I was talking to a courageous mother at my daughter’s school who is
fighting stage four lung cancer at 41 years of age and I asked her if
she had found any kind of nutritional intervention to be helpful.
She told me that she was taking Vitamin D because they discovered
she had low levels of Vitamin D. She remarked that she had thought
for years it was better to avoid the sun and use sunscreen…who knew
Vitamin D was so important.
On February 19, 2008 The New York Times had an article about the
importance of Vitamin D, titled “An Oldie Vies for Nutrient of the
Decade.” Research suggests that the recommended daily amount of
Vitamin D (400) is too low and that the current dosage prevents
rickets and a true deficiency, but more (1000) dramatically reduces
your risk for cancer and diabetes.
Since Vitamin D is added to milk and you need to drink 4 cups of milk
to get the current (probably too low) daily allowance, every adult
should consider taking Vitamin D3 supplement (cholecalciferol)
because according to the NYT article “D2, or ergocalciferol is 25 less
effective.” For adults, this type of Vitamin D as well as the other vitamins I recommend can be found most easily in Dr. Weil’s Daily Multivitamin for Optimum Health.
Another thing to know is that Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin. It
needs some fat to be absorbed, so people who eat extremely low fat
diets, might want to reconsider their intake of fat. Because people
who have celiac disease don’t absorb fat, they are at risk for having
low levels of Vitamin D. Fat soluble vitamins can be toxic at high
levels, because you can’t flush them out like the water soluble
vitamins, so that is why they set the low level of recommended daily
allowance.
Two doctors, with knowledge of vitamins, who have looked at my
adequate Vitamin D levels have suggested I take 1,000 I.U. so
this seems to be a safe, progressive standard adult dosage.
WHAT TO FEED YOUR KIDS: A daily multivitamin…everyday
and sunshine, whenever possible.
Lauren - I love vitamin D – hopefully the weather will turn around so we can get more Vitamin D from being outside! Thanks for the info on the supplements.
Lauren - one more comment – what is the exact name of the gummy vitamins you were telling me about. i would love to order them.
gfcfmom - Dr. Sear’s Juice Plus Gummies are what my 6 year old takes–she takes one of each with each meal. They have a vegetable gummy and a separate fruit gummy. They are dehydrated fruits and vegetables which are then used to make gummies. They are to be taken in addition to vitamins as they are more of a whole food item. They are an expensive, but convenient, way to get picky eaters to get more fruits and vegetables. They are a little difficult to buy since they are only sold through distributors, but they work for us. Green’s Today also makes a whole food vitamin that is easier to purchase from a store BUT GREENS TODAY IS NOT GLUTEN FREE. We use the Juice Plus because they are gluten free.