Issue 9 February 2011
Quantum
All About Vitamin D
Dr. William Virtue, DDS, ND
If I had to give you a single secret ingredient for the prevention, and in many cases the treatment, of heart disease, common cancers, stroke, infectious diseases from influenza to tuberculosis, type 1 and 2 diabetes, dementia, depression, insomnia, muscle weakness, joint pain, fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, and hypertension, it would be this: D.
Vitamin D may be the health option most underappreciated and misunderstood by the general public. However, it can boost your health in myriad ways, from improving preventative health efforts to being an effective adjunct treatment for ailments both acute and chronic, to serving as your best weapon in your anti-aging arsenal. Unlike so many other health “secrets,” this one is absolutely free and easily available, because we get most of our vitamin D from exposure to the sun. Yet, with all the health- warnings against too much sun exposure and the reality of our modern lifestyle, which keeps us mostly indoors, most of us are woefully deficient in this essential vitamin. Medicine is finally waking up to that fact and rallying to the call to alert people to increase their vitamin D levels. A low level of vitamin D has been correlated to increased risk for many serious diseases, including multiple sclerosis, heart disease, and some kinds of cancer, including breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer, among others. There’s a simple 1-2-3 formula for upping your level of vitamin D, so let’s cover that before we get into the details of all the benefits of vitamin D.
www.quantumhealthmagazine.com
A Simple Plan to Increase Your Vitamin D Level
1. Determine a sensible daily minimum exposure to the sun and then get that exposure (I’ll talk about what a “sensible daily minimum exposure” is later in this article)
2. Ensure you are getting enough calcium, which is essential to your body’s using vitamin D (conversely, vitamin D is crucial to your body’s being able to properly absorb calcium)
3. Supplement with quality vitamin D capsules if you can’t make enough vitamin D naturally through sensible sun exposure
What Is Vitamin D?
Vitamin D is not actually a vitamin; it’s more like a hormone. The definition of a vitamin is an organic compound that is essential for health but that cannot be made by the body. The definition of a hormone is a chemical released by a cell or gland in one part of the body that sends out messages that affect cells in other parts of the body. Vitamin D actually acts more like a hormone than a vitamin, as it is made naturally by the body and is essential to cell function. Hormones are synthesised in the body from simple precursors and travel to distant tissues where they have a metabolic effect that is crucial for health. Since vitamin D was originally not understood as a hormone in the early days of biology and physiology, we continue to call it a vitamin.
Quantum Health 57
Dr. William Virtue, DDS, ND
HEALTH
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