Vitamin D-It's not just for bones anymore.

Nutrition Tip

Usually my nutrition tip has to do with something you put in your body, and to be sure, you should be putting Vitamin D in your body, but another good way to get it is to get a little sunshine. You see, your body converts sunlight to Vitamin D in your skin. Recent studies have shown that up to 80% of people who live in Northern latitudes are Vitamin D deficient! Are you one of them?

Vitamin D is not just a vitamin. It's actually a pre-hormone called 1,25 dihydroxycholecalciferol. Boy that's a mouthful, no wonder they just call it vitamin D. It has hundreds of functions in the body and research is finding more each year. We all know that Vitamin D is essential for bone formation. That's an easy one. But did you know that lack of Vitamin D is implicated in Multiple Sclerosis? I bet you didn't know that the incidence of MS rises as you move North on the globe.

Vitamin D functions by activating or deactivating over 100 genes, and those genes are involved in preventing diseases! A study that came out in the prestigious medical journal "Lancet" showed that people with high blood pressure who were exposed to UV light 3-6x/week had a significant drop in their blood pressure! And that their Vitamin D levels increased by 162%.

A study from the University of Wisconsin showed significant correlation between low blood levels of Vitamin D in Alzheimer's patients with poor performance on cognitive tests. Alzheimer's patients who were put on high doses of Vitamin D have been observed to do much better.

This brings me to my next point. It is very easy to get a blood test to check your Vitamin D level. I do it on almost all of the patients in my "Healthy Body Program." You can ask your doctor to check a 25-hydroxy Vitamin D level. It should be between 40-65 ng/ml.

We are finding out that like many other vitamins, the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) is much lower than it should be. The RDA is usually figured out based on the amount of a vitamin you need to prevent a deficiency disease. In the case of Vitamin D, to prevent Rickets. While we may prevent deficiency with these RDA doses, it is not enough to be optimum. In my practice, I want optimum levels for healthy aging and long health span which means healthy bones, healthy nerves, cancer prevention, and avoidance of viral and bacterial infections all of which are accomplished in part by good Vitamin D levels.

Vitamin D is truly essential in larger doses than we previously thought and will contribute to health in ways that the drug companies don't want you to know. It is inexpensive, especially for those of you who live in sunny areas. You can get all of your vitamin D in about 20-30 minutes of sunlight per day. The deficiency problem is multifactoral.

1. Those of us who live in the north do not see enough daylight in the winter to get our share.
2. The northern latitudes have a longer angle to the sun in the winter which means the rays are not as strong.
3. We have been so scared about the sun that we all wear sunscreen now, which stops your body's ability to make Vitamin D.
4. Even those of us in sunny climates tend to spend too much time indoors.
5. Levels of Vitamin D that were previously considered "healthy" are not Optimum, and were measured on so called normal subjects who were probably deficient.
6. Dark skin people do not make as much Vitamin D from sunlight.
7. As we age, our skin is not as good at converting sunlight to Vitamin D, so you need to supplement more.

So, go get some sunlight. 20 minutes will not give you cancer, and it actually mat prevent it. Studies show a decrease in melanoma recurrence for melanoma patients who get sunlight. The current dosage recommendations are at least 2000 IU/day. If you are concerned, have your blood level checked. You can also start my "Healthy Body" program and we will check your level.