Are You Getting Enough Vitamin D?

I'd like to start this post by thanking everyone for your comments on my last post. I knew it was an intense issue and I appreciated hearing all of your own thoughts and observations. You are all so wonderful! I would also like to thank The Candid Blogger for helping me upload my resume onto my blog!! Check out his blog, which presents another side to many of the stories we see on the news, including a lot of eye opening information about the health care debate.

Vitamin D, Are You are Getting Enough?

My mother, a registered nurse who works as a school nurse, is my inspiration for everything. She is also the one who taught me how to eat healthy and enjoy it. I've always considered my mother a healthy person, as she eats well, exercises regularly, and has no addictions (although I know I got my sweet tooth from her!). The other day I was surprised to find out her doctor had told her that her Vitamin D levels were low. I was shocked. After all, she drinks milk, eats yogurt, rides bikes and gardens outside (sun!), and takes a multivitamin. Right away I turned into her personal dietitian:

Me: "Mom, how often are you outside?"

Mom: "I'm outside a lot, but I always put sunscreen all over my body"

Me: "Mom, don't you take a vitamin, and a Viactiv everyday?"

Mom: "Umm, when I remember!"

Me: "Mom, don't you drink three glasses of milk, or eat yogurt everyday?"

Mom: "I use milk on my cereal, but that's about it, plus I am sick of yogurt and haven't really been eating much of it lately".

Me: "Ok, I get it, no wonder you are low in Vitamin D!"

Ever since I began to study nutrition I have learned more and more about Vitamin D and it seems as though it's the one vitamin that keeps proving to be more and more important. Heck, my mom's doctor measured her Vitamin D as a routine test! Why is Vitamin D so important? The following is from MSNBC.com:

"Patients with the lowest blood levels of vitamin D were about two times more likely to die from any cause during the next eight years than those with the highest levels, the study found. The link with heart-related deaths was particularly strong in those with low vitamin D levels."

Research suggests that Vitamin D might play a role in preventing and/or treating:

Type 1 Diabetes

Type 2 Diabetes

Hypertension

Multiple Sclerosis

Glucose Intolerance (sort of like pre-diabetes)

Depression

Pain

Kidney Disease

Heart Disease

The following are some excerpts from an article from StatesmanJournal.com:

Where and How Do You Get Vitamin D?

"When it comes to getting D, the best source is the sun. Vitamin D can be synthesized when the sun hits our skin."

"an expanding number of clinical studies show that much of the American population is at risk for D deficiency and unable to gain enough sun exposure to cure the problem."

"Dermatologists admit most folks can handle 15 minutes a day of sunlight exposure needed to keep D stores up. But, vitamin D expert Dr. Michael Holick has documented the fact that most Americans don't get enough D this way. In Oregon, there's little guarantee we'll get enough sunny days for the sun to do its job."

From the Office of Dietary Supplements: "It has been suggested by some vitamin D researchers, for example, that approximately 5-30 minutes of sun exposure between 10 AM and 3 PM at least twice a week to the face, arms, legs, or back without sunscreen usually lead to sufficient vitamin D synthesis and that the moderate use of commercial tanning beds that emit 2-6% UVB radiation is also effective"

"Vitamin D is found in fortified milk products, fatty fish, liver and eggs. It's a fat-soluble vitamin, meaning fat is required for its absorption; it can accumulate and be stored in the body; and toxicity is an issue if you're mega dosing without medical monitoring. If you've latched onto low-fat eating, given up liver and onions along with eggs, rely on fat-free milk and live in Oregon, you may be at risk for D deficiency."

How Much Should You Consume?

Ages 14-18 men and women: 200 IU or 5 mcg, although the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends 400 IU, based on clinical studies.

Ages 19-50 men and women: 200 IU or 5 mcg

Ages 51-70 men and women (my mom!): 400 IU or 10 mcg

How Do I (Gina) Get My Vitamin D?

It's very hard to get too much Vitamin D, but it can happen, as it's fat soluble and is thus stored in the body. 2000 IU is too much, but you're likely never going to reach that number. Keep in mind most milks are fortified with Vitamin D, but if you are drinking fat free milk you need to make sure you are drinking it with something that has fat in it (like oatmeal with butter, or a granola cereal, or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich). Also, very few yogurts have Vitamin D in them, for a list of Vitamin D fortified yogurts, click here.

Question: Are you getting enough Vitamin D? Are you surprised by all of the benefits of Vitamin D?

Thanks for reading!