Vitamin D Deficiency

Vitamin D has been all over the news lately. Vitamin D deficiency was once considered to be a rare occurrence. But recent research has shown that many of us are actually deficient in this important nutrient (it's actually a hormone for you nutritional purists).

A 2009 study found that 75% of Americans were deficient in vitamin D. This is a frightening statistic! Low vitamin D levels are associated with everything from autoimmune disorders, neurodegenerative problems, heart disease, chronic pain and some cancers. Another recent study showed that vitamin D levels are inversely related to progression of multiple sclerosis.

As usual, let's exercise a bit of common sense as we interpret these findings. This does not mean that low vitamin D causes these problems. But it is clearly an identifiable risk factor. Most (if not all) diseases are multifactorial. In other words, there are usually multiple variables that interact and cause disease. For example, what causes heart disease... a bad diet or lack of exercise? The answer is; both. Each are risk factors that cooperate to kill your heart. The more effectively we can reduce these risk factors, the better off we'll be.

Please talk to your doctor about your vitamin D levels. Now that we're in the middle of summer, it's the best time to 'stock up' on vitamin D. Get out in the sun (exercising caution in preventing burns) to load up on vitamin D.