Prevent Vitamin D Deficiency

Here in the Northeast, many (if not most) of us are vitamin D deficient. Unfortunately, we spend most of our days indoors (especially during the Winter months!) at the office, in our homes, our cars, etc. Or, when we are outside on a bright sun-shineny day we lather up with sunblock, enabling ourselves to absorb the benefits of the sun's delicious rays with this precious vitamin!

Health Benefits of Vitamin D:

There are many reasons to step out into the suns beautiful rays and stock up on foods containing vitamin D. Health benefits of the vitamin include:

The prevention of chronic diseases such as many forms of cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension.

The protection and lubrication of your bones, teeth and hair.

The regulation of cellular growth and healthy cell activity

Overall reduction of the inflammatory response, a condition known to cause many chronic diseases, from cancer to diabetes to obesity.

Protection against adult osteoporosis

Reduction in the risk of breast cancer in perimenopausal women

How to Prevent Vitamin D Deficiency:

Usually the best way to protect yourself from any deficiency is to build your health from the bottom up and let your body balance itself. I always encourage starting with nutrition first, targeting the foods that you consume on a daily basis along with your lifestyle routines. Here are a few recommendations to prevent vitamin D deficiency:

Check your levels.

Schedule a blood test then review the results of your vitamin D levels with your doctor. A vitamin D deficiency can lead to many different problems, so it's something that you want to target and start working towards improving if your levels are low.

Let the sun shine on you!

Allow yourself limited, unprotected sun exposure in the early morning and late afternoon (no more than 15 minutes for light-skinned individuals, 40 minutes for darker skin) — particularly between May and September if you live in anywhere higher than about 35–40° latitude. (See the World Atlas to check out your latitude!)

Eat a diet rich in whole foods.

Dried shitake and button mushrooms are surprisingly high in vitamin D. Be sure to find mushrooms that have been dried in the sun in order to extract the benefits. Cod liver oil is super-rich in sunlight vitamin D, as well as rich in omega-3 fatty acids. If you can stomach its aroma and terrible taste (HA!), it's a fantastically healthy oil to incorporate into your diet for bone health, brain function and vitamin D. You can find flavored ones that are definitely a lot more tolerable, you can barely taste it when added to your favorite shake! Nutrient-dense, fatty fish like mackerel and sardines are good sources of vitamin D. Eggs are a good source of vitamin D if you eat them. Fortified organic milk and other dairy products, and some organ meats (like liver) are also reasonably good natural sources of D. Please be sure your meat/eggs and dairy are organic and free-range. If the animals had the ability to graze out in the sun, they were absorbing sunlight and all of its vitamin D! Because vitamin D is still somewhat of a mystery, we’re not sure which co-factors are important for its absorption, but we can guess they are most fully present in wholesome foods.

Take a supplement, for peace of mind.

Take a vitamin D3 supplement to be safe. Nowadays vitamin D3 supplements are widely recognized as the superior, more bio-ready form for use in the body. How much you need really depends on your particular needs, so testing is really the best way to go for most people. If you are in need of a good supplement, feel free to contact me because I sell Metagenics, high quality nutraceuticals.

And keep in mind that in the end, optimal health is never about just one thing. Vitamin D is just one component of an ever-changing picture — your health is a work in progress that needs your consistent attention and support. It may turn out that vitamin D is the key everyone’s been looking for, or more likely an important part of a far greater whole-health picture. But what matters most is how you feel and what works for you. I encourage you to investigate your personal vitamin D level with your medical practitioner as part of a comprehensive approach to your whole health.

If you are a vegetarian or don’t eat fish, you can still get the same benefits by taking a high quality vitamin D supplement or make sure to get plenty of sun on a daily basis. Being a dairy free-vegetarian, I personally make sure to get at least 10-15 minutes of direct sunlight during the warmer months. Eggs are the only animal product that I still consume (for health reasons), so I am able to obtain vitamin D from my organic, free-range eggs. I also take a high quality vitamin D3 supplement from Metagenics (please contact me if you're interested).