Vitamin D Deficiency Symptoms | Negative Effects Of Staying Indoors
Combating Vitamin D deficiency and other negative effects of Staying Indoors
“Staying Indoors is the best way to flatten the curve”; we hear experts say this all over the news. It is a weird thing to say especially if you’re not familiar with the context behind the phrase: ‘flattening the curve’. To the uninitiated, ‘to flatten the curve’ means to slow down the number of infections per day so that the health care system could still provide sufficient care to those who are sick. According to experts, staying indoors is the most effective way of flattening the curve. Some of us may find staying indoors difficult, some of us may be used to it. Regardless, we can’t deny that staying indoor for too long can have negative effects on your health. However, this does not mean that we can go about with our lives like normal; we still have to remain indoors to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and look for ways to combat the negative effects that come with it.
The outdoors is the sole source of sunlight which our bodies need to convert a specific cholesterol in our skin to Vitamin D. This means that spending less time outside can potentially lessen your exposure to sunlight which could lessen your body’s capacity to produce vitamin D. But fear not, there are ways to get around this problem. The simplest way to get more vitamin D is to eat foods that are rich in them. Foods like fatty fish and seafood, mushrooms, and egg yolks are rich in vitamin D. You can eat foods that are fortified with vitamin D but most of the time these foods are heavily processed and can have additives. Another strategy to get more vitamin D is to purchase a UV lamp and bask in its UV light. It is the sun’s UV light that converts the cholesterol to vitamin D. So if you are exposed to UV light from a UV lamp, you’re essentially getting something similar. The problem with this strategy is that UV lamps can be expensive and you might damage your skin if you expose yourself to the UV light for too long.
Another negative effect of staying indoors for too long would be inactivity. It’s easy to laze around when you’re comfortable indoors. It is also difficult to motivate yourself to work out when your surroundings say, “relax”. Or maybe you are motivated but don’t have any exercise equipment. You should try and overcome this problem and look for effective exercises that don’t require equipment and are doable indoors. A quick Google or YouTube search should do the trick. Once you find one, just start following along.
Vitamin D deficiency is not the only negative effect of lessened sunlight exposure; ruined sleep cycle is another one. Our biological rhythm requires a minimum of 1,000 lux, which is the brightness of the morning sun, every morning to set its clocks right. Without the 1,000 lux sunlight exposure in the morning, our bodies would think that it is still nighttime and we would feel tired throughout the day. You might sleep intermittently throughout the day which makes it difficult for you to sleep at night. If this vicious cycle continues you become progressively more sleep deprived. To solve this problem, simply look for a window that’s facing the rising sun. Open said window during the morning and soak up on some sunlight for 10 to 15 minutes.
Most homes are made to be as comfortable as possible and a comfortable home is one that does not require those who are inside to be on the alert the entire time. Thus, we can say that most homes are not so stimulating to our senses. This is fine but when you stay indoors for too long, your brain would experience a severe lack of needed stimulation. To remedy this problem, you can engage in multi-sensory stimulation activities. A multi-sensory stimulation activity could include yoga, some calming music played over ambient outdoor noises with relaxing sceneries played through the television for visual appeal, and scented candles or incense. Basically, the trick here is to stimulate as many senses as possible.
Staying indoors to avoid coronavirus infections shouldn’t have to compromise your health. Follow these recommendations and stay healthy throughout the quarantine.
