Let the Sun Shine! Why we need Vitamin D
Living in one of the
sunniest places in the world doesn’t protect us from Vitamin D deficiency. As
summer comes to the desert we tend to migrate indoors spending as much time as
we can away from the scorching sun, meanwhile depriving our bodies of the most
important hormone in our body: Vitamin D. Believe it or not, you can get
vitamin D from sunshine. The skin produces vitamin D when hit by ultraviolet
light from the sun.
Vitamin D deficiency
is increasing nationwide at a staggering rate. Experts estimate that more than
half of adults and 30 percent of children and teens in the United States are
vitamin D deficient, according to the report in the Journal of the American
College of Cardiology.
So why do I need
Vitamin D?
According to the
Vitamin D Council Current research has implicated vitamin D deficiency as a
major factor in “the pathology of at least 17 varieties of cancer as well as
heart disease, stroke, hypertension, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, depression,
chronic pain, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, muscle wasting,
birth defects, periodontal disease, and more.” Did you know that
nearly every cell in our body has a vitamin D receptor? It’s no wonder it plays
an important role in such a variety of disease processes.
If you aren’t convinced
of Vitamin D’s importance, keep reading.
1. Vitamin D Boosts
Immunity
With the recent swine
flu scares, vitamin D deficiency has come the forefront as an excellent
preventative measure to boost our immune systems. Vitamin D has an important
role in activating innate immunity, which is the first responder to an
influenza viral infection.
2. Vitamin D is
essential for health bones
Vitamin D ensures
your body absorbs calcium to keep your bones strong and prevents osteoporosis,
rickets, and bone pain disorders.
3.Vitamin D reduces
cancer risk and helps survival rates of people with cancer
Vitamin D enhances
anti-cancer actions of the immune system and chemotherapy drugs. Vitamin
D deficiency is highly prevalent in women with breast cancer. It is associated
with increased breast cancer risk and decreased breast cancer survival.
Moreover, women who are vitamin D deficient have an increases risk of
developing colorectal cancer. A recent study reported that women ingesting
supplementing vitamin D and calcium daily reduced overall risk of developing
cancer by almost 70%.
4. Vitamin D protects
your heart
A low blood level of
vitamin D increases your risk of heart attack by 2.5 times more than those with
adequate levels of vitamin D.
5. Vitamin D helps
you be happy
A correlation has
been made between mild depression and forgetfulness and having low levels of
vitamin D.
6. Vitamin D
increases your protection against autoimmune disease
Women and men who
increase their vitamin D intake above 400 IU of vitamin D a day reduce risk of
developing multiple sclerosis by approximately 40%.
7. Vitamin D can
alleviate back pain
Vitamin D deficiency
is a major contributor to chronic low back pain as well as persistent,
nonspecific musculoskeletal pain.
Where can I find Vitamin
D?
You can get it from
the sun for free by getting 15 minutes of full sun exposure daily when the sun
is not at its peak; and you aren’t using sunscreen. Some foods are sources of
vitamin D such as wild salmon and sardines, however they don’t provide nearly
as much vitamin D as sunlight exposure. To get adequate vitamin D through food
alone, you would need to eat two servings of salmon every day. Most of our
dietary D comes from fortified foods such as cow’s milk, infant formula and
fortified juices. And although vitamin D is added to milk, it is not found in
milk products such as ice cream or cheese.
Vitamin D can be
easily supplemented in the form of vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) at a dosing
range of 2,000 to 5,000 IU daily for an adult depending on your needs. A simple
blood test is the only way of determining will reveal whether or not your
levels of vitamin D are sufficient.
Why doesn’t everyone
need the same amount of Vitamin D?
How much vitamin D
you need varies with age, body weight, percent of body fat, latitude, skin
coloration, season of the year, use of sunblock, individual variation in sun
exposure, and how strong your immune system is. Generally, the elderly need
more than adolescence, heavier people need more than thin people, dark-skinned
people need more than fair-skinned people, sunblock lovers need more than
sunblock haters and more considerations. It is best to get the advice of a
doctor to assure you a safe and accurate dose of Vitamin D.
The doctor’s at Live
Well Clinic can assist you in optimizing your health by measuring your vitamin
D levels through a simple blood test and providing safe supplementation. For
more information on vitamin D please visit the vitamin D council http://www.vitamindcouncil.org.
For more information
about Vitamin D or any other health related questions, email:
info@livewellclinic.org or call us at 760-771-5970.
Comments
Post a Comment