Wednesday

How vitamin D can make you equivalent to 5 years younger?

If you're a regular reader of my newsletter, you probably have noticed that I harp on vitamin D a lot... after all, studies continue to show that vitamin D regulates almost EVERYTHING in your body, from your immune system (low D levels is the biggest reason you get sick in winter as opposed to summer), to hormone balance, to bone density, your cancer risk, etc, etc...

It's quite literally, one of THE most important substances in your body, and the vast majority of people in this day and age of being "sun-phobic" are dangerously deficient.  Another reason is how our food supply has degraded in recent decades.

I'm going to be sending you a great article soon with dozens of interesting facts about vitamin D that I bet you didn't know...be on the lookout for that. 

Remember that although getting sunshine on your skin for 20-40 minutes (based on your skin pigmentation) at the strongest times of the day is the best way to increase your vitamin D levels, and if you live in the northern hemisphere north of approximately Atlanta to Los Angeles latitude, your body will NOT produce vitamin D in the winter time, even if you're out in the sun as the UVB rays are too weak in the winter since the sun is too low in the sky at most northern latitudes...

The scale slides depending on your latitude, but let's estimate that it's safe to say you can't produce vitamin D even if you're out in the sun any time between November through February in most of the US (except Florida, Hawaii, San Diego, and southern Texas perhaps).

The point is... if you don't supplement with vitamin D3 (preferably oil-based), you're pretty much guaranteed to be severely deficient in vitamin D in the winter (and no, the miniscule amounts of artificial vitamin D added to commercial milk or multi-vitamins does practically NOTHING to help your D levels). 

Study Shows 5 YEARS Less Aging Based on Vitamin D levels

Here's some further proof on the power of vitamin D...

I just read recently about a study that was done on 2100 female twin pairs ages 19-79.  They studied twins so that genetics were very similar but they could ascertain differences in health based on differing vitamin D levels between the twins.  They used a measure of aging, "telomeres" and associated vitamin D levels. 

All twins telomeres are the same length at birth, but will change throughout life based on lifestyle choices, food, exercise, and other factors... The researchers found that those with higher levels of vitamin D had longer telomeres, which is a measure of less aging (telomeres shorten as you age).  And the exciting part...

The researchers found that those in the study that that had higher vitamin D levels showed the equivalent of 5 years LESS aging!

Yet another reason to make sure your Vitamin D levels in your body are optimized!  Not only will it help balance your hormones, strengthen your bones, reduce cancer risk, and prevent you from getting sick... it will also help SLOW aging!

Important note:  I highly recommend an OIL-BASED vitamin d3 supplement as it's better absorbed by your body.  Unfortunately, most D supps use refined soybean oil as their oil of choice. 

I personally use this oil-based vitamin D3 supplement as it uses heart-healthy coconut oil instead of inflammatory refined soybean oil as the base, and it's combined with vitamin K2, which is VERY important, because your body can't use vit D properly without adequate K2.

I really liked the information on that site too, so be sure to read the whole thing... I thought this passage on that page was great:

"Humans have the ability to synthesize Vitamin D (which is actually a pro hormone) from skin exposure to the sun. Ancestral humans evolved with continual exposure to sunlight and even conservative estimates place our levels at 15,000 to 20,000 IU of Vitamin D per day. Unfortunately 50% of American’s have been shown to be clinically deficient in this essential vitamin."

Did you know that most multi-vitamins only contain 400 IU of vitamin D, whereas ancestral humans obtained 15,000-20,000 IU per day from sun exposure.  That's why I say that multi-vitamins don't really do anything to help your D levels.

Remember that in the summer if you're getting daily sunshine during the strongest times of the day (10am to 3pm) you do not need to take a daily vitamin D3 supplement, as it's best left for days that you don't get sun exposure.  It's also vitally important to take daily vitamin D3 during approximately October through March in the northern hemisphere -- depending on what latitude you live and how much sun you get. If you live in Florida, you might only need supplemental D3 during the deepest months of winter, December and January.  However, if you live in Canada, you'll need supplemental D3 at least 9 months of the year.

You can get a super high quality D3 and K2 here along with a good view of all of the benefits.

And I have a few more articles for you to read if you're one of the many that's been brainwashed into having a phobia about sun exposure and slathering on cancer-causing chemical sunscreens every time you go outside:

The TRUTH about sun exposure and how it can HELP your body

Also, as I alluded to in today's newsletter, your latitude (and also your skin pigmentation) affects your ability to produce vitamin D from the sun. This video and article has great info about that topic:

Your skin pigmentation, vitamin D, and your latitude

And one more important article:

How our food supply has been degraded of vitamin D in recent decades

Keep on the lookout for more great info on vitamin D coming soon.  I'll be back soon,

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer