Just because our bodies make vitamin D from being outside in this glorious month of sunshine, do not think you couldn’t be lacking. Are you using sunscreen? Then you may be blocking your intake of natural body produced vitamin D. A study of nearly 1,000 Brazilians who live close to the equator had low levels of vitamin D.

Let’s review the importance of Vitamin D (just in case your friend has not heard). Vitamin D goes way beyond the well-known benefits that include stronger bones, healthy heart, better immunity, and healthier lungs to also include benefits for toddlers in more muscle mass and less body fat.

Lack of Vitamin D has been linked to heart attack, stroke, heart failure, cancer, asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure, depression, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, and other autoimmune diseases.

To determine your individual Vitamin D requirement, consult with your preventive healthcare practitioner for a blood test. Professionals report an optimal range between 30 and 60 ng / mL. Below 2- ng / mL is considered deficient and up to 100 ng /mL is considered safe. Nutritionally oriented health professionals whom we tend to lean toward often recommend taking 1,000 – 2,000 IU daily to maintain these optimum levels in your blood.

In the store we are often asked about the concern of taking too much of a particular vitamin. For Vitamin D we can show those with a concern the research from Mayo Clinic reviewed more than 20,000 test results for Vitamin D toxicity. Their research only showed one (1) case of toxicity and that was in a patient who had taken 50,000 IU daily for more than three months. The Institute of Medicine, at the National Academy of Sciences, recommends an upper limit of 4,000 IU daily. As a side note of importance to the ladies; Menstrual cramps can be a sign of vitamin D deficiency.

While we have mentioned the benefits of exposure to sunshine let’s take just a few moments to remind ourselves of over exposure. Keeping it on the Bright Side, sun exposure in extremes can be damaging to our skin. Twenty minutes per day has always been my rule for mid-day high UV exposure. There is nothing wrong about ‘covering up’ when you have to be out for more than that.

This article was a review of several articles from ‘better nutrition’ August issue.

This article is for information only. Do not make any changes in your diet or lifestyle without first consulting with your preventive healthcare provider. We pray that you prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers, 3 John 2, blessings, Donna