The Daily D

Rolling into the 2nd month of winter…it’s been a long time since anything more than our faces have been touched by the sun’s rays…what does that mean?  No D!  It is well documented that vitamin D levels steadily decline as we get further into winter.  Low skin exposure (and if you’re recreating on the snow, chances are you’ve lathered on some sunscreen) and decreased UV intensity mean we are not producing the vitamin D our bodies need – to help our immune system fight off the nasty viruses floating around, for one thing.  Most people, including children, need to supplement for at least part of the year.  A guideline offered by a vitamin D research group, at www.vitamindcouncil.org, states that kids over 1 year old should take 1,000 IU per 25 lb of body weight, up to the 5,000 IU recommended for adults.  This website also offers a link to order a vitamin D test to determine your current level (a good idea for anyone interested in supplementing long term as too high levels of vitamin D begin to become detrimental).  I’ll close with a quote from a prominent physician: ” We estimate that vitamin D deficiency is the most common medical condition in the world.” ~ Dr. Michael F. Holick, Vitamin D expert.