Vitamin D

This is straight from the number one researcher in the world on Vitamin D, Dr. Michael Holick:

1.    Vitamin D deficiency is now recognized as one of the most common medical conditions worldwide.

2.    Unlike other vitamins, vitamin D is actually a hormone that we need to survive.

3.    Milk rarely contains the amount of vitamin D stated on the label.

4.    Vitamin D plays a crucial role in most metabolic, muscle, cardiac, immune, and neurological functions. It can safeguard a pregnancy, reduce irregular cell growth, and stave off chronic diseases and infections. A strong connection has been made between increased blood levels of vitamin D and a decreased risk of many common cancers: colon, breast, prostate, and ovarian.

5.    Women deficient in vitamin D at the time they are diagnosed with breast cancer are 75% more likely to die from the disease than those with sufficient levels.

6.    Your body cannot manufacture a toxic level of vitamin D from sun exposure not matter how much sun you get.

7.    Sufficient levels of vitamin D are crucial for calcium absorption in your intestines. Without sufficient vitamin D, your body cannot absorb calcium, rendering calcium supplements useless.

8.    Sun exposure is the only way to make vitamin D in the body and it’s nearly impossible to get adequate amounts of vitamin D from your diet. To eat a sufficient amount, you would need to consume three cans of anchovies, 10 glasses of fortified milk, 10 bowls of cereal, 50 egg yolks, and eat wild salmon for dinner every night. Popular multivitamins are not enough.

9.    Geography matters: anyone living north of Atlanta and San Diego is at risk for vitamin D deficiency. Between November and February, a New Yorker can remain named outside for the entire day and still not make any vitamin D in the skin.

10.  Age, weight, and skin color matter. An 80-year-old has fourfold less ability to make vitamin D compared to a 20-year-old. Similarly, the darker your natural skin color, the harder it is to make vitamin D from the sun. And everyone with a Body Mass Index of 30 or greater is vitamin D deficient.