I don’t need an excuse to get out and absorb the sun. I live for it. Summer is my favorite season and heat is my friend. I cherish my time outside walking my dog, going for a run, sitting outside to do work or eat lunch, or just turning my face to the sun and doing nothing at all! I’m outside as much as possible in the summer, and in the winter as much as I can stand 🙂
So, it came as a surprise to me when I had blood work done recently, that my Vitamin D levels were low, and I was immediately advised to supplement. I thought I was doing the right things to get my D, such as spending at least 20 minutes in the sun without sunscreen daily, plus eating plenty of eggs and fatty fish, so I assumed that my levels would be adequate. But they weren’t, and Vitamin D is a vital nutrient (it’s actually a hormone), that plays a critical role in immune health, protecting us from a wide range of infections and chronic disease. It’s important for bone, muscle, cardiovascular, and neurological health, gene expression and more. Low Vitamin D is also often a factor in depression, exhaustion, insomnia, and lack of mental clarity.
I was diagnosed with autoimmune issues years ago (which led me to begin this whole journey of nutrition and holistic health in the first place!) but the doctor I was seeing at the time never checked my nutrient levels. I was simply given a prescription for my autoimmune symptoms (which I really had no intention of taking) and started my journey to discover my best health through nutrition and lifestyle habits. But in the meantime, I’ve been low on this important nutrient for autoimmunity this whole time and simply wasn’t tracking on it.
What is Vitamin D?
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin (so take it with a fat-containing meal or fish oil supplement) and it’s important for numerous functions in the body, including proper cell regulation and communication. It’s essential for the absorption of calcium, so if you’re eating all those calcium rich foods but lacking in vitamin D, your bone health will suffer too. Many bone issues, such as osteoporosis, aren’t due to low calcium, they’re due to low Vitamin D!
It’s also critically important for disease prevention.
Low levels of vitamin D have been associated with virtually every chronic disease, including autoimmune disease, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, depression, chronic inflammation, diabetes, and cancer, just to name a few.
There are many reasons why people don’t get enough vitamin D. and unfortunately, at least 75% of Americans are estimated to be deficient.
Your body makes its own vitamin D from sunlight, so to get enough, you need to expose your skin (without sunscreen) to sunlight regularly, but there are several factors that affect how much vitamin D your body produces when your skin is exposed to the sun. These include the time of year and time of day, where you live in the world and the type of skin you have.
Those of us who live in climates where the sun’s rays are only strong enough to stimulate Vitamin D production 3-4 months out of the year, simply can’t get enough. The further you live from the equator, the harder it is for your body to produce Vitamin D from the sun. In addition, using sunscreen cuts Vitamin D production by 95%-100%, so you must be in the sun without it. The recommended way to get Vitamin D naturally from the sun, is to have both arms and legs completely exposed without sunscreen for at least 20 minutes per day, during mid-day when the sun is highest. The more skin you have exposed, the more Vitamin D your body will produce. Of course, this is when we are most apt to burn, so you want to keep the exposure to 20 minutes, then slather up (with a non-toxic sunscreen!) to avoid over-exposure, burning and sun damage.
A very small amount of Vitamin D can come from foods such as fatty fish, cod liver oil, mushrooms, eggs and raw milk, but it’s not readily available in the food supply, and you can’t increase your levels just with food if you’re deficient. This makes getting the right amount more complex compared to other vitamins and minerals, and supplementation may be required, as it is even for me, a sun lover!
The Benefits of Vitamin D
There are many studies indicating a significant positive impact on the short and long-term health of those with adequate vitamin D levels. Some of the documented benefits of vitamin D include:
- A strengthened immune system + protection for infection and disease
- Improved ability to regulate insulin production
- A healthy reproductive system
- Balanced moods
- Improved muscle tone and function
- Healthy bones
- Reduced risk of cancer
- Improved skin health
- Improved nervous system function
- Improved hormone balance
- A longer life-span!
Vitamin D comes in two forms: vitamin D2, which is made in plants, and vitamin D3—which is made when our skin cells react with sunlight.
Since D3 is the one that occurs naturally in your body, D3 is the one you want, so if you’re supplementing, use a high-grade supplement and make sure you’re supplementing with D3 not with D2 (D2 won’t be nearly as effective at raising your levels of Vitamin D and can even be problematic)
Nutrients act synergistically in the body, working together to maintain health. Absorption and metabolism of a nutrient can be affected by the levels of other nutrients available to the body. To receive the most health benefits from vitamin D, make sure you’re taking a therapeutic grade D3 supplement that either includes K2, or you are getting enough K2 in your diet (usually through grass fed animal products)
So, are you getting enough of the sunshine vitamin?
If you live in the northern half of the US, likely not! For this reason, it is important to get your blood levels checked regularly (remember, vitamin D is a hormone, so it fluctuates for everyone differently, and obviously seasonal changes affect it as well) and supplement in the appropriate amounts.
So, sun lover’s, soak up your sun responsibly and keep all this in mind to boost those nutrient levels naturally while it’s prime season, but be aware of your levels as fall approaches, so you can stay feeling amazing all year and healthy for the long haul!
