Vitamin D deficiency affects almost all of us at some point or another throughout our lives. WebMD reports that up to 75% of us are Vitamin D deficient today. Whether it’s every year for part of the year or intermittently as life pulls us out of the sun and into classrooms, offices, and cubicles – most of us are not getting adequate levels of Vitamin D. Also, the darker your skin the more Vitamin D you require.
Why is Vitamin D deficiency so widespread?
Sometimes I feel like a broken record when I say these things, but here goes: our foods are so extremely denatured today that many of us are not getting the Vitamin D we should be even when we know we are eating the best things we can. Vitamin D fortified milk is STILL not as nutrient rich as raw, grass-fed milk is. Vitamin D is found in fatty foods – fatty fish, egg yolks, & the fats of naturally raised meats. Cod Liver Oil, preferably fermented, is another ideal source of Vitamin D. Bacon from forage-raised pigs is an excellent source of Vitamin D – but the problem? We’re hard pressed to find pork that has been properly raised without going out of our way to source it. Wild-caught salmon & other seafood contains loads of Vitamin D.
Other than our denatured foods, we have our de-natured lifestyles, and generally speaking, most of us are not spending enough time outside. In addition to that, you have nature in some cases demanding that we stay inside while it is stormy, dark, and extremely cold outside for months on end every Winter.
The 10 most common (and sometimes sneaky) signs of Vitamin D deficiency are:
1 – Immune Weakness, Colds & Flus – Basically, if you’re fighting something, feeling run down, or have caught something, you need more Vitamin D.
2 – Fatigue – Our bodies need adequate Vitamin D to produce energy. If you are feeling fatigue, chances are pretty good that you are Vitamin D deficient. Instead of that second cup of coffee, try taking some Vitamin D with a side of naturally-raised bacon while catching some mid-day sunlight.
3 – Muscle Weakness – Our skeletal muscles contain receptors for Vitamin D which help them to function optimally. Without enough Vitamin D, muscle weakness is common.
4 – Auto-Immune Disease – Research now shows that Vitamin D interacts with the genes associated with multiple sclerosis, rhumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, and other auto-immune diseases.
5 – Broken Bones – Vitamin D deficiency is associated with loss of bone density, as well as unhealthy aging of already formed bones, making them fragile and brittle.
6 – Asthma – Asthma attack in children in a Japanese study were reduced by taking 1200 IU of Vitamin D per day.
7 – Heart Disease – Women with low Vitamin D levels have a 67% increased chance of having hypertension!
8 – Diabetes – In a study conducted in Finland 10,366 children were given 2000 international units (IU)/day of vitamin D3 per day during their first day of life. The children were monitored for 31 years and in all of them, the risk of type 1 diabetes was reduced by 80 percent. (Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/035089_vitamin_D_deficiency_signs_symptoms.html)
9 – Cancer – Cancer growth has been scientifically proven to be reduced by up to 75% when patients supplemented with Vitamin D.
10 – Depression & Anxiety – Our brains have receptors for Vitamin D which require the vitamin’s presence to function properly. Without adequate Vitamin D, our brain chemistry cannot work optimally.
If one or more of these sound familiar, you & your kids may be dealing with Vitamin D deficiency.
The best ways to supplement Vitamin D are to consume grass-fed raw dairy, naturally raised pork, including the fat, eat plenty of wild-caught fish, pastured egg yolks, and to supplement with fermented cod liver oil. I use THIS cod liver oil, and I keep THESE Vitamin D drops on hand for when any of us are fighting something (& THESE for the kiddo). While my family has had to reduce our raw dairy intake for now, I still include egg yolks, humanely raised pork, fatty fish, and cod liver oil in our DAILY diets. We also spend as much time as we can outdoors in the middle of the day. While it may not be every day for hours, we make it a part of our lives to be outside as much as possible.
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