More Vitamin D
Vitamin D Survey
We’re asking all readers to answer two questions in the comment section below:
1) Have you ever been tested for vitamin D, yes or no.
2) If so, can you share the test result (in ng/mL, the usual form).
Thank you very much; we’ll share the result in the next post.
Health and Quilting
The beautiful wife wishes my Word of Wisdom Living posts were shorter, perhaps 600 words. I try, but the last post on vitamin D, a critical health topic, ran 1220 words. And I didn’t even cover all the important points, like how to optimize vitamin D from sunshine. So here are a few more words about the vitamin that’s more like a hormone, and is sometimes called the immunity steroid. For more on the benefits of vitamin D, see this article by Dr. Jack Kruse, a neurosurgeon.
Before we get too passionate about vitamin D, please remember one thing: WOWL seeks a balanced view of nutrition and health; we try to stay above the fads that come and go. It helps to think of your health as a quilt comprising 52 patches, which we address with our weekly Healthy Changes. Most people act on perhaps a half-dozen or so health topic, dominated by those most recently in the news. A PhD nutritionist might be aware of a thousand, or so, an impossibility for the average person. We attempt to increase your vision and practice to cover 52—a boost that just might save the life of someone you care for.
The Seasonal Cycle
Vitamin D and omega-3 fats work together in the body. (We'll talk about omega-3 fats in two weeks.) Both are essential to brain function, for example. So it shouldn’t surprise they have harmony in Nature. The green plants of spring and early summer deliver the most omega-3 fats, just as the sun restores our vitamin D by shining brighter and longer.
The pattern of spring is reversed in the fall. The fall harvest—more brown than green—is low in omega-3 and high in omega-6, which seems to prepare us for winter. Vitamin D levels decline also—as the sun drops low in the sky and the days grow shorter, we produce less D. There's likely a good reason for these seasonal variations but until more is known, it seems wise to keep vitamin D within the optimum range.
Best Sources of Vitamin D
Studies suggest Americans have too little vitamin D and this is getting worse. Two big reasons are 1) we've been taught (by weathermen, the clowns of TV) that sunshine is bad, and 2) the modern American diet (MAD) may be making things worse. For example, the MAD is low in omega-3 fats and excessive in omega-6. There's evidence this combination inhibits the body's ability to produce vitamin D, even if you get enough sunshine. If you get plenty of sun but have low serum vitamin D, take a look at your diet.
There are other reasons for low vitamin D production: If you're older things just slow down (but you do have more time to sit in the sun). If you're overweight or obese your vitamin D supply can be trapped in permanent fat tissue and unavailable. (Fat cells are the winter storage depot for vitamin D.) A darker complexion is rich in melatonin, which protects the body from the sun, but slows down vitamin D production. And there are always the genetic differences.
What is the best way to increase your vitamin D? Dr. John A. McDougall, an advocate of disease prevention through diet and lifestyle, gives his opinion in this article. Basically, he favors 1) regular sensible sun, if possible, 2) the safe use of tanning booths in winter, and 3), as the last resort, vitamin D pills. There are also dietary sources of vitamin D that shouldn't be overlooked.
Dietary Vitamin D
As you move away from the equator, people get less vitamin D producing sunshine. But the consumption of meat increases and animal (as well as human) fat is a storehouse for vitamin D. So you get some D from animal fat (as well as the organ meats). Then there’s your internal supply: If the fat you add in the fall actually disappears in the winter, you’re releasing some vitamin D.
Cold-water fish are another source of vitamin D, in addition to omega-3 fats. Wild salmon have a lot of D, 600-1000 IU per serving; farmed salmon contain about 1/4th as much. Herring, sardines, tuna and shrimp also contain vitamin D, as well as omega-3 fats. If you’re eating fancy, oysters and caviar are a good D source. Remember the tradition about eating fish in the months with an ‘r’? Isn’t it nice that these are the months with the least sunshine?
The sun-starved folks in New England traditionally ate a lot of cod. Cod liver oil is uniquely rich in both omega-3 and vitamin D. (Cod liver oil has 1300 IU of D in just 1 tbsp.) Nature does provide.
Eggs contain vitamin D also, about 20-37 IU. Some breakfast cereals have been fortified with vitamin D (40-140 IU per serving): milk contains 100 IU of D, added by irradiation. Though these are synthetic forms of D, you can get 300 IU or so with a hearty breakfast. Mushrooms contain D and this is increased if you place them in the sun for a few hours.
This Week’s Recipe
In the 52 Breakthrough Recipes we plan to post this year, we’ve included five salads. THe Healthy Change implied a recipe with vitamin D so the beautiful wife suggested a Classic Seafood Salad recipe, which we included in this week’s menu. Here’s our recipe:
Classic Seafood Salad
Ingredients (feeds 4):
- 8-12 oz. of cooked shrimp
- 4 cups dark greens, washed
- 4 green onions, chopped
- 4 eggs, hard-boiled and quartered
- 2 medium tomatoes, cut into sections
- 1 avocado, sliced
Directions:
1) This is too easy but always a treat; it can be the only dish if accompanied with bread. We ate it this week with cheese quesadilla. Simply arrange the ingredients on a salad plate, artfully. You can add about any produce you have on hand. This salad works with almost any seafood; canned tuna is easy on the budget, but we also buy crab when the price is right.
2) Serve the dressing at the table. The beautiful wife makes a 1000 Island dressing by combining our homemade chili sauce with ketchup and mayonnaise.
Please Comment: Per the request at the top of the page, please tell if you’ve been tested for vitamin D (yes or no), and share the test result, if you don’t mind.
Friday, March 30, 2012 at 8:47PM | by Skip Hellewell | 40 Comments | Share Article | in recipe, salad, vitamin d | Email Article
Reader Comments (40)
I've never been tested. I'm very interested in doing it, though. I'd bet it's low.
I haven't ever been tested, but I'm sure it's very low. And I just moved to Oregon which will decrease my levels even further. I haven't ever really thought about vitamin D before, so I'm glad you posted this topic. Thanks again for your blog and all your research, I have benefited greatly from it.
I was tested in January. I was at 16 ng/mL. I was tested again yesterday and am awaiting results. I'm excited that it is now the time of year that I can start getting vitamin D from the sun again instead of relying on supplements. I will definitely be trying to increase my Omega 3s to help my body convert the rays into it!
I was tested in October and was at 17. I've been taking vitamin D supplements and was tested a week ago. I'm now at 30 which I understand is still too low. I am a vegetarian and eat no meat but do eat milk, eggs and cheese.
I was tested about two years ago and was very low - don't know what the ng/mL was - but was put on a prescription for D2 at 50,000 IU once a week for a month. It was effective at the beginning of the month and the next month it was low again, so the Dr. ordered another prescription with the same results. I was a little irritated so I did some research on the internet and found that D2 is not absorbed well by the body, duh, but D3 is, so I bought some with 5000 IU at a health food store and took it every day, and it has gone up and stayed up, though I take it every day. I am 74 years old and will have it checked soon when I get my next physical. BTW, I follow the Word of Wisdom and only eat animal products sparingly, as the Lord said was pleasing unto Him. Thanks.
I have never been tested.
I have never been tested, though I will ask next time I go to the family doc. I live in SLC and used to take a vit D supplement, but it says on the bottle not to do it pregnant. So I've stopped, but I sort of wonder if it would be better for the baby's growing bones to get more D.
Just was tested last month. 32.0-80.0 ng/mL Basically a severe deficiency. Dr prescribed Vit D in large doses to bring up my #. After reading in "The End of Illness" by David B. Agus M.D. I'm not convinced that vitamin D pills are really going to do all that much for me.
I was tested last year and it was 41 ng/mL. I was surprised it was so high because I don't take supplements and hadn't spent a ton of time in the sun. I do eat quite well, though.
never been tested, but I'm curious!
I've been tested 3 times so far. Here are my results:
Nov 2009... 24
Nov 2010... 21
Aug 2011... 69
I live in sunny Calif so even those the first 2 results were in November, it was still sunny here pretty much every day. After the testing in Nov of 09 I began taking Vit D supplements, 2000 iu every day. So I was surprised a year later when my Vit D actually went down. In Spring of 2011 I began getting 10 min of sun a day. The direct sun seemed to help the most since my count went up to 69.
From what I have read, you convert vitamin D from UVB rays, which do not penetrate the atmosphere constantly- for periods in the winter they do not at all. That would mean that even if it is sunny, you cannot convert vitamin D from the sun in the winter months above the 30th parallel. Skip, I don't know if you have read anything about this, but it is said to be the angle of the sun's rays hitting the earth's atmosphere.
Laura, there's more to this than just latitude. The higher altitudes, for example, increase the UVB level, as does diet. Each person is different but I do question the comment you saw about the 30th parallel. If you can get the first 'pink' of sun color, I suspect you can make vitamin D. Try it.
G'ma Honey, your experience is very interesting. Twenty minutes a day of sun for 4-5 months moved your level from around 20 to 69. Congratulations.
Lindsey, very interesting that you tested at 41 with just moderate sun, no pills, but a healthy diet. You're the poster child for good vitamin D.
Laura, enjoy the sun but don't get pink.
I live in Portland, OR. My doctor ran the test on me last December. My results were 19, with the range of 32-100 acceptable. He said I should take 4000 units of Vit D3 daily. Can't wait for the sun again...maybe July here : ) I have olive skin and tan easily. In pre-sunscreen days living in California and Utah, I spent lots of time in the sun. After seeing friends suffer with skin cancer, I try to sunscreen, but always feel happier and more energetic when the sun comes out.
Dee, good to hear from you. Like others, you've heard that using sunscreen reduces the risk of skin cancers, even though it interferes with your body making natural vitamin D. What if having higher natural vitamin D was more important to health and longevity than avoiding the sun?
Here's a link to an article titled, "Study: Many Sunscreens May Be Accelerating Cancer":
http://www.aolnews.com/2010/05/24/study-many-sunscreens-may-be-accelerating-cancer/
Another article at NaturalNews has this upside-down title: Sunshine helps prevent skin cancer while sunscreens promote it." See: http://www.naturalnews.com/034493_sunshine_skin_cancer_sunscreen.html
Bottom line is the health claims for sunscreen are questionable and the ideal sunscreen may not exist. Sunscreens were first developed for military people exposed for long periods to sun that could severely burn. Most of us can get moderate sun and then get out of the sun to avoid burning; the time to burn is different for all but our experience tells us how long we can stay in the sun.
If I'm at the beach and it's time to leave to avoid sunburn but I don't want to go, then I do reach for the sunscreen for the face but I simply cover up for most of the body. I've seen nothing that proves being white is healthier than a nice tan, achieved with regular moderate sun. Has anyone?
Skip, I read the article on the naturalnews.com link. It says that vitamin D is formed from UVB rays which peak during midday hours and are stronger in the summer. The reasoning behind this (from what I have read) is that the UVB rays bounce off of the earth's atmosphere if they are at less than a 50 degree angle from the sun to the earth. Which would mean the further from the equator you are the less UVB you get during the winter months. I don't think altitude has anything to do with that part of it, although being closer to the sun will make you burn more quickly (and I've certainly found that true moving from an altitude of nearly sea level to 2500 ft above sea level) but burning comes more from UVA and not UVB according to the article on naturalnews.com, and everything else I have read.
Never tested that I know of. I'm half black half white and grew up in nova scotia. I could never get enough sun! Went to college in Utah and was thrilled to be soaked in sunshine and warmth. Live in north Carolina now and could never give up all this sun. My white siblings all live in the north and don't seem nearly as bothered by lack of sun as me.
Hi Laura. You may be right but here's my experience, as an example. In the summer, I'll get a sunburn faster in Midway, Utah (latitude 40 degrees but elevation nearly 6000 ft.) than I will in Laguna Beach, CA (latitude 32 degrees, sea level), The sun is just more intense at high elevations, other things considered. Try it.
Jessica This makes sense, the melatonin in skin pigment makes a big difference.
If I have been it was normal and they didn't tell me the numbers. They tend to only tell me details on the things that aren't normal. I hate that.
To Dee...
Sorry but I have no way to contact you but here. I noticed you are from Portland. My son just got a job there so he will be relocating there with his wife and baby end of this month. I've been looking for someone who lives in that area....hoping I could ask a few questions about the area, commute, weather, etc. Anyway, if you would be willing to answer a few questions, please email me at
Jillyds@sbcglobal.net