maxiderm – How To Know If You Are Vitamin D Deficient
The correct term for Vitamin D is: Vitamin D3 cholecalciferol.Technically it’s not a vitamin as Vitamin D is in a class of its own. Its metabolic product, calcitriol, is actually a secosteroid hormone that targets over 2000 genes in the human body. Current research has shown Vitamin D to be extremely helpful with the prevention of 17 kinds of cancers as well as preventing heart disease,stroke,autoimmune disease, depression,diabetes,chronic pain,osteoarthritis,osteoporosis.muscle weakness,gum disease,muscle wasting,and more.
Its apparant through all the research thats been completed on this subject that the healthcare industry and individuals interested in having over-all good health and maintaining a sense of well-being, can no longerignore the great importance Vitamin D has in our lives.
The one main piece of information I continued to come across for one of the reasons most Americans are lacking in Vitamin D is the fact of more of us spending quite a bit of time indoors than we once used to. If you’ll recall we were hit with tons of information and messages for a number of years informing us of how bad it was to spend time outdoors and paricularly out in the sunlight due to the fear of getting maxiderm cancers. It often seems as if its a darned if you do, darned if you don’t situation with may of these things. All the more reason each of us weighs the information and to
determine what is best for them personaly. My thinking in my own life is many things are ok for us if all done in moderation, otherwise we may as well curl up under a rock or have that glass house built quickly.
Another culprite to the Vitamin D deficiency hasto do with all the chemicals and additives being in the many foods we consume today since these preservatives hinder and prevent our bodies from utilizing any Vitamin D which may be in the food, if any at all.
Vitamin D plays a role in building strong bones and also helps,much like calcium does with preventing bone loss as we age. The average American consumes about 600 mg. of Vitamin D per day. Currently the governments recommened amount of Vitamin D is a shocking 200 I.U. per day! The research indicates each individual needs at least 5,000 I.U. on a daily basis. In order for one to acheive this they would need to drink about 50 glasses of milk per day and take a total of 10 tablets of a multi-vitamin each day.
An interesting fact about the suns role and Vitamin D production is 20-30 minutes of sun exposure during the summer months gives us about 10,000 I.U. of Vit D.
Some have suggested there are a few diferent ways one can obtain their daily dose of Vitamin D with one method being midday sun exposure in the spring,summer and early fall for 20-30 minutes and of course, avoiding sunburn. Another suggestion is to obtain this through the use of a tanning bed during the colder months, and again being sure you don’t burn.
There is a blood test that your doctor can do in the office called the 25-hydroxyvitamin D test. If you are concerned and would rather receive the results from the test prior to starting to take a Vitamin D-3 supplement, contact your doctors office to inquire about this test. Unlike many other vitamins, Vitamin D can be toxic if you take too much, therefore do not exceed 5,000 I.U. per day. For those who have the test done, its suggested to have a re-take after 2-3 months of taking the Vitamin D supplement to check where your current level is.
Recently there has been information about Vitamin D being very beneficial against the H1N1 Virus. I have included a link to information the Vitamin D Council published about this interesting theory. It appears there is enough valid information to prove this to be accurate information. This is definately worth taking the time to look into since it would be viable to beleive Vitamin D could have an incrediable impact on the spread of not only H1N1 but other viruses as well.
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/newsletter/vitamin-d-and-h1n1-swine-flu.shtml
