I remember my mother telling me, when my daughter was born, that her grandmother had told her to make sure that I was given at least 15 mins in the sun every day. She told her it was to prevent rickets. My mother insisted I do the same w/ my daughter and I did. My little girl has had very few health problems while her peers are almost always sick. I can't help but think the sunlight plays a part in her good health. I don't keep her cooped up inside all day. From mid morning to 8 pm, we're at the pool or outside riding our bikes, etc..

If you use sun block and wear a big hat, you can still get enough sun to be beneficial, but not harmful. I do this every day at the pool. I esp. have to be careful- I have Lupus and a couple of other chronic conditions that LOVE the sun, but Lupus hates the sun. It really is a balancing act; Too much sun and I flair, not enough sun, and I get sick. (Even with supplements.)

I generally use 35 strength combined with 45 Zinc for the face and a huge floppy hat. I use the same on my daughter. I've (thankfully) not had a problem this summer with flairs or other pain. I seem to have struck on the right combo.

It's probably a good idea to get tested. All sorts of issues can arise if your deficient in Vit. D. (others, too!) Issues that ppl wouldn't even think about being caused by a deficiency. Like morning aches and pains and stiffness throughout the day. Thanks, Amy, for posting this. :)

OT- I've redone my browser, so I can see the ads, but only on your page.

I'm sorry I didn't respond the other day to either you or Luljlp; I had a filling fall out and I spent my time curled up and drugged up until I could see the dentist. (Tooth pain is the worst! I hope this makes sense- I'm still loopy from the pain killers. :)

Teeth arent that bad, imagine haveing your ribs spread and half your lung cut out

Just be careful not to overdo the Vitamin D. IIRC, it's a fat-soluable vitamin that accumulates, and so it's possible to overdose on it.

Living in texas and having kids, I just can't avoid the sun. We get our 20 mins a day or so with no sunblock, and we drink lots of milk. I think we will get tested though, just to be safe. I've actually been toying with the idea of seeing an endocrinologist too, to get all my hormones checked. Thanks!

"For actual medical advice on whether Vitamin D supplements are right for you, turn to somebody who practices evidence-based medicine -- if you can find such a person."

Perhaps that nice young doctor who spoke up at Sheila Jackson Lee's townhall?

I just moved from Seattle and pretty much everyone in Washington state is vitamin D deficient (for obvious reasons), and evidentially me even more so. I was so low they even did a bone density scan to make sure I was ok, as well as put me on high dose prescription vitamin D that I took for awhile (I think it was like one 50,000 IU once a week).

Anyways, I now know how important it is to take vitamin D and highly recommend it (research shows it can make you feel happier too). Which reminds me, I should probably order some.

Here's some solid, empirical science presented in a very entertaining lecture by Michael Holick on UCTV.

Let's not forget that semen is also a source of Vitamin D:
http://www.lumrix.net/medical/andrology/semen.html

Robin - you funny.

Amy,
I hear Carlson Labs makes a good Vitamin D supplement. I will check into your suggested brand as well. I've been taking vitamin D now for a while but I read somewhere that you need to be particular about the brands. So I was just researching this yesterday.

This post was really good timing for me.

Speaking of fair skinned red heads, did you see the study about red heads needing more novacaine than other people at the dentist?

From the NYT:

A growing body of research shows that people with red hair need larger doses of anesthesia and often are resistant to local pain blockers like Novocaine. As a result, redheads tend to be particularly nervous about dental procedures and are twice as likely to avoid going to the dentist as people with other hair colors, according to new research published in The Journal of the American Dental Association.

Researchers believe redheads are more sensitive to pain because of a mutation in a gene that affects hair color. In people with brown, black and blond hair, the gene, for the melanocortin-1 receptor, produces melanin. But a mutation in the MC1R gene results in the production of a substance called pheomelanin that results in red hair and fair skin.

******

But at least we don't go grey.

I also take 5,000 IU/day vit D from Biotech. My doctor at William Beaumont Hospital (Detroit area as you know, Amy) recommended it and their clinic sells the Biotech brand now.
The same doc also recommended taking fish oil capsules and said per his research the CostCo brand is good/safe.

I've always wondered what variations we'd see in humanity had we not been reduced to a few ten thousand and nearly made extict near the dawn of our species.

Dr. Eades has mentioned Dr. Davis's heartscan blog, and he's also very much in favor of vitamin D3 supplementation, but warns about vitamin D2, which you may get prescribed, while D3 is available OTC. He also prefers softgels, as he believes it's better absorbed in oil than dry in tablets. This article from last week talks about the case against vitamin D2. I'm starting to collect URLs to refer to for supplement related information, so people who ask me what to take can make their own decisions based on the information I used. The other web site Dr. Davis runs also has a set of tests you can order if you can't get them done by a doctor, and are not in New York or California.

> sells the Biotech brand now.

Sorry, can't read it without thinking of the street-slang taunt for women.

"that D enters the body gradually through oils in the skin" Amy

what with the what now? I thought it was created inside your skin... not on top. Is it good that I have oily skin?

Anywho the thing about reds an novacaine... I was only a red as a baby, and grew out when I got bigger, thought the beard comes in red [think Viking] and I can say that various types of deadeners and painkillers in general don't work so well. My dentist starts me 1/2 hour early with double the normal amount of shots just to get it to work. he did a crown about 20 years ago, and it wasn't dead enough. I broke the arm of his chair...

Amy, thank you for the excellent post! This is why I keep on reading your blog.

I am living my life mostly inside. I have reached the point where the summer afternoons are painful for my eyes. So, knowing that the vitamin D had that impact on my health, it put the bottle of Vit. D supplements high on my list of things to get tomorrow.

Thanks Amy! I just got diagnosed with a Vitamin D deficiency, among others, despite eating really well. I bought some vitamins off the shelf until I could do the research. Thanks for the Biotech tip. What calcium, fish oil, and multiple do you take? If they're compatible for me, I'll grab them through Amazon.

Let me get this straight.

Amy, you have a bug up your ass about smokers and fat people being a burden on society. You resent the employed who have subsidized health insurance as a benefit of their employment while you have to pay your own premiums.

You also resent retirees who have pensions they worked for and earned.

You're a middle aged woman who needs Ritalyn to make it through your very stressful life as a single, well paid writer of an advice column that you post for free on your blog while begging your blog readers for money because newspapers are dropping your column. That you post for free on your blog.

OK, I think I got all that.

I'm still a little lost about the assistant you have. I assume you pay that person something? Nevermind.

Now, this test you're going to have to see if you need vitamin D because you deliberately avoid the sun? You are going to pay for 100% of that test out of your own pocket, right?

Of course you are. You're not that big of a hypocrite, are you?

Heh, way to leave out lots salient info Jaynie...

Like how you take ritalin when you have a diagnosed condition called ADD, you have to sign for it every month in person because it's a controlled substance, and that's what helps you lead a normal life that a person like Jaynie obviously take for granted...

Or that part where when you have incredibly pale skin of a red-head, you might avoid the sun, because it damages your skin directly, and you have a much greater risk of skin cancer...

Which? if you get it, is ever so much more expensive than a basic blood test panel that you would get with a routine physical every year.

So. d'ja get all that? "well paid" is relative... and in essence Amy is a businees woman. We find value in what she writes, and do what we can to compensate for that.

She does the JOB and she gets PAID. How is that different from you?