A Major D-ficiency

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Maintaining a power pantry and eating for nutritional excellence has tremendous benefits. Even so, some things are only gained by making good choices beyond our pantry. Getting enough Vitamin D is one of these choices, and in North America, most adults are significantly lacking in vitamin D. This is a really important wellness topic, and quite simple to get right. I gleaned much of this information from two of my favorite online doctors: Dr. Joel Fuhrman (http://www.drfuhrman.com) and Dr. Andrew Weil (http://www.drweil.com) - more on them below...

If you haven't considered your vitamin D intake lately, you're not alone. Over 80% of the American population has a vitamin D deficiency. Why is this? Mostly because it is difficult to get vitamin D in our food. If you're lacking in vitamin D, what you're risking is calcium absorption and bone health; this is where vitamin D is critically important. It is also shown to be beneficial for immune system health and prevention of some serious diseases like rickets.

Vitamin D is actually a hormone, not a vitamin. You may have heard of it referred to as the 'sunshine vitamin' because our bodies produce it when exposed to direct, ultraviolet sunlight. The vitamin D hormone is produced during this exposure and is stored in fat reserves in our bodies for use then and in the future.

The amount of sun exposure is actually not that long (20 to 30 minutes in spring and fall, and 15 to 20 minutes during the summer, two to three times a week, during the prime sunshine hours of 10am to 3pm). This exposure assumes no sunscreen (which blocks UV rays) and simply needs to be on arms and legs, not your face or torso. Understanding that too many of us work indoors and don't get sun exposure during prime sunning hours, there really needs to be another way.

That other way is by eating fortified foods or with a regular supplement. We've all grown up around milk fortified with vitamin D, right? Mass produced milk was recognized as a simple means to get this vital nutrient in the food choices of our society. Even so, according to Dr. Weil, fortified milk and cereals usually provide the D2 version of the vitamin, and what we significantly lack is the D3 version, which needs to come from a quality supplement. The necessary dosage is 1000 to 2000 IUs (international units - a measure of supplement volume) a day. While it may sound like a lot, it's right in the zone of appropriate supplementation for adults.

The punchline is that the best way to get the necessary amount of this vital, and severely lacking nutrient, is to regularly get out in the sun, and take a quality supplement. Your bones and immune system will thank you for it.

By the Way

Here are some great resources for further reading on vitamin D:
For Dr. Fuhrman's content click here
For Dr. Weil's content click here
And a bit more on sun exposure from Dr. Weil here