After an annual checkup, my doctor called to tell me I’m Vitamin D deficient. So she prescribed very large doses for 8 weeks, then large doses for 8 more.
Why do we need Vitamin D? I’m not a doctor, nor have I played one on TV (yet?), but wanted to find out before I took the prescription. I knew one reason had to do with staving off osteoporosis, but didn’t know that Vitamin D helps with calcium absorption. Or that Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) has been linked to all kinds of ailments, from heart disease to certain kinds of cancer (including breast cancer).
How much is enough? National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements recommendations can be found here.
Drink a lot of milk and eating dairy products hasn’t helped. And my doctor says the best source of Vitamin D is the sun. As many of us do these days to prevent wrinkles and skin cancer, I try to stay out of the sun. Not only that, when I am outside (like last November on vacation in very sunny Puerto Rico) I use sunscreen. Which, according to Wikipedia, inhibits 95% of skin production of Vitamin D.
I read that VDD is hard to detect without a test. The variety of annoying symptoms, including fatigue, difficulties sleeping and symptoms of depression can also be symptoms of many other things…even stress.
Apparently many Americans are Vitaman D deficient. Maybe you should get tested, too.
Learn more about Vitamin D:
