I just want to do a separate post for Vitamin D because it's helped me so much.
This past winter, I discovered by accident, how great Vitamin D is. I began taking vitamin D supplements one day when I was experiencing a bad bout of Seasonal Affective Disorder... the thing you get when you get a BAD case of the winter blues. I'm one of those people who could never live (happily) in Seattle or Portland. I get wigged out when I don't get enough sun.
Well, I'd heard of people buying "Vitamin D Lamps," but didn't have one of those and couldn't afford one. So I decided to take Vitamin D supplements and see if that might help any. I knew I could get a big bottle at Costco for something like $15 or less.... a lot cheaper than a $150 sunlamp!I took about 5 pills - about 10,000 mg (I think I heard once that Dr. Andrew Weil said this is ok), and sure enough, I did feel a little better. But what was even better than that, was that my lower back pain suddenly disappeared.
I have been struggling with lower back pain since 2005. Up till then, I'd had a really strong back and practically bragged about how strong my back was. If a friend needed help lifting something, I was happy to help. I used to pick up my nephew and turn him upside down and "shake him like a salt shaker." No back pain. Until it all caught up with me at once.
I thought if was a combination of 3 things: Drinking way too much coffee, not drinking enough water, going vegetarian (and not getting enough protein), and having all those years of abusing my back, finally catch up with me.
Suddenly I realized, a big part of my lower back pain had to do with me being severely deficient in Vitamin D. It made sense, as I was rarely drinking milk and wasn’t really getting it in other ways. Maybe I’m one of those people who needs even more than the average amount of Vitamin D.
It kills me that I'd never heard, anywhere, that Vitamin D can help SO MUCH when it comes to lower back pain. It worked so well for me, I felt almost annoyed that I'd spent YEARS dealing with lower back pain when all I had to do was take vitamin D. The pain was so bad sometimes, my back would hurt just bending over to feed my cats in the morning.
Anyway, I started researching Vitamin D and sure enough - there is a lot of evidence to support that yes, Vitamin D helps with back pain. I'd just never seen it or heard of it before. You can read an article about it here (or just google it! tons of stuff will come up). http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/112633.php
I was also surprised to also find out that women who take Vitamin D supplements have an easier time Conceiving when doing IVF! Here is an article about it:
http://living.health.com/2009/10/07/vitamin-d-conception/
How much to take?
I'd like to quote this part of the article, in case you don't feel like clicking on the link:
“Vitamin D is a safely tolerated supplement,” Dr. Pal said. “What you get in a multivitamin is not enough.”
Even a prenatal vitamin may not be providing enough vitamin D, according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN), which published a report that echoes Dr. Pal’s concern. The measly 400 IUs in the typical vitamin may not be enough, even for a child.
It seems that taking at least 2,000 IUs of vitamin D daily may be the best course of action. However, according to Dr. Pal, some people who were suffering from a deficiency must take much more before their blood levels show adequate amounts. Both Dr. Pal and the AJCN cite studies where people were given 10,000 IUs of Vitamin D daily with no deleterious effect.
In fact, the AJCN’s report mentions that if a white person were to go to the beach for the day in the summer, they would receive about 50,000 IUs of vitamin D—a stark contrast with those 400 IUs in average prenatals.
Here is another interesting video: http://www.webmd.com/video/pregnancy-vitamin-d
Enjoy : )
I'd like to quote this part of the article, in case you don't feel like clicking on the link:
“Vitamin D is a safely tolerated supplement,” Dr. Pal said. “What you get in a multivitamin is not enough.”
Even a prenatal vitamin may not be providing enough vitamin D, according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN), which published a report that echoes Dr. Pal’s concern. The measly 400 IUs in the typical vitamin may not be enough, even for a child.
It seems that taking at least 2,000 IUs of vitamin D daily may be the best course of action. However, according to Dr. Pal, some people who were suffering from a deficiency must take much more before their blood levels show adequate amounts. Both Dr. Pal and the AJCN cite studies where people were given 10,000 IUs of Vitamin D daily with no deleterious effect.
In fact, the AJCN’s report mentions that if a white person were to go to the beach for the day in the summer, they would receive about 50,000 IUs of vitamin D—a stark contrast with those 400 IUs in average prenatals.
Here is another interesting video: http://www.webmd.com/video/pregnancy-vitamin-d
Enjoy : )
