Chances are you may be Vitamin D deficient like over one billion other healthy people in the world.
What does Vitamin D do for you?
It contributes to:
· Bone Strength
· Heart Health
· Cancer Prevention
· Plays a HUGE Part in a Healthy Immune System
Why you may be deficient…
Your primary source for Vitamin D3 is through the sun. Lack of exposure (especially in northern climates) and sunscreen use limits your ability to soak up the sun’s best asset.
Diets lack Vitamin D3 and D2. It’s hard to regularly eat foods high in Vitamin D like salmon, fish liver oil, organ meat, sardines, oysters, and egg yolks to get all the Vitamin D3 and D2 you need from food.
If you eat foods high in gluten, have infections, or have regular exposure to toxins in your food (like artificial dyes, preservatives, pesticides). Vitamin D is fat soluble, so it has to be absorbed in your gut. If you have any of these things going on, you can’t absorb Vitamin D optimally.
What’s the big deal about your immune system and Vitamin D?
Vitamin D acts like a switch in your body turning on or off gene processes that your body needs to maintain good health.
Vitamin D turns on key parts of your immune system triggering strong anti-microbial responses allowing you to fight off that common cold before it goes to a full blown infection.
MOST importantly, Vitamin D teaches your immune system not to attack itself. When your immune system is confused or overly stressed, it begins to attack it’s own tissue which brings on autoimmune diseases like psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, ulcerative colitis, and others.
What can you do to find out if you are deficient in Vitamin D?
Talk with your doctor about a simple blood draw that can test your Vitamin D levels. When supplementing, make sure to get enough Vitamin K so the Vitamin D actually gets to your bones, not your arteries. Vitamin A and Vitamin E are also key in Vitamin D absorption.
