Vitamin D - The Wonderful Healing Properties Of The Sunshine Vitamin |
According to Dr. Michael Holick author of “The UV Advantage”, and one of the world's most respected experts on vitamin D and the healing benefits of natural sunlight, if one has liver or kidney disease you will become vitamin D deficient. You will need to take either activated vitamin D or one of its analogs to maintain healthy bones.
As a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin, Holick and his roommate worked on isolating and identifying the active form of vitamin D for their PhD project. Over a two year time period, they managed to synthesize it. This synthesized form of vitamin D was given to patients while Dr. Holick was in medical school. Patients that had bone diseases associated with kidney failure, that were wheelchair bound and with severe bone pain, started walking again.
This active form of vitamin D that is made by the kidneys, is called 125-dihydroxy vitamin D. It can not be found in dietary supplements and is available only by prescription.
Vitamin D production first begins when you expose your skin to sunshine's ultraviolet rays. It is also worth mentioning here, that you can not get vitamin D when you are behind glass, so sitting in a sun room in your house, or the warmth of sunlight streaming through your car's windshield will not be beneficial skin exposure for producing vitamin D. After skin exposure to outdoor sunlight, vitamin D then takes a circuitous journey to the liver to get hydroxylated (called 25-hydroxy vitamin D). This inactive form of vitamin D then goes on to the kidneys, from there vitamin D becomes modified again, to its active form, which is then called 125-hydroxy Vitamin D.
Several years later, it was discovered that other organs in the body such as the prostate, breast, and colon can also activate vitamin D. It is this activated form of Vitamin D that is responsible for the intestines to efficiently absorb calcium from one's diet. Having a vitamin D deficiency puts you at risk for many diseases such as diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, and depression to mention only a few.
Many Americans simply take for granted the importance of this free and natural necessary nutrient. Vitamin D deficiencies in the United States are now in epidemic proportions, and in all age groups. Wearing sunscreen, which has been promoted as healthy by the medical establishment because it protects the skin from cancer and is a lucrative business for sunscreen manufacturers, is the main reason for this shocking trend. We have been bought, sold, and paid for on avoiding sunshine exposure for fear of getting skin cancer, and this is why 40-60% of people are at risk for having a vitamin D deficiency.
When you slather on sunscreen even as low as 8 SPF every time you go outside, you reduce your ability to make vitamin D in your skin by more than 95%. When you need to be out doors for long periods of time in the sun, do not let your skin burn. Sunburning will increase your chances of developing skin cancer. Get into the shade, go indoors, or apply sunscreen after you have given your skin a chance to make vitamin D for your good health. Only 20 to 30 minutes three to five times a week of sensible sun exposure is necessary for the average caucasian, longer for darker skin and overweight individuals. Dr. Holick's book outlines the details on this to lessen any confusion.
You can not overdose on vitamin D, nature has provided smart safe guards on this. When you expose your skin to adequate amounts of sunlight in the spring, summer, and fall, the vitamin D that is produced will last you two to three months. This should get you through the winter. If you are concerned about this issue though, supplement with krill oil or cod liver oil through the winter months. This will help you keep up your reserves.
Vitamin D is not easily obtainable from our diets. Only cold water, oily fish is a good source, but you would have to eat this three to five times a week. Cod liver oil is a good source of vitamin D and omega-3, but it also contains vitamin A which can be toxic if too much is taken. Milk fortified with vitamin D is not a good source, as too much would have to be ingested to benefit.
Vitamin D is dependent on adequate calcium intake for it to work, and vise versa, calcium needs vitamin D to be adequately absorbed by your body. Keep this fact in mind if you are supplementing with extra calcium. Another interesting fact about vitamin D is, it really is not a vitamin in the true sense, but more like a hormone by definition in how it is produced and distributed throughout your body.
To get you thinking more about this poorly understood nutrient, here are some startling facts about vitamin D deficiencies in the United States:
1.32% of doctors and med school students are vitamin D deficient.
2.40% of the U.S. Population is vitamin D deficient.
3.42% of African American women of child bearing age are vitamin D deficient.
4.48% of young girls (9-11 year olds) are vitamin D deficient.
5.Up to 60% of hospital patients are vitamin D deficient.
6.76% of pregnant mothers are severely vitamin D deficient, causing wide spread vitamin D deficiencies in their unborn babies, which predisposes them to type-1 diabetes, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and schizophrenia later in life. 81% of children born to these mothers were deficient.
7.Up to 80% of nursing home residents are vitamin D deficient.
The message seems rather clear and simple, sensible skin exposure to natural outdoor sunlight during the warm months of the year is one of the cheapest, easiest, and healthiest ways to improve one's health and avoid a vitamin D deficiency. Along with a healthy diet, exercise, and proper hydration with nothing more than plain water, there is really no one magic single bullet answer to maintaining or regaining great health. Nature is a multi-complex system that requires a myriad of nature's natural nutrients to keep a healthy mind, body, and spirit.
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