Today is vitamin D day....

Today's Post:  Friday, 11-2-2012

Today is vitamin D day. 

It IS a good time of year for it!

Just in the last 5 to 12 years we’ve discovered for best health and to avoid many diseases people need to get the amount of vitamin D3 each day that people did in the sunnier half of each year when virtually everyone spent hours outside in the sun.

Today, most people tend to live and work and do recreation inside with no sun exposure. 

AND, in the Northern hemisphere from early November to late February, tends to be the time when even people who spend some time outside during the day get the least sun.

The Vitamin D Council is helping to publicize today as Vitamin D Day because of the negative health effects this can have for people who don’t take supplements of vitamin D3.

I’ll have more to say later in this post.  But here is what they sent out with their take on it:

“November 2nd is Vitamin D Day, as declared by organizations throughout the world, assembling together to spread awareness on vitamin D and the vitamin D deficiency pandemic.

Vitamin D is a nutrient the…human body produces in response to sun exposure. When the sun shines overhead, it triggers the skin to start making vitamin D for the body. Given the ever increasing indoor lifestyles of humans in the 20th and 21st centuries, many people are deficient in vitamin D and many scientists believe there is a deficiency pandemic.

One organization taking action this Vitamin D Day is the Vitamin D Council, a nonprofit organization based out of California that solely educates the public on vitamin D and sun exposure. “I believe being aware of your vitamin D status is the most important and simple thing you can do for your health,” says John J Cannell, MD, Executive Director of the organization.

During the winter, vitamin D deficiency becomes even more prevalent, as the sun becomes less intense and shines less overhead. Vitamin D “blood levels” are usually lowest at the end of winter, after weeks and weeks of the body no longer getting vitamin D from its own skin.

Hence….organizers have set November 2nd as the Day, to help educate people before winter and make sure they are aware of how to get vitamin D depending on the season. Dr Cannell says, “Virtually everyone that works indoors is at risk for insufficiency and more than likely deficient. The problem is even worse in the fall and winter.”

Here’s my take on it.

The Vitamin D Council has a free email with stories and research about vitamin D3, the form your body makes from sun exposure and the form your body needs and uses.

News and some stories are free.  But the majority of the research stories after the summary and title are only available to members who support the nonprofit by paying for an annual membership.

From them, I read that, year round, virtually everyone who takes no vitamin D – even the tiny 400 iu a day once thought to be enough, is severely deficient with blood levels below 20 when below 50 is deficient and below 30 is severely deficient.  We now know that this makes them far more likely to get a huge list of diseases and even boosts their risk of death and multiplies the health care costs they generate!

Also, year round, we now know, or at least the better informed of us do, that the real minimum daily requirement of vitamin D3 is between 2,000 and 3,000 iu and that the optimum is between about 4,000 and 10,000 iu a day.  Actually this should not be at all surprising because that’s how much people get if they spend most of their days outside during the sunny half of the year!

Yesterday we posted on boron that helps keep your bones strong in a list of things that do that & prevent osteoporosis.  But besides regular exercise and weight bearing exercise the most important item on that list was taking at least 3,000 to 5,000 iu a day of vitamin D3.

That’s just one of the great health benefits of getting enough vitamin D3.

However, this IS a great time to have Vitamin D Day because everyone who takes less than the 2,000 to 3,000 iu a day our bodies need DOES become even more deficient in mid-winter.

And, of even more importance, even in the Southern Hemisphere, since most people live in the Northern one, world wide, there is a higher incidence of colds, flu, and pneumonia this time of year.

That’s because of the easier transmission of colds and flu and other viruses in cold air and when people are even more crowded together inside than they are the rest of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.

One of the most important benefits of vitamin D3 is its role in keeping your immune system effective.

And, these two facts interact in a way you can benefit from IF you know to take vitamin D3 this time of year.

a) Research has found that the killer cells of our immune system need vitamin D3 almost in a comparable way that combat soldiers need bullets for their weapons.

Good soldiers can be somewhat effective at times with no bullets.  But to be most effective or effective enough in some situations, they must have enough ammunition.

This has three hugely important results that are even more important this time of year.

It means that people who take enough vitamin D3 are more likely to beat cold and flu viruses and avoid getting sick with them in the first place.

And, it means that the smaller number of people who get colds and flu get less sick and recover sooner and better.

But in addition to making your immune system much stronger, vitamin D3 makes it more accurate in assessing if an immune response is needed or not.

(That means that people who get enough vitamin D3 are far less likely to get autoimmune diseases such as MS, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis.)

AND, it means that for people who get vaccines for flu, pneumonia, and whooping cough, you are MUCH more likely to be protected by doing so!

(Of course, there is also evidence that this immune system effect helps prevent many cancers notably including breast and prostate cancers and helps prevent Alzheimer’s disease.)

But the timely part is this:

If you’ve not been taking at least 2,000 to 3,000 iu a day of vitamin D3 and want to stay well and safer this winter, begin to do so at once. (And, it’s clearly a good idea to continue all year!)

And, if you haven’t done this already, a week or so later, get the flu, pneumonia, and whooping cough vaccines.  We now know this literally multiplies the chances they will protect you! 

Would you rather get a 30 % or less chance of being protected or an over 80% chance?  If you’d rather have over an 80% chance, take enough vitamin D3 each day!

(Separate note for employers:

It can cost you if key employees are sick and not at work or too sick to work well or if you have too many people out at the same time.

That means it will literally put new dollars in your pocket to get this information to all your people both early in the fall before flu shots are available and at this time of year and do these things yourself!)