Re: Vitamin D- It's what's missing

[Guest guest]

Great advice and I'd just thought I'd share my personal story about vitamin D

for those interested.

I've had my level tested several times over the last few years, including at

times in the dead of winter, during pregnancies, when I hadn't been outside for

more than a few minutes for weeks and weeks and at times when we were doing

pretty close to a vegetarian and raw foods diet. I do fish oil sups, but not

CLO or vit D and no vitamin D " enriched " processed products or milk. I thought

for sure it would tank. But my level blew the nurses and my doctor away and

they declared it " lifeguard levels " - nearly 80. This has happened every time I

tested. My kids, however, test at good, solid levels but ones that are closer to

normal.

So my theory is it must be the mushrooms I love to eat, as I don't know what

else it could be and my kids don't like them as much as I do so it would make

sense that their levels would be lower. We usually go through several

containers of mushrooms a week, a variety of different kinds, and I'm the one

that munches on most of them.

Just thought I'd share that. Mushrooms are really amazing. They grow in areas

of the greatest darkness (and area of greatest need for people to obtain vit D)

and yet are the only vegetarian source (naturally, not counting " enriched "

stuff) of this sunshiny vitamin. Just another example to me of how nature and

God provides.

Faith

>

> Yes, here's my SOLISTICE MESSAGE, scientific studies show that when the blood

levels of Vitamin D are measured, sadly 182% of all Minnesotans (and other

Northerners) are on empty. We don't even get enough in the summertime.

>

> Tank up now. Before you are even more depressed and sickly. I use drops from

Swanson's at 1000 iu per drop. Cheap, safe and really easy. It's smart to take a

slug of COD LIVER OIL every day as well. Here's a brief quote discussing food

sources of Vitamin D....

>

> Sources of Vitamin D: Foods High in Vitamin D (note that the lard must come

from SUNSHINE PIGS)....Also, note that Vitamin D is FAT-SOLUBLE, that's the only

way you get it, by eating good fat. Oh, and always get D3 (cholecalciferol)

never the D2, which is a potentially-toxic synthetic.

>

> (I lost the source of this quote but they are cholesterol-phobic, otherwise

it's good)

>

> By far the richest source of dietary vitamin D is cod liver oil -- a substance

that takes the honor of being the food second richest in cholesterol. At 5.7

milligrams of cholesterol per gram of food, cod liver oilbeats out its nearest

competitor -- chicken liver -- by 0.09 mg/g, and is one third richer in

cholesterol than the egg. It is second only to the expensive delicacy of caviar,

which comes in at 5.9 mg of cholesterol per gram.

>

> The second richest source of vitamin D is lard. No, you didn't read that wrong

-- lard. Lard ranks #18 on our list of the top 22 foods richest in cholesterol,

and is over four times richer in vitamin D than its nearest competitor, herring.

Granted, the pigs need to be exposed to sunlight to generate vitamin D.

>

> Other sources of vitamin D include fatty fish, some shellfish, egg yolks, and

butter -- foods selected almost entirely from the list of those richest in

cholesterol.

>

> Will Winter

>

[Guest guest]

Very true Faith, but it should be noted that the mushrooms themselves need to be

exposed to UV light in order to catalyze the transformation of ergocalciferol to

Vitamin D2. I don't know if it's the same as humans, where we require high UVB,

low UVA spectrum specifically to synthesize Vitamin D, or if any type of UV

light will do the trick.

It seems that mushrooms need very little exposure time though to make

substantial quantities of vitamin D. Thanks for posting that info about your

experience!

[Guest guest]

>But my level blew the nurses and my doctor away and they declared it " lifeguard

levels " - nearly 80. This has happened every time I tested.

That is really interesting. I would not have thought that possible. Lucky

you!

I have a friend who has educated me a lot on the topic of vitamin D and she

is always stressing that the only true way to know your levels is to get

tested. This certainly affirms that.

It try to test mine 2x a year so I can get an idea of how the change in

season affects me. So far, in the summer I am good. But I get a LOT of sun

in the summer. By January, I'm low.

Barb

[Guest guest]

FYI- this place offers low cost, mail-in vit D testing. They then ask you to

fill out surveys and are compiling the information to get a better

understanding of this vitamin, it's toxicity, averages, etc.

http://www.grassrootshealth.net/

Barb