The Deal on D

Whenever possible I always recommend food instead of supplements. It's pretty tough with Vitamin D though. At our latitude we can't get enough from the sun even if we get a sunburn trying. We have the wrong wave length of light up here to convert chemicals in our skin to Vitamin D3 and unless you eat catfish, salmon, sardines, tuna, 5 cups of milk, or 10 eggs every day you are not getting enough.

We live in times where people certain genes evolved for a certain set of environmental conditions are living in varying conditions. Inuit people traditionally ate livers and sea animals that provide Vitamin D and their requirements nutritionally evolved for their environment. Everyone has different requirements because of our mixed genes. A good clue to what your requirements are is to look at your family history. If heart disease is a problem in your family you should focus on heart healthy activities, weight, and foods that do not contribute cholesterol.

When it comes to Vitamin D we simply don't get enough food sources so it's an easy one to recommend as a supplement and it's easy to get the dropper bottle out to put a 1000 IU's on your cereal in the morning. Go to a reputable supplement store and make sure it's D "3" and don't take it with a multivitamin as it binds to other vitamins and will not get absorbed. We'll see what the research tells us down the road on the benefits as several trials are underway. Toxicity levels are 4000 and above so there's no apparent risk in adding it to our diet in modest amounts.

Your's in Health, Dr. D.