Vitamin D is extraordinarily beneficial for health,
and by far, the best source is sunlight. Efforts to avoid sunlight by
always covering up and lathering on sunscreen will increase the lik
elihood
of a wide-spectrum of health disorders down the road. If sunlight is
limited, you may need some sort of vitamin-D supplementation (e.g., good
old-fashioned cod liver oil). As discussed elsewhere,
vitamin D is an especially important for
individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) and multiple sclerosis (MS).
Dr. Daniel Chong, a naturopathic physician in
Oregon (http://naturalmedicineconsultations.com)
recently summarized some of Vitamin-D’s facts and statistics:
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Vitamin D prevents osteoporosis, depression,
prostate cancer, breast cancer; and deficiencies have also related
to diabetes and obesity. |
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Vitamin D is normally produced by your skin in
response to exposure to ultraviolet radiation from natural sunlight. |
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The healing rays of natural sunlight (that
generate vitamin D in your skin) cannot penetrate glass. So you
don't generate vitamin D when sitting in your car or home. |
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It is nearly impossible to get adequate amounts
of vitamin D from your diet. |
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You would have to drink ten tall glasses of
vitamin D fortified milk each day just to get minimum levels of
vitamin D into your diet. And, the form of vitamin D commonly found
in fortified milk is Vitamin D2 while the ideal form for
supplementation is vitamin D3. |
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The further you live from the equator, the
longer exposure you need to the sun in order to generate vitamin D.
Canada, the UK and most U.S. states are far from the equator. |
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People with dark-skin pigmentation may need
20-30 times as much exposure to sunlight as fair-skinned people to
generate the same amount of vitamin D. This may be why prostate
cancer is epidemic among black men. |
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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. |
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Chronic vitamin D deficiency cannot be reversed
overnight: it takes months of vitamin- D supplementation and
sunlight exposure to rebuild the body's bones and nervous system. |
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Even weak sunscreens (SPF=8) block your body's
ability to generate vitamin D by 95% or more. This is how sunscreen
products actually cause disease - by creating a critical vitamin
deficiency in the body. |
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It is impossible to generate too much vitamin D
in your body from sunlight exposure: your body will self-regulate
and only generate what it needs. |
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If it hurts to press firmly on your sternum,
you may be suffering from chronic vitamin-D deficiency right now. |
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Vitamin D is "activated" in your body by your
kidneys and liver before it can be used. Therefore, having kidney
disease or liver problems can greatly impair your body's ability to
activate circulating vitamin D. |
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The sunscreen industry doesn't want you to know
that your body actually needs sunlight exposure because that
realization would mean lower sales of sunscreen products. |
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Obesity impairs vitamin-D use in the body,
meaning obese people need even more vitamin D. |
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Chronic vitamin-D deficiency is often
misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia because its symptoms are so similar:
muscle weakness, aches, and pains. |
