Time to Think About Your Vitamin D3

Our days are getting shorter and we will soon (sadly) be spending more time indoors.  One of the primary ways for getting your vitamin D3 is from the sun but there are other sources, too. I was surprised recently going to my pediatrician and having her suggest that the optimum way to get Vitamin D for my kids was for them to drink 3 glasses of milk a day. That is fine, I suppose, if you are a big milk drinker.  My kids do drink milk, but many do not.  There was no mention of other excellent and more potent sources.  Salmon, tuna, shiitake mushrooms along with sunlight are excellent ways to increase your vitamin D levels. Why is vitamin D so important? 

Many people are still not fully aware of how vitamin D can break that 'sick cycle' they go through each year with their kids and other family members and how it acts as a strong catalyst for other activites in the body to perform at its best.  This may be the year for you to try a little experiment with your family and increase vitamin D, monitoring how the immunity levels change in the house as a result. I've included some information that are excerpts from studies below.  If you would like to check your levels, you can do so at your next visit to the doctor or there are tests you can order to check your levels.

The D3 form of vitamin D has been shown to have the highest absorptive affinity and less toxicity in the human body compared to the more popular vitamin D2. For this reason, vitamin D3 will store longer in the fats cells and help us endure a long, UVB-deficient winter.

Vitamin D2, which absorbs into the body 70% less effectively than vitamin D3, was long thought to be the most active source of vitamin D supplementation. It is still used to fortify foods such as milk and orange juice and is the main pharmaceutical form of vitamin D support, though many pharmacies are now switching to vitamin D3 supplementation. Vitamin D3 is primarily derived from the sun, but is also found in cod liver oil and some fatty fish.

During the summer months, the UVB rays are the strongest between 10am – 2pm. For most people, 10-15 minutes of direct sunlight on unprotected skin during these hours will be enough to manufacture about 10,000 – 20,000 IUs of vitamin D3. Get just enough sun to turn your skin slightly pink. Darker-skinned people will have to get more sun to optimize their vitamin D levels.

It takes about an hour for the cholesterol on your skin to convert to D3 and then to be absorbed. So if you work out in the sun and then take a shower, you might be washing off all that precious vitamin D you just manufactured on your skin. If you can, wait at least an hour before rinsing off. Many animals get their vitamin D by licking their fur after being in the sun— the oil on their skin and fur has combined with the UVB rays to make vitamin D3.

Here is an exceprt from John Douillard where he cites Dr. Ray Matthews, who is the assistant professor of surgery at the Moorehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, has published a landmark study on the benefits of vitamin D.

His report showed that his patients with optimum vitamin D levels had shorter length of stays in the hospital, decreased hospital casts, decreased readmission rates and better and longer lives.

He states that the government’s current recommendation for normal levels of vitamin D at 30 ng/mL is too low. He requires all his hospital patients to be around 50 ng/mL.

According to his research, within the first 24-48 hours of being in the hospital, vitamin D levels drop by 50%. That means if you go into the hospital with a level of 30 ng/mL, which is considered normal, your numbers can drop to a very dangerously low level of 15 ng/mL within the first two days.

Vitamin D has many functions, none of which is greater than its support for immunity. Immune support is critical when entering a hospital or, for most of us, the immune challenging winter months ahead!

Vitamin D actually functions as a steroid hormone that supports the protection and healthy function of over 2000 genes. Dr. Matthews says that you cannot have optimal healthy athletic performance or cognitive health without optimized vitamin D levels.

The late summer and early fall is the best time of year to check your vitamin D levels, as it is the highest it will be all year. If you are below 50 ng/mL now, it’s a big hint that levels will be much lower in the winter when you need it the most!

Source :  http://lifespa.com and Life Extension