Hey folks,
Hope you are all well and full of smiles! 45 DAYS to Christmas! I am too excited!
Introduction: So today I wanted to talk about vitamin D…a key player in your overall health.
First thing is first, vitamin D is not a vitamin. Hate to break it to ya but it is actually a hormone because we make it in the body. It is found in small amounts in food in things like liver (yummmyyy), eggs and even vegetables like mushrooms…..but the amounts are tiny. So how do we get out vitamin D? Well the sun….duh….Sufficient exposure to sun allows us to produce large amounts of Vitamin D in the body, much more than we could be getting from food. Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin which means it can be stored in our fat cells in the body for use later. Water soluble vitamins on the other hand are not stored very well and thus we need to eat foods rich in these more often.
Well in Ireland we are immediately at a disadvantage…..not much sun eh….and not only do we tend to spend more time indoors but when we do go out in the sun we put on sun screen which is full of chemicals which prevent our skin from creating vitamin D. Conclusion: the vast majority are deficient in Vitamin D.
Vit D Deficiency results in a condition called rickets in children or osteomalacia. Deficiency may also contribute to some cases of osteopenia, osteoporosis. And this leads us on nicely on why we need this vitamin….
1. Vital for calcium absorption and thus bone health
But it is much much more than a device for absorbing calcium. What is most interesting is that every cell in the human body has a receptor site for three things: thyroid, omega 3 and Vitamin D. When you read this statement I think it is quite obvious that there must be a reason for this and Vitamin D must be responsible for much more than just calcium absorption.
2. One of the interesting things is that it seems to be extremely effective in preventing cancer when taken profolacbticly.
3. Another interesting connection is that autoimmune conditions become more frequent in countries as you move away from the equator and consequently where there is less sunlight. So perhaps a link exists to these conditions also?
4. Vitamin D is also connected with depression. Clinicians are finding that people who take high doses of Vitamin D stop suffering from seasonal depression or alleviate their depresssion symptoms. Not saying it is a cure, but it is still worth taking a look at.
5. Another link is immunity. Vitamin D taken profolacbticly, is very effective in preventing the flu.
So how much should I take?
Adults can safely take a dose of 1000-5000IU per day
Optimum (optimum being waaaay above the ‘norm’ range) Blood levels: 50-80nm/ll
Food sources: fish liver oils: small amounts in herring, kippers, salmon, eggs, milk, mushrooms.
It is important to note that as the skin gets older, it becomes less efficient at making this conversion.
Also, although you do not want to burn, it is important to get sunlight exposure before putting on sun screen.
So there you have it….short, sweet and to the point.
THE GLUTEN SUMMIT.
On a side note….for anyone interested, the gluten summit kicks off tomorrow.
It’s free and super easy to sign up for. Go to this link and sign up.
You can view the schedule on the link and get further details but basically the idea is to talk all about gluten sensitivity and celiac disease. Every day, four videos will be streamed for 24 hours for FREE. They will then be taken down and replaced by four new videos and so on for the week.
I m really excited ! Spread the word!!
Oh and on another summit, you might notice the format of the blog changed again…….yeah I m just too indecisive! I am hoping to do a really good revamp of the site soon but for the moment can only play around with the free templates available to me. I like the last format but it didn’t make the posts very accessible if you wanted to search back etc….so anyway I ve settled on this template for the time being.
Chat soon and happy Sunday.
The Primal Rabbit 
soo… it seems we can lack vit d or age prematurely from no spf?!
Hey chick!
Ye so in essence I am saying that using SPF all the time on your body through creams and make up is not good. Does not allow the skin to get direct exposure to sun light to start making vitamin D.
However, that’s not a free for all to abandon it altogether and lie out sun bathing with no protection either. Kinda need to find a balance…. So when on holiday, just sitting or walking for a few minutes without cream will allow ur body to re build its stores. Ageing prematurely and all the effects of not wearing sun cream etc that we see advertised on TV is in relation to excessive sunbathing, sun burn, using oils etc.
We are at a disadvantage in Ireland because the sun is really not strong enough to trigger sufficient D3 production and also our climate means we cover up most of the time. However humans have adapted to this and actually pale people are up to 6 times more efficient at making D3 than tanned people!
So ye to make long story short I would say it might be worth supplementing, in winter especially and best to give your body the best chance to replenish stores by not always lathering sun cream on all the time. That said burning is also not good so be careful…. 😄