Vitamin D, Vitamin D, Vitamin D

A couple of years ago, I first learned the importance of vitamin D. The sunshine vitamin.

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that promotes absorption of calcium and phosphorus

Very few foods in nature contain vitamin D. The flesh of fish (such as salmon, tuna, and mackerel) and fish liver oils are among the best sources. Exposure to the sun at least 15-60 min depending on your skin tone is the most natural way to absorb vitamin D. Come to find there are a lot of people that are low in D and come to find out I was one of those people. I asked my doctor to test me and he did without question.  My level was 25 ng/ml. It should be between 32-100ng.ml. With supplementation my last reading was 39ngml. I'm sure any doctor would say that I was within the normal  guidelines. I want mine to be optimal, so I'm striving for at least 50 ng/ml or a bit higher.

According to  health and wellness expert, Dr Christine Northrup, a study conducted by Cedric Garland and other prominent vitamin D researchers determined that women with vitamin D levels above 52 ng/ml have half the risk of developing breast cancer as those with 13 ng/ml! Someone I love dearly had thyroid cancer and her vitamin d level was 12ng/ml. That was a convincing correlation for me to take this thing seriously. Increasing Vitamin D to optimum levels can:

• Improve bone health and prevention of osteoporosis, osteomalacia, and rickets.
• Reduce risk of heart disease, stroke, and breast, colon, and other cancers.
• Alleviate skin disorders.
• Decrease risk of autoimmune disorders, including multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes mellitus, and rheumatoid arthritis.
• Enhance mental health and lessening symptoms of seasonal affective disorder, premenstrual syndrome, and depression.

There is speculation that more cancers, autoimmune disorders etc are on the rise because of the new standards set for staying out of the sun. I'm not going to make myself an expert on how much you should take. I'll leave that to you and/or your doctor. As part of your self care, you want to make it your business to know your D levels. You will want to get vitamin d3 (cholecalciferol). I'm not going to tell you how much I take only because I don't want any flack. I will tell you that I order it from Vitacost . Do your research. I hope you look at the video above this post from one of America's favorite doctors, Dr Oz on the subject.