The Many Health Benefits of Vitamin D

If you could make a simple change to your lifestyle that would have far-reaching health benefits, wouldn’t you do it?

Some small health choices are so powerful that they’ll make an impact on your entire health outlook. Getting enough vitamin D is one of those choices.

Vitamin D plays many different roles in your body.

First it helps you to absorb calcium. A vitamin D deficiency can weaken your bones and lead to osteoporosis.

Vitamin D also behaves like a hormone, helping to regulate the delicate chemical balances in your body. Without enough vitamin D, you are more likely to feel fatigued and depressed.

Vitamin D protects your cells for cancer. In recent years, doctors and researchers have announced that low vitamin D levels might be responsible for tens of thousands of cancer deaths every year.

It plays an important role in heart health. People with good vitamin D levels have lower blood pressure and a lower risk of heart disease.

And now new research published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry suggests that vitamin D helps to maintain mental function as you age.

Researchers presented more than 3000 men with a task meant to test their mental agility. After accounting for the affects of education, depression, physical activity, and other compounding factors, the researchers found that those with the highest vitamin D levels performed the best even if they were older.

So there are a lot of reasons to make sure you’re getting enough vitamin D.

The quickest and easiest way to boost your vitamin D levels in the summer time is to spend 15 minutes in the sun in your bathing suit and without sunscreen. Do that two or three times a week and your vitamin D levels will be sky high. (Do be careful not to burn, though… that’s not good for your skin.)

If you can’t find the time to get out into the sun, then a vitamin D supplement is the next best thing. My favorite is cod liver oil. It contains a completely natural form of vitamin D that is easily absorbed and used by your body. If that doesn’t work for you, then make sure your multivitamin contains vitamin D3—at least 400 IU.

Vitamin D can not only help you live longer, it can also help you enjoy the years, so make sure you’re getting enough!

Stay well,
Heather Robwell

Protect Your Memory with Sunshine

It seems like every time I read through the latest health news there’s another story about the wonders of vitamin D. First researchers discovered that vitamin D helps your body destroy certain cancers before they gain a foothold.

Then they discovered that vitamin D plays an important role in a healthy heart and circulatory system.

Now new research shows that vitamin D also helps to keep your mind sharp as you get older.

British researchers tested 1766 adults 65 or older for cognitive impairment. They asked questions meant to measure attention span, memory, and how aware of their surroundings the participants were.

According to the test they identified 12 percent of the patients as suffering from cognitive impairment.

Then the researchers compared cognitive abilities with vitamin D levels measured from a blood test. After accounting for other factors that could contribute to cognitive decline the researchers showed that low vitamin D levels double the risk of cognitive impairment.

This means two things for you. If you—or someone in your family—already struggle with cognitive decline, you may be able to improve your situation by increasing your vitamin D intake. If your mind is razor sharp and your memory is like steel trap, then you should make sure you’re getting enough vitamin D to keep it that way.

During the summer months, getting vitamin D is easy. Just go outside for ten minutes during peak sun hours—sometime between noon and four—without sunscreen or sunglasses. Do this two or three times a week. Ten minutes won’t damage your skin or eyes, but it will catalyze enough vitamin D for your body to stay fit and healthy.

During the winter months, if you live in a northern climate, you need to do a little extra. The sun’s rays aren’t direct enough to trigger vitamin D production in your body, so you need to supplement. Look for a multivitamin that contains vitamin D3. You want to take at least 400 IU a day. Another good source of natural vitamin D is cod liver oil—a teaspoon a day is enough to support your body during the winter.

Vitamin D plays a crucial role in your body’s defense against many chronic diseases, so make sure you’re getting enough.

Stay well,
Meghan Krohn

Free Vitamin Prevents Diabetes

Diabetes is at epidemic levels in the U.S. More and more people are diagnosed every year and every one of them is at a higher risk for heart disease, peripheral vascular difficulties, blindness, and nerve damage. The scariest part of the whole scenario is that millions of people with diabetes don't even realize they have it.

Fortunately, there is a free way to reduce your risk of diabetes... and I’m not talking about exercise.

It's true that exercise is one free way to lower your risk of diabetes and many other diseases, but you can also lower your risk by spending a little time in the sun without wearing sunscreen.

Unprotected sun exposure triggers the production of vitamin D in your body. It doesn't take much—just 10 to 20 minutes a couple of times a week. Not enough to boost your skin cancer risks, but certainly enough to cut your risk of diabetes.

New research done by Finland's National Public Health Institute finds that vitamin D may help stop diabetes from developing. The researchers followed more than a thousand people for 22 years. They found that those who kept their vitamin D levels up were 72% less likely to develop diabetes during the course of the study.

During the winter, sun exposure isn't enough to boost your vitamin D levels, so consider taking a cod liver oil supplement. Otherwise, when the sun is shining, you can prevent diabetes by just laying in the sun.

Stay well,
Heather Robwell

The Anti-Aging Benefits of Sunlight

I'm sure you've heard a million times that sunlight will wrinkle and discolor your skin making you look old before your time. You've probably also heard that sun exposure will inevitably lead to skin cancer, which could be dangerous… even deadly.

These well-publicized positions are costing you dearly when it comes to your health.

Moderate sun exposure without sunscreen is good for you. That's right… I said without sunscreen. I'm not advocating that you go outside and get a sunburn. But you do need sunlight to be healthy.

The sun catalyzes a reaction in your skin, which leads to vitamin D production in your body. And vitamin D is vital.

A new study out of King's College in London has discovered that vitamin D actually helps to keep your DNA from aging.

Every time your cells replicate, the ends of your DNA become a little bit shorter, a phenomenon that researchers associate with aging. Cells under stress replicate more and therefore age faster.

That shortening of the DNA has been linked to many diseases of aging like heart disease and cancer. What the researchers at King's College found was that people with the highest levels of vitamin D in their blood streams have longer, younger-looking DNA.

DNA-length is not the only factor in aging, buy scientists believe it's an important one. If vitamin D can help preserve your DNA, it's just another sign that it's important to keeping you young and healthy.

The best source of vitamin D is 15 to 20 minutes of sun exposure two or three times a week. Next, best is a cod liver oil supplement. In the winter, supplementing is important because the sun's rays are weaker and don't catalyze as much vitamin D production.


Stay well,
Danny Wallace