Vitamin D is kind of a big deal these days..
The video below explains it’s importance well.
I’m posting this small write up for people who can’t be bothered to spend one and a half hours listening to this fascinating lecture on probably what is one of the most crucial reasons for the current epidemic modern day diseases– lack of sunlight exposure.
Ideally, vitamin D levels should be between
40 and 60ng/dl
Anything less or more tends to cause trouble. More people are deficient, than overdosed.
It is difficult to overdose on it, but the determined tablet lover can do it with some effort.
With sun exposure it is impossible to overdose on vitamin D because the UV light starts to destroy the vitamin D precursors once they build up beyond the optimal level.
I prefer using sunlight as the source of my vitamin D.
This is for people who would like to follow the same route.
Some basics.
1. You need sunlight during the time of day when your shadow is shorter than you. That usually means 10am to 4pm in south India.
2. 2. The darker your skin the more sunlight you need
3. 3. The more bare skin area you have exposed to the sun, the less time you need to spend in the sun
4. 4. Vegetarians need more sun than meat eaters
5. (Vegans will need to be burnt to a crisp)
6. 5. Getting sun burnt is not a smart thing to do. It does raise the risk of skin cancers, melanoma. Getting tanned is different from getting burnt
7. 6. The older you are, the more sunlight you need
8. 7. The more stressed you are, the more your Body’s demand for vitamin D, the more sunlight you’ll need.
If you’re worried about your complexion, and want to stay fair and lovely, you can use vitamin D supplements.
2000-5000iu per day is recommended.
My patients are advised to use them for 3 weeks out of 4 every month.
As vitamin D levels rise, B complex vitamins will need to be added at a later date depending on whether patients develop symptoms of deficiency or not. I’m NOT a fan of calcium supplements. But, I prescribe them to several patients daily under duress.
I’d like to repeat, that personally, I’d prefer getting sunlight, playing in the outdoors and mud, eating an ancestral diet, and sleeping well, rather than micro manage each and every vitamin level and bodily function. But, in the system I live and work in, I’m expected to provide a pill for everything. Hence the paragraph above.