journal The Lancet: Diabetes and Endocrinology in 2014, researchers found a genetic association between low vitamin D and high blood pressure.

This meta-analysis included 35 studies and 108,173 participants of European ancestry that currently live in North America and Europe.

If you do have low vitamin D levels, will taking a vitamin D supplement help treat your hypertension? Maybe, according to results of the small number of studies conducted so far.

While the latest studies to examine vitamin D as a natural remedy for high blood pressure have been positive, the truth is that results from studies thus far have been mixed.

However, a study from 2017, says that “many experimental and epidemiologic studies showed possible roles of vitamin D in controlling BP in various ways”.

but continues with a warning that “additional research is required to confirm the real effect of vitamin D on blood pressure reduction and define the optimum dose, dosing interval, and type of vitamin D to administer”