As we learn more about nutrition and vitamin deficiency, vitamin D has appeared on many people's radar. Trying to get enough of it from sunlight and diet has proved to be increasingly difficult for people living a modern life. Working indoor jobs, and heightened awareness of the harmful effects of sunlight to our skin has caused people to cover up and avoid the sun. Sunblock may also be a factor. As far as diet is concerned, if we are American we can probably agree that the average American diet is nothing as it should be. Some fatty fish serve as a source of vitamin D and egg yokes as well. Some mushrooms produce D2, but in general, it is very difficult to satisfy your vitamin D requirements through diet alone. Here are some interesting things about vitamin D.
It Assists in Calcium Absorption
Vitamin D assists in Calcium absorption, so even if you are getting enough calcium in your diet, you must make sure that you are getting enough vitamin D. We have known about the role of vitamin D in maintaining bone health for quite some time, as it was discovered through research in treating rickets. It was through this discovery that rickets was nearly completely eliminated in the United States and soon in all developed countries. This being said, much research on vitamin D supplementation has produced varying results on many topics, but just like calcium is not much good to an individual if they can not absorb it, the same can be said of vitamin D.
It Needs Magnesium to Work
To absorb vitamin D one needs to have a adequate intake of magnesium. It is estimated that about 50% of Americans are magnesium deficient, so taking vitamin D supplements is not going to help if you don't get enough magnesium. Likewise, this is probably not factored in when doing studies on test subjects, so the results will naturally come out varied. Good dietary sources of magnesium are seeds and nuts, whole grains, and dark leafy greens, but it may be best to just take some supplements.
It Turns off an Overactive Autoimmune Function
This is an essential issue that most people don't know about. Vitamin D is responsible for turning off the autoimmune function by binding to certain receptors in the cell. This has a similar effect to steroids. Many people are suffering from an overactive immune system in one way or another, leading to inflammatory issues that lead to anything from Arthritis to heart disease. Intake of vitamin D can help one through these issues, but people who are deficient in vitamin D may need to take far more than the recommended daily dosage, and do so for months before they start seeing results. Because vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, it is actually more of a hormone than a vitamin, taking high doses could pose other health risks like too much calcium in the blood stream, so this approach should be done under the supervision of a doctor so that blood serum can be monitored. Most regulatory agencies around the world agree that up to 4,000 I.U. (international units) is safe, and that is already a lot more than the recommended daily allowance, but if you are trying to treat a condition it is best to talk a professional, so do not hesitate to seek out a licensed expert in nutrition.
Showering Decreases Vitamin D Production
Three things about showering reduce vitamin D production
Soap
Hot Water
The Very act of Showering
Soap strips your skin of it's natural oils. This is not good for the skin. Many women know this and will use glycerin based products instead, which is essentially soap. Vitamin D is produced in the oils of your skin after exposure to sun, and is absorbed throughout the day, like a time released capsule. Not only does soap strip this off, but hot water does as well, even water alone is not good. It is only in recent history that people started showering every day. Soaping yourself up from head to toe is not so bad if you only do it once a week. In parts of Germany Saturday is still known as "Bath Day".
What to do about this? Try not to shower soon after exposure to sun. Try not to shower every day. Try not to use soap from head to toe- just use it for problem areas and grime. Lastly, if you are in a climate where you can use cold water, it generally would be better. When I was in Kerala- India, cold bucket showers were the norm, and quite refreshing in a tropical climate. Maybe not so refreshing in Colorado though so do what you can.
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