 |
Helping You Achieve Better Health At Any Age |
Are You Getting Enough Vitamin D3?Discover the benefits of D3, and how it can help you improve your health--while reducing your risk of certain degenerative diseases.Vitamin D3 has been in the media a lot lately. In fact, the medical professionals are now beginning to reverse their stories on vitamin D's importance to your health. In some ways, we are on the tip of the iceberg when it comes to appreciating all of Vitamin D's health benefits. Is Vitamin D Really A "Vitamin"? Not really. Vitamin D is manufactured by your body, as a natural response to sunlight exposure--making it a "prohormone" or substance that the body converts into a hormone--so it's not technically a vitamin. No big deal really. We still call this prohormone "vitamin D" which is just fine for easy reference, and it sounds better than prohormone D, in my opinion.
When your body gets exposed to Ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and in particular UV-B radiation, it forms the vitamin D prohormone. In climates that are further north and south of the equator, much of the UV-B radiation gets filtered out in winter months, leading to possible vitamin D deficiencies.
In summer months (provided there is adequate sunshine), you need to have 15-20 minutes of sun exposure on your hands and face (at the very least) to generate enough vitamin D. For many people, even this limited amount of sun exposure poses a problem due to working indoors, or being unable to get into the sunshine when the sun is shining. Because vitamin D is stored in the fatty cells of your body, you can "store" this sunshine vitamin for later use in darker, drearier months. What your body tries to do in summer is warehouse vitamin D in order to stock up on it and prepare for winter months when your body will need to draw upon your reserves.
If you are like most people, you've been told cautionary tales of sun damage and skin cancer, and have spent the better part of the past ten years going outside under a layer of SPF 15-30. This means that you've been preventing your body's ability to re-stock vitamin D in your system. What can happen to you over time is this: your body becomes deficient in vitamin D, and you can't replenish it as fast as your body uses it. You begin to get chronically deficient in this powerhouse vitamin, and your health suffers. You feel sluggish, run down, get sick more often and are at risk for the following health imbalances I'll address right now.
Vitamin D Deficiency Is Bad For Your Health Research is showing that people with low vitamin D levels are at increased risk for:
These are just a few of the health imbalances associated with lower vitamin D levels--and more links to low vitamin D and degenerative diseases are made on a weekly basis, it seems.
According to some recent estimates, 40% of men and 50% of women in the United States are deficient in vitamin D--with blood levels that fall below the desired range of 30-70 nanograms per milliliter. When to Supplement With Vitamin D Supplement with vitamin D3 if...
As a general rule, I take 2,000 International Units (iu) of vitamin D3 per day starting in about November, and concluding in late May. Then I switch over to one 2,000 iu vitamin D3 softgel every other day, or third day--depending upon my sun exposure. Two types of vitamin D Supplements. The vitamin D3 type I recommend in Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) as opposed to vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol)--these are the two types of vitamin D supplements on the market today. Vitamin D3 seems to be more bio-available, and is the preferred form of this supplement to take.
What about "mega doses" of Vitamin D? Unless your medical provider has a strong reason (like a very low blood level reading of Vitmain D) to supplement you with mega-doses of it, you should not overload your system with Vitamin D. As a guideline, most experts are agreeing that 1,000-2,000 iu per day, in low light months is a reasonable amount of supplementation. Some people I know take 5,000 to 10,000 iu per day, which I think may be too much for most people. Again, exceptions apply, but that's my initial reaction regarding supplementation. The truth is, we won't know for a number of years if super doses of vitamin D are a healthy option or not. Some early indicators suggest that excess vitamin D, in the presence of high calcium intake, may increase the risk for calcifications in the body, such as kidney stones.
Keep in mind, if you eat grass fed meats, consume grass fed dairy, or eat wild caught fish--you are getting additional vitamin D in your diet. Animals exposed to sunlight produce vitamin D in their fat cells--which you in turn consume. If you are supplementing with 2,000 iu of D3 each day, make sure you factor in your supplements plus your daily food intake when determining your daily D3 target. My personal D3 goal is between 2,000-5,000 iu per day. If I feel run down, am around people with the flu or a cold, I may increase that to 5,000-6,000 iu for a few days to boost my immune system. I'll also follow my immune boosting routine to make sure I am staying in peak health.
Get more helpful health tips sent right to your
inbox
Send this article to a friend using the [+] Share button on the toolbar at the bottom of the page. | |||||||||
|
|
Secure Shopping Certificate:
|
Copyright © 2011 Miley Labs. XSitePro Templates
|