I wrote a post last week about the seeming epidemic of Vitamin D deficiency. My wife, sister, and friend all have this and I was kind of wondering why thinking that maybe the lack of time in the sun in the Winter may be the culprit.

As we all have heard in the past the best way to get Vitamin D is to get time in the sun although there are many food sources for Vitamin D like  salmon, sardines, shrimp, milk, cod, and eggs.

I found the following snippet of info from a Canadian doctor in talking about our body synthesizing and getting Vitamin D from being in the sun: Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: Carla Hagstom, Carla Hagstrom, food sources, Office of Dietary Supplements, sunburn, Toronto, Vitamin D, Vitamin D deficiency

Yesterday my wife got results from some blood tests and they showed that she had a vitamin D deficiency. I thought that this was odd since I was under the impression that anyone that got enough sun would have their bodies create enough vitamin D to stay healthy.

I was apparently wrong.

Not only is my wife deficient but a friend of hers as well as my sister too. I am not sure how widespread the problem of vitamin D deficiency is but in looking this up I have found that it is a lot more common than we would believe.

The body creates vitamin D and you also get it from fish and bread that is fortified with Vitamin D. Other sources of Vitamin D include eggs and liver. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: D, tiredness, Vitamin D, Vitamin D deficiency

Children from newborns to teens need double the previously recommended amount of vitamin D, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). New research points to growing evidence that the nutrient once called “sunshine vitamin” is needed in increased amounts to prevent serious diseases, in addition to strengthening bones.

The new recommendation of 400 units daily replaces a 2003 AAP recommendation of 200 units daily. To meet the new vitamin D recommendation, millions of children will need to take daily vitamin supplements. This includes breastfed infants and many children and teens. The new recommendations include:

• Breastfed and partially breastfed infants should be supplemented with 400 IU a day of vitamin D beginning in the first few days of life.
• All non-breastfed infants, as well as older children, who are consuming less than a quart per day of vitamin D-fortified formula or milk, should receive a vitamin D supplement of 400 IU a day.
• Adolescents who do not obtain 400 IU of vitamin D per day through foods should take a supplement containing that amount.
• Children with increased risk of vitamin D deficiency, such as those taking certain medications, may need higher doses of vitamin D.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: AAP, American Academy of Pediatrics, cod liver oil, dietary supplements, Frank Greer, pediatrician and co-author, rickets, skin cancer, skin cancer concern, sunlight deficiency, U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, United States, University of Wisconsin, Vitamin D, Vitamin D deficiency, Wisconsin

Vitamins during pregnancy are very important.

If you have ever attempted to go on any kind of diet that involved reading the information on the nutritional labels of your food you are all too familiar with the fact that those little words and symbols can start to look like Greek after a while. If you’re not a doctor or a nutritionist you probably have no idea of what Vitamin B or Folic Acid are, much less why they’re important. The first step to conquering pregnancy nutrition is understanding what you’re eating, how much you should eat, why you’re eating it and how it’s going to help your baby.

A quick note. In the following section you are going to see several mentions made about the negative consequences of overdosing on specific vitamins. You must understand that this overdose very rarely occurs because of the foods you eat. More often it is because mothers have chosen to consume extra supplements in an attempt to “help” their baby or they have forgotten to tell their physician about other vitamins and supplements they take on a regular basis.

Be sure when you go in for your prenatal appointments that your physician knows exactly what vitamins, medications and supplements (including herbal) you take, regardless of how insignificant you may believe them to be. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: anemia, anencephaly, B12 deficiency, B6, beriberi, birth defects, bread products, C, calcium deficiency, center for disease control, cough, dairy products, encephalocele, energy, folic acid, Folic Acid deficiency, food, high blood pressure, morning sickness, neural tube defects, nutritionist, osteoporosis, pernicious anemia, physician, pre-eclampsia, pregnancy nutrition, pregnancy vitamins, pregnant women, Riboflavin deficiency, spina bifida, vegetable oil, vitamin a, Vitamin A deficiency, vitamin a during pregnancy, Vitamin D, Vitamin D deficiency, vitamins and supplements

After writing about how bad the sun is for you I have found this very balanced article by Robert Bazell at MSNBC that offers a great counter point to how good or bad the sun is for you. As always I believe that some good research is the most important way for anyone to decide weather they are doing the right thing or not as everyone has a bias as far as this subject goes.

The heresy: the sun can be healthy. The heretic: Dr. Michael Holick of Boston University, a seemingly gentle, but combative scientist-physician who studies the beneficial effects of Vitamin D, produced by our skin when exposed to the sun.

Report a story about Holick’s research and a reporter can expect to get — as I did — a rocket in the name of the president of the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) alleging that the information endangers America’s health.

This battle is not about facts
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: America, American Academy of Dermatology, Boston University, breast cancer, combative scientist-physician, Dermatology Department, heart disease, high blood pressure, melanoma, Michael Holick, National Cancer Institute, nevi, New England Journal, New England Journal of Medicine, osteoporosis, president, prostate cancer, reporter, rickets, Robert Bazell, skin cancer, squamous cell carcinomas, sunburns, Thomas Kupper, Vitamin D, Vitamin D deficiency, Women�s Hospital