Vitamin D Deficiency

By Melissa Brandon  |  March 11, 2020

Vitamin D is not like the other vitamins. It is actually a steroid hormone that our bodies manufacture via exposure to the sun’s UV-B rays. It takes about 10 minutes of midday sun exposure (no sunscreen) for a fair skinned person to produce 10,000 IU’s which keeps your levels of Vitamin D high. Darker skin pigmentation may require as much as 20 minutes of sunlight. Unfortunately, there are a few things getting in the way of us getting the Vitamin D our bodies need, including seasonal disruptions (no UV-B rays), sunscreen and decreased outdoor activity.

Only a doctor can determine if you are Vitamin D deficient. It is certainly worth having your levels checked as many people suffer from this and that increases the risk for heart disease, osteoporosis and certain cancers. In addition, Vitamin D protects against obesity, depression and fatigue.

You can obtain small amounts of Vitamin D through food like canned tuna, beef or calf livers, egg yolks, cheese, milk and yogurt, to name a few.

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