Vitamin D
In the past, the sun has gotten a bad rap in the health community. About 30 years ago, the sun became something to be afraid of. Too much exposure would cause skin cancer and everyone was told to stay inside or wear sunscreen of spf 500 if you dared to be in the sun for over 10 minutes. This coincidentally was about the same time the food pyramid was released by the FDA with emphasis on a new high carb, grain filled diet. Skip ahead 30 years and you get elevated levels of skin cancer and a society declining in health every year. Coincidence? As it turns out, people who have more sun exposure are also the ones with decreased rates of cancer.
Vitamin D, or more specifically Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol), is made in the body in the presence of exposure to ultraviolet B rays of the sun. When the skin is exposed to the sun, it takes only minutes for the body to synthesize 8-12,000iu of V-D3. Is there excellent sunlight out there? You betcha. Sun exposure near the equator at mid day. If you don’t sunbathe practically naked three to five times a week for ten to fifteen minutes, then you don’t get enough excellent sunlight.
So why should you be supplementing Vitamin D? Vitamin D deficiency can lead to muscle weakness, osteopenia, osteoporosis, bone fractures, insulin resistance, cognitive impairment, lowered immune defense and much more. Vitamin D improves brain function, helps battle depression, supports bone health, and bolsters the immune system. So how do you know how much to take? Dosages are directly dependent on how deficient you are. The “normal” in the US is 20-50 ng/ml. That is low. But again, normal in the US is sick compared to countries like Finland where the normal level of Vitamin D is 70 ng/ml. The difference is standards. Countries like Finland and Denmark have higher standards for measuring health. They have lower rates of every disease compared to the US also.
You shouldn’t take VD3 like any other supplement though. For more natural absorption, it is better to take 25,000iu-50,000 on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday than to take 8,000-10,000 a day.