With just a simple finger prick, this at-home vitamin D blood test lets you check for vitamin D deficiency or toxicity in the comfort of your own home. 

But why does vitamin D matter in the first place?

Vitamin D plays a vital role in the body’s ability to regulate the absorption and levels of calcium and phosphorus. It also greatly influences your ability to maintain a healthy bone structure, reduce inflammation, and promote cell growth.

Commonly referred to as the “sunshine vitamin,” vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is stored in the fatty tissues of the body and is released when sunlight is limited. We typically get 50-90% of our vitamin D from sunlight itself, with the remainder coming from our diet. Vitamin D is mostly found in foods like fatty fish (sardines, salmon, mackerel etc.), egg yolks, and fortified dairy products.

Lack of vitamin D or severe vitamin D deficiency is also believed to cause an increased risk of serious illnesses like:

• Cardiovascular Disease
• Many Different Types of Cancer (such as breast cancer)
• Diabetes
• Dementia
• Alzheimer’s
• Erectile Dysfunction
• Infertility
• Parkinson’s Disease
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Osteoporosis
• Osteoarthritis
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Psoriasis
• A variety of autoimmune diseases
• Fibromyalgia
• Periodontal Disease
• Schizophrenia

Some Symptoms of Vitamin D Deficiency

Vitamin D is widely known to be essential for maintaining bone health as it helps the body use calcium, but if you have low vitamin D levels there are a wide variety of other symptoms one can experience:

• Fatigue
• Depression
• Joint Pain
• Muscle Weakness or Pain

Your results will contain your personal level of vitamin D and whether it is low, normal, or high as compared to someone who shares a similar demographic profile as you (age, gender, etc.).

If your results indicate that you may have vitamin D insufficiency, we will provide guidance and general recommendations to help improve low vitamin D levels. We might also suggest other lifestyle changes that are often helpful in getting your body’s levels within the recommended range.

Low vitamin D levels can result in vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D deficiency can lead to symptoms like fatigue, depression, joint pain — and more. In addition, low vitamin D levels may also be linked to more serious health conditions like heart disease and bone weakness (in the form of osteomalacia).

The main cause of vitamin D insufficiency is a lack of sun exposure. That’s because your body makes vitamin D when your skin comes into contact with sunlight. Dietary vitamin D sources are few and far between, so sunlight is actually the body’s main source of vitamin D. Fortunately, an at-home vitamin deficiency test that checks vitamin D levels can help you find out if you’re getting enough of this key nutrient.

Risk factors for vitamin D deficiency include the following:

History of gastric bypass surgery

Dairy allergies

Lactose intolerance

Vegan or ovo-vegetarian diets

Fat malabsorption conditions, such as celiac disease, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn’s disease

Healthcare providers often prescribe a high-dose vitamin D supplement to help reverse vitamin D deficiencies as quickly as possible. (However, because too much vitamin D supplementation can result in toxicity, be sure you talk to your healthcare provider before taking high doses of vitamin D.)

Learn more about vitamin D deficiency:

Too much vitamin D supplementation can result in vitamin D toxicity — meaning your body is actually getting an unhealthy amount of vitamin D. Toxicity is the opposite of a vitamin D deficiency, and is linked with excess calcium absorption (which can lead to a condition known as hypercalcaemia).

If you’re worried that you’ve been getting too much sun recently, don’t fret. Frequent sun exposure will not lead to vitamin D toxicity because any excess vitamin D in your skin is also broken down by sunlight — a natural balancing effect. 

Common symptoms of vitamin D toxicity include:

• Kidney stones

• Anorexia

• Diarrhea, constipation, nausea, and vomiting

• Bone pain

• Frequent urination

• Drowsiness

• Constant headaches

• Irregular heartbeat

Medical and scientific experts have determined the approximate range for adequate/normal vitamin D levels: 30 – 100 nanograms/milliliter (ng/mL)

• A vitamin D level less than about 30 nanograms/milliliter (ng/mL) is considered inadequate by the Endocrine Society.

• On the other end of the range, a vitamin D level above 100 ng/mL is often viewed as too high. That’s because vitamin D levels higher than 100 ng/mL increase the risk of hypercalcemia  ( a health condition where there is too much calcium in the blood and can lead to kidney stones, weak bones, and more).

• It’s important to keep in mind, however, that optimal vitamin D levels vary from person to person (depending on the health conditions someone has, for example) — so it’s a good idea to share vitamin D test results with your healthcare provider.