Add D-Light to Your Pursuit of Happiness
Bless the coming of spring! To insure that our Vitamin D levels are at a healthy level after a long winter, I’ll take this opportunity to remind you of the importance of Vitamin D, the ‘Happiness Vitamin’, as I dubbed it in four past posts. Also known as the sunshine vitamin for the body’s ability to create it from natural sunlight, Vitamin D brings light to the field of nutritional science.
For over two decades, I’ve been teaching the principles I live by to increase well-being, to expand happiness, and to lighten everyday living. Check to see if you have vitamin D-ficiency, to bring D-light into your life.
According to Dr. Michael Holnick, author of the Vitamin D Solution, we all need enough vitamin D to ensure overall health and help prevent a variety of conditions, including fatigue, insomnia, SAD (seasonal affective disorder), and depression. Holnick asserts that the best way to attain healthy vitamin D levels is to “let the sunshine into your life,” meaning getting enough exposure to turn pink but not to burn.
Arms and legs need to be exposed, not just the hands and face. This sounds great, but most of us cannot sit out in the sun for 8 months out of the year. Therefore, when the sun is less intense, rarely shining or you don’t have the time to sit in the sun, taking
5-hydroxy Vitamin D (D3) supplement is essential. Note that correctly applied sunscreen reduces our ability to absorb vitamin D by as much as 90 percent.
“If you live at a latitude above Atlanta, Georgia, a vitamin D3 supplement will make absolutely sure you have healthy vitamin levels year-round.” Holnick suggests that adults should be ingesting between 1900 and 2400 IU (international units) of D3 daily from supplements, multivitamins and food sources–higher amounts if your doctor prescribes it depending on your
D-ficiency. I personally take 5,000-10,000 IU every day and 2000 IU in the summer.
Dr. Mercola, in his article Vitamin D and the Flu, states that the “best universal flu vaccine…already exists in the form of vitamin D”. He recommends 8000 IU of vitamin D per day to boost levels to prevent flu, based on the latest investigations by Carole Baggerly, Director of Grassroots Health.
Other recent studies have linked low vitamin D levels with musculosketetal pain, chronic headaches, menstrual pain, fibromyalgia pain, flu, cancer, osteoporosis, and severity of a variety of other illnesses. Depression, fatigue, insomnia, and chronic pain can certainly undermine your ability to choose happiness, to enjoy ‘the sweet life’.
Here’s something very simple you can do: Test your vitamin D levels. It is affordable and widely available, but you must have a doctor order the blood test if you do it through the healthcare system. Work with a health care provider to monitor your levels. According to Dr. John Douillard at LifeSpa in Boulder, Colorado, the optimal health level is 50-80 ng/ml. You can order a do-it-yourself kit directly from him.
There is SO much research, in the past and present, that is taking place. You can read my previous articles on Vitamin D here.
Personally, my energy and happiness levels in dreary winter months, dramatically improved when I began taking Vitamin D four years ago. Join me in enjoying more D-light and personal happiness in our lives!
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