You know how when you buy a new car, you suddenly see it everywhere?
Last Friday I went to the doctor and got a round of blood tests done. I'm very healthy, with one exception: I'm low on Vitamin D.
The doctor sent me a message this morning saying that half her patients have a Vitamin D deficiency, and that I should start supplementing.
Honestly, I was going to try the ten minutes of sunlight a day approach first.
Today, as I flipped on some Tivo to entertain myself before making dinner, the first segment on the Martha Stewart show i started out with was about...you guessed it...vitamin deficiency. Starting with the stat that about, yes, half of us have a deficiency.
The expert brought up an interesting fact that those of us who live further North are bound to develop this deficiency much easier because the sun rays are less direct. (I was kind of wondering if those way South have the same issue, but they didn't say so.)
He recommended 10 minutes of sunlight a day for lighter skinned people and 30 minutes of sunlight a day for darker skinned people. Acknowledging that we've all been trained to lather on the sunscreen per dermatologists, the strong message was that this short amount of time in the sun per day was not very risky, and would deliver the Vitamin D our bodies need to avoid problems with osteoporosis and even cardiovascular issues later!
How do you get your Vitamin D? And do you know your levels?
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