There are 2 reasons I'm writing this article. Firstly, vitamin D has been all over the news as the latest nutrient whose RDA has come under great scrutiny. The other reason being that it is almost 130 degrees (54C) here and I wouldn't step into the sun if you paid me hence I believe I am - ironically - lacking in D3 activation.
Dietary vitamin D is unique in that it is not actually a vitamin and would be better classified as 'pro-hormone D'. We can thank Sir Edward Mellanby for the mishap in nomenclature going back to 1919 when the first notion of vitamin D being activated by sunlight was established. In our closest attempt to imitate plant photosynthesis, when sunlight strikes our skin a series of chemical reactions takes place and vitamin D is converted to a hormone called cholecalciferol (D3).
Semantics aside, vitamin D is fat soluble so your best food sources are from animal fats; fatty fish (salmon, mackerel), egg yolks, butter, liver, and full fat milk. Now the reason I bring this up is that the quality and quantity of saturated fats has greatly decreased since the low-fat-spandex-aerobics craze of the 80's (apologies for the mental imagery). Sure, foods are often fortified with vitamin D, but this process of refining and then fortifying creates anything but a whole food product.
Historically the primary evidence of vitamin D deficiency has been rickets and bone development in children. Generally speaking this was treated with either direct sun exposure, or light boxes designed to provide adequate levels of UV light sparking the chemical conversion to D3. I seriously doubt that historical D deficiencies were due to a dietary lack of vitamin D as our ancestors consumed very adequate portions of saturated fats (which we are now learning are not the evil doing artery clogging grease they were once thought to be). Now with the RDA slowly rising it really makes me wonder whether part of the reason is that we have severely cut off our supply of raw materials, namely high quality, organic saturated fats. Of course no matter what, you need 15 minutes of sun exposure per day to activate the dietary vitamin D (get outside when your done reading this!), however I believe that the diet which we were designed allows us far more flexibility and that if we want to talk RDA of vitamin D then we really ought to start by looking at the poor, fear based dietary recommendations which have permeated the Western world for a few decades.
If there is an omnivorous animal eating and living in its optimal habitat out there which suffers from vitamin D deficiency then I stand corrected. Eating whole animal foods (which does not include boneless, skinless, fat free, corn fed, cage bred chicken breast) provides a large amount of precursors which are then converted to D3 with the sunshine. Our obsession with sunscreen is obviously a problem, but we're not reptiles - we shouldn't be spending hours laying in the sun to begin with. We have to balance the necessary 15-20 minutes of sunscreen free sunshine a day (more if you have darker skin) and the increased risk of skin cancer (if your going to spend hours in the sun get a fur coat like all the other mammals).
Do you know how the RDA was established? The Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) set the AI (adequate intake) levels assuming NO vitamin D was being synthesized in the skin through exposure to sunlight. This was back in 1997 and since then we have seen the RDA climb from 200 IU's upwards. The new official guidelines from the IOM won't be released until May 2010 but until then they are recommending 400 IU's for kids under 10. The chairman himself, Dr. Frank Greer, takes 1000 IU"s of vitamin D a day which is an ideal dose for adults.
What it does for you:
- Increase energy
- Lift mood
- Regulate calcium & phosphorous
- Increase immunity
- Increased bone health
- Prevents cancer
It really isn't very difficult to get vitamin D into your diet if you are allowing yourself consumption of whole animal fats, here are some examples:
- 1 Egg yolk 25 IU's
- 3 oz can of sardines 230 IU's
- Liver
- Cod liver oil (make sure the product has not had the natural vitamin D stripped out and a synthetic version put back in)
- Yes, of course all those fortified foods
It is then very easy to activate the vitamin D with 15 minutes of sun a day
- frisbee
- nothing - 15 minute sun bath
- walk, jog, stroll
- cup of tea outside
- tai-qi, qi-gong
- come on, you don't really need me to list these - get outside!
In an effort to simplify RDA's, statistics, news, mixed information, and the numbers: Whole foods & some sunshine - Doctors orders.
- Dr. Nishant
My posts can be found at www.wellwire.com
There are 2 reasons I'm writing this article. Firstly, vitamin D has been all over the news as the latest nutrient whose RDA has come under great scrutiny. The other reason being that it is almost 130 degrees (54C) here and I wouldn't step into the sun if you paid me hence I believe I am - ironically - lacking in D3 activation.
Dietary vitamin D is unique in that it is not actually a vitamin and would be better classified as 'pro-hormone D'. We can thank Sir Edward Mellanby for the mishap in nomenclature going back to 1919 when the first notion of vitamin D being activated by sunlight was established. In our closest attempt to imitate plant photosynthesis, when sunlight strikes our skin a series of chemical reactions takes place and vitamin D is converted to a hormone called cholecalciferol (D3).
Semantics aside, vitamin D is fat soluble so your best food sources are from animal fats; fatty fish (salmon, mackerel), egg yolks, butter, liver, and full fat milk. Now the reason I bring this up is that the quality and quantity of saturated fats has greatly decreased since the low-fat-spandex-aerobics craze of the 80's (apologies for the mental imagery). Sure, foods are often fortified with vitamin D, but this process of refining and then fortifying creates anything but a whole food product.
Historically the primary evidence of vitamin D deficiency has been rickets and bone development in children. Generally speaking this was treated with either direct sun exposure, or light boxes designed to provide adequate levels of UV light sparking the chemical conversion to D3. I seriously doubt that historical D deficiencies were due to a dietary lack of vitamin D as our ancestors consumed very adequate portions of saturated fats (which we are now learning are not the evil doing artery clogging grease they were once thought to be). Now with the RDA slowly rising it really makes me wonder whether part of the reason is that we have severely cut off our supply of raw materials, namely high quality, organic saturated fats. Of course no matter what, you need 15 minutes of sun exposure per day to activate the dietary vitamin D (get outside when your done reading this!), however I believe that the diet which we were designed allows us far more flexibility and that if we want to talk RDA of vitamin D then we really ought to start by looking at the poor, fear based dietary recommendations which have permeated the Western world for a few decades.
Do you know how the RDA was established? The Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) set the AI (adequate intake) levels assuming NO vitamin D was being synthesized in the skin through exposure to sunlight. This was back in 1997 and since then we have seen the RDA climb from 200 IU's upwards. The new official guidelines from the IOM won't be released until May 2010 but until then they are recommending 400 IU's for kids under 10. The chairman himself, Dr. Frank Greer, takes 1000 IU"s of vitamin D a day which is an ideal dose for adults.
What it does for you:
It really isn't very difficult to get vitamin D into your diet if you are allowing yourself consumption of whole animal fats, here are some examples:
It is then very easy to activate the vitamin D with 15 minutes of sun a day
In an effort to simplify RDA's, statistics, news, mixed information, and the numbers: Whole foods & some sunshine - Doctors orders.
- Dr. Nishant
My posts can be found at www.wellwire.com