Even more than Florida, the one constant in Africa is the sun. And I just read about another important benefit we get from sunshine.
I’ve showed you how vitamin D is more than a vitamin – that it also works as a hormone. Now we know that it’s even more than a hormone. A new study that shows vitamin D binds directly to your DNA.1
And what does vitamin D do for you when it’s bound to your DNA? The newest Journal of Immunology shows that it stops inflammation.
How does this relate to sunshine? Exposure to the sun is the main source for your body’s vitamin D.
In my opinion, this study puts one more nail in the coffin of modern advice to avoid the sun at all costs. Making the recommendation to cover up and stay out of the sunshine is about the worst advice you could ever take.
That also makes vitamin D possibly the most important nutrient we know of, especially for women.
Did you know that vitamin D lowers the risk of cancer in post-menopausal women by as much as 77%?2
The trick is, you need to have enough vitamin D to activate the process. And this is where modern advice is failing you.
Current national guidelines suggest that you should get a minimum of only 600 IU a day. But look what happens when you only get that small amount.
In various studies on conditions that affect women:
- More than half of people with osteoporosis-related fractures had low vitamin D.3
- 63% of people with Crohn’s disease still had low vitamin D even though 40% of them were taking a supplement!4
- An incredible 96% of people who had heart attacks were vitamin D deficient.5
The problem is, almost everyone is deficient in vitamin D. I’m not exaggerating. One study looked at 1,600 people and found 89% of them had low vitamin D.6 I could go on and on. In fact, if you search for “low vitamin D” studies in the PubMed database, you’ll see almost 9000 studies!
My patients do their best to get in the sun and take supplements. But when they come to my clinic, their levels of vitamin D are still too low.
So the next time you go in for a physical, ask your doctor to check your level of vitamin D. It’s a simple, inexpensive test that provides valuable information.
I recommend you aim for a minimum of 2,000 IU of vitamin D a day. If you get your level tested and it’s low, take between 5,000 and 10,000 IU a day from a variety of sources until you’re levels are back up.
The best source is the sun. And you don’t have to be in Africa near the equator like I am to get enough sunshine to recharge your vitamin D. Try and go outside and expose your body to sunlight every day. As little as 10 minutes in the midday sun produces 10,000 units of vitamin D. You feel instantly better.
Eating fish a few times a week will give you a lot of vitamin D, too. You might want to stick with the smaller, cold-water fish like sardines to avoid the mercury in some of the larger fish. A tablespoon of cod liver oil gives you more than 1,300 IU of vitamin D. But even that can be tough to take.
If so, I recommend the D3 form – the bioactive kind of vitamin D. But don’t rely on your multivitamin to give you all the vitamin D you need, even if it does have D3. It’s a good start, but most still only have around 400 IU.
1. Zhang Y, et. al. “Vitamin D Inhibits Monocyte/Macrophage Proinflammatory Cytokine Production by Targeting MAPK Phosphatase-1.” Journal of Imm, March 1, 2012; vol. 188 no. 5 2127-2135.
2. Lappe J, Travers-Gustafson D, Davies K, Recker R, Heaney R. “Vitamin D and calcium supplementation reduces cancer risk: results of a randomized trial.” Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Jun;85(6):1586-91.
3. Bogoch E, Elliot-Gibson V, Wang R, Josse R.”Secondary Causes of Osteoporosis in Fracture Patients.” J Orthop Trauma. 2012 Feb 25.
4. Nic Suibhne T, Cox G, Healy M, O’Morain C, O’Sullivan M. “Vitamin D deficiency in Crohn’s disease: Prevalence, risk factors and supplement use in an outpatient setting.” J Crohns Colitis. 2012 Mar;6(2):182-8.
5. Lee J, Gadi R, Spertus J, Tang F, O’Keefe J. “Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in patients with acute myocardial infarction.” Am J Cardiol. 2011 Jun 1;107(11):1636-8.
6. Schilling S. “Epidemic vitamin d deficiency among patients in an elderly care rehabilitation facility..” Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2012 Jan;109(3):33-8.