Vitamin D,,, the not so Vitamin vitamin.

It is slowly becoming obvious to the healthcare community that vitamin D deficiency is an epidemic. The whole 5 minutes they talked about it to us in medical school was not sufficient to make us aware of its importance. I spent my first few years in the midwest after healthcare training wondering why the winters were so tough having come from the south. Years later and thousands of dollars in healthcare i learned what i should have learned in my training. Vitamin D structurally and physiologically is closer to a hormone than a vitamin. There are vitamin D receptors on many of the tissues in the body. It is linked to more than just osteoporosis which is what the text books talk about but not to things such as mental well being, inflammation, and possibly cancer just to name a few. Levels above 40 are probably what you will be told is adequate but this is also debatable. The number of children i see on the Indian Reservation where i work with osteoporosis is astounding not to mention the women and men. Take some time to learn about this important not so vitamin and ask your doctor to check your levels if you are in an area with low sun exposure and you also have a diet lacking in vitamin D. Also read about this vitamin and have your mind blown by how important its function is. A woman on a beach in a bikini can make 10's of thousands of units of vitamin D just to let you know how much being inside and sedentary is killing us. Disclaimer this is for informational purposes and of course talk to your own doctor about these things and if they dont know about it please educate them so they can get up to speed. Be healthy and be whole.