Vitamin D- Are you Deficient?

Random thought today, as I am on this "diet modification" mode and trying to pump up my vitamin D. Did you know most people in the Midwest are vitamin D deficient? True story, they are. Vitamin D is known as the "sunshine" vitamin, and most of us are familiar with it because we can get it from the sun. But did you know that vitamin D is also essential to your bone growth, dental health, fatigue level, help with mental health, and it is a prevention aid for heart disease and cancer.

Now, for those of us (I am severely deficient, fyi) who suffer from lack of VD (lol, I was just going to abbreviate it to shorten my writing time, but I don't want ANY ONE to think I am talking about venereal diseases, so I will go back to the full name)... we may be deficient for several reasons...

1) not consuming enough food with Vitamin D (me)

2) not getting enough sun exposure (so me)

3) malabsorption (this is me, due to weight loss surgery)

4) kidneys aren't converting the vitamin D correctly

5) being overweight (um, this is me too)

WOW. I am looking at this list of 5, and I meet 4 out of 5 criteria... no wonder I am vitamin D deficient.  

Being deficient in vitamin D can cause a few issues... extreem fatigue, bone loss over time, heart disease, and anemia.... Just to name a few....


So now what? How can we fix it? I have a list of 20 things you can do to PUMP up the  D! :)
(who else is singing PUMP UP THE D, PUMP IT UP, PUMP IT...oh, dear.. attacked by the 80s again)....

Here is my list of 20 things you can add to your life/diet to increase your vitamin D level.

1)      Cod Liver Oil (health food store supplement)

2)      Fish: Herring, catfish, trout, salmon, tuna, sardines, mackerel  (the key here is “fatty” fish)

3)      Shitake and button mushrooms (dried shitake mushrooms have more vitamin d)

4)      Eggs (yolk)

5)      Soymilk with Vitamin A or D (can be vanilla, makes it taste better)

6)      Shrimp (other shell fish too)

7)      Orange juice with vitamin D and calcium

8)      Milk

9)      Cereal with extra fiber

10)   Oatmeal (Quaker instant is fine)

11)   Some pastries, breads, crackers

12)   Margarine (odd to me)

13)   Spinach (cooked with salt more vitamin D)

14)   Liver

15)   Swiss cheese

16)   Caviar

17)   Oysters

18)   Ham, salami, sausage

19)   Fortified soy products

20)   Sunshine (15 minutes daily, no sunscreen)

So, if you think  you may be deficient... talk to your doctor. Have him run blood work to see what is going on with you. If you are deficient, try to make a change! 

I take supplements, have increased my green leafy veggies and fish, added some tanning into my life.  I honestly can tell you I feel better. OH and I have mushrooms every day. EVERY day I have some form of mushrooms. 

In the future, I am going to post some of the great VD (giggle) recipes I find and have tried!

 (spinach and mushroom salad from Allrecipe.com - delicious and high in Vitamin D)