Vitamin D3: A Necessary Supplement

Vitamin D. A topic almost as hot as the sun on a mid-summer’s day in the south. This amazing vitamin isn’t just good for us, it’s essential. What makes Vitamin D3 the necessary supplement? Oh, so much!

Vitamin D is paramount for:

• Physical health
• Mental health
• Emotional health

We’ve learned more and more about Vitamin D in the last 10-15 years, but still many people don’t know why it’s important or how to get the right numbers.

It’s not just that you take a Vitamin D supplement, but also what kind you take and how much you take. That’s why I’m covering:

• Why it’s important to know your number
• How to know your number
• Symptoms of Vitamin D deficiency
• Illnesses related to low Vitamin D
• How to boost your Vitamin D levels

My desire is to help you boost your immune system and arm you with everything needed to increase current and future health. Vitamin D is an essential part of our overall health.

It’s not optional.

Not if you want to live the most vibrant and robust life possible.

Did you know your personal Vitamin D level determines your mental health, cancer prevention, hormones, and immunity?

Know Your Number

Regardless of the time of year, it’s a good time to test your Vitamin D level. As a matter of fact, I recommend my clients get tested every three months until the number is above 50.

The optimal is above 70. (Among the host of benefits of healthy levels of Vitamin D we’ll cover below, studies have shown lower cancer rates in people with Vitamin D levels above 70.)

Getting your Vitamin D tested several times a year is beneficial for a couple of other reasons:

1 – It gives a picture of how your needs for a Vitamin D3 supplement may change during the seasons.

2 – It shows how effective the Vitamin D3 supplement is. Different people absorb different types of supplements to varying degrees. This will give you a chance to figure out which one works best with your body.

You might have noticed the interchanging terms “Vitamin D” and Vitamin D3. Vitamin D is the name of the vitamin and what’s tested in your blood to see if you have adequate amounts.

Vitamin D3 is the supplement you want to take. Any ‘ole Vitamin D supplement is not effective. You want a D3! (More on that later.)

Getting Vitamin D Tested

There are several options for having your Vitamin D levels checked. 

Often, a primary care doctor or specialist can order the test. Insurance companies sometimes cover Vitamin D testing. Others, however, won’t pay for the test until a Vitamin D deficiency has been established. Or at all.

If you’re not able to test multiple times a year, even in the beginning, I highly recommend having your Vitamin D checked at least once a year.

Don’t let insurance or cost stop you from knowing your number!

The stress of life can cause more damage than we’re aware of. Be in the know. Get an inside view through blood tests.

A small investment in knowing your Vitamin D levels can help prevent a host of health costs in the future.

Private Vitamin D Testing

Direct Labs offers a variety of blood tests that you can personally request. They offer both online and phone ordering and connect patients with a local lab. The results come quickly and directly to the person ordering them.

It’s a simple process and your results are protected. Protecting private medical information does not happen only through HIPAA. It’s through choosing where tests are ordered and who has access to results.

The power of your health records is yours.

In addition, ordering a blood test through a private lab oneself is often cheaper than a physician’s office charges, even with insurance in some cases.

Save money and use your insurance when it’s the best option, but realize you’re not limited to what insurance companies approve.

The steps are easy.

1. Go to the Direct Labs website.

2. Call or order your test online.

3. Direct Labs will help you find a local lab for the woodwork.

4. Travel to a lab close by, which will draw your blood and send it off.

5. Opt who in addition to yourself, if anyone, you want the results sent to. Use phone code: R-DHL or sign the HIPAA form for Designed Healthy Living if you’d like the results to be sent to me. Otherwise, I have no access to your results. Everything stays as private as you want it to!

6. Schedule an appointment with your physician for help interpreting the results. Or join our BNA Coaching for help.

7. Keep track of your results. I recommend keeping a Wellness Notebook where you can journal and keep track of all your health information. It’s amazing the insight we can gain from tracking our health measures and habits.

Vitamin D Tracking and Goals

What a physician tests your Vitamin D? Still know your number! Don’t take a physician’s word that your Vitamin D level is “within normal limits.” That will get a quick finger shaking from me.

(Here’s a handout you can print and take to the doctor with more information about recommended regular blood work. The more you know the more you can correct and protect!)

Different physicians have different perspectives on what a healthy Vitamin D level is. Many accept 30, while that is the bare minimum.

For optimal health, you want to aim for at least 50, and preferably higher than 70.

Some people warn against Vitamin D levels getting too high. This is very rare but real. However, to prevent any negative effects of this fat-soluble vitamin building up too much in your body, you simply need to make sure it doesn’t go above 150 (nmol/L).

Another reason to know your number and keep track of it!

And I’m serious when I say keep track.

Keeping a Wellness Notebook

You need to know the exact number and also have it written down in your personal health journey notebook.

I recommend keeping an actual notebook. You know, like one on paper. Has your phone or computer ever crashed or been hacked?

A health journal or wellness notebook reveals trends in our health which may help identify when a serious illness or disease is developing.

By tracking, you’ll be able to make changes and help the body to heal.

Before we move on to the signs and impacts of Vitamin D deficiency, I want to point out that no one is too young for Vitamin D testing.

All ages need to know their Vitamin D levels – even babies.

When my precious triplet grandbabies were born at 34 weeks, we immediately put them on Vitamin D drops. They needed to boost their immune system and help their brain and bones.

You are in control of your health.

Be wise…

            proactive…

                       & intentional.

Vitamin D Deficiency

Are you concerned about your immune system, brain, and bones? These parts of our bodies don’t stop needing the right nutrients ever during the course of life.

And remember, Vitamin D is essential to living a healthy life. Not optional!

Vitamin D Deficiency Symptoms

• aches and pains in bones and joints
• a feeling of weakness
• depression
• mental sluggishness
• chronic fatigue
• weakened immune system/frequent illness
• consistent anxiety
• increased sweating (especially from the head/face)
• stomach ailments
• muscle aches
• moodiness

If a perusal of this list has you thinking, “Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes,” then make sure to get your Vitamin D tested right away (if you hadn’t planned to do so already).

Now, we all know that each of these symptoms can have other causes, but research has shown an increasing number of body systems impacted by our Vitamin D levels.

Vitamin D Testimonials

A friend of mine had been taking a Vitamin D3 supplement for years, but then life got busy and when she ran out, she didn’t make it back to the doctor for more.

Once she did return (to her chiropractor), they’d stopped selling the supplement. Life moved on, she went on an international mission trip, and returned home tired, but content.

Weeks went by and the jet lag wouldn’t let hold of her. Almost two months later, she had a regular appointment with her physician, who tested her Vitamin D levels. They were in the tank: around 20.

No wonder she was constantly fatigued and struggling to keep a positive mental attitude!

She immediately purchased a quality Vitamin D3 supplement and felt like herself in a short time.

Another woman had suffered from depression for years. Decades, really. She thought it was just in her makeup. A part of who she was. Then her doctor tested her Vitamin D.

It was 8. It’s amazing she was functioning at all.

Ever since, she’s been on a Vitamin D supplement and found much more joy in life. Things aren’t always perfect and there are struggles, but she’s more equipped to handle life’s curveballs with her Vitamin D maintained at a healthy level.

These are just 2 examples to show the impact of Vitamin D3 supplements. And more evidence that our whole body needs Vitamin D.

How Vitamin D Helps our Bodies

A healthy (above 70) Vitamin D level is essential to:

• immunity
• brain health
• memory
• moods
• a healthy weight
• hormone support
• correcting leptin resistance
• and more!

I can’t say it enough: our bodies need Vitamin D. 

This necessary supplement is not optional! Not if you want excellent health.

We live among the most depressed people on record. One major contributing factor is that we’re among the most Vitamin D deficient people on record. 

Reports show the levels of Vitamin D in America are steadily dropping.

That’s the wrong direction!

Let’s work together to benefit ourselves and turn the trend to steadily increasing Vitamin D levels.

And with the topsy-turvy nature of 2020, this can be even more true and is further reason to pay attention to Vitamin D. Both for our physical health and our emotional health.

With fall here, colder weather coming, the threat of more shutdowns at a time when people need to be outside, and with family, Vitamin D levels will continue to drop.

Our immune systems need  boosting now before temperatures drop lower and flu and cold season come in full force.

Vitamin D and Illness

Vitamin D is not only essential for our body systems to be in top-notch working order, low levels are associated with the disease.

So, not only are our bodies struggling to maintain their normal functions when Vitamin D is missing, but they’re also more prone to illnesses.

Low Vitamin D has been shown to be associated with:

• Cancer
• Depression
• Autism
• MS
• RA
• Obesity
• Dementia
• Plus 200 other health issues!

Vitamin D is necessary for improving our overall health AND preventing disease.

Hopefully, this snapshot of why you need healthy levels of Vitamin D has not only helped you understand the importance of this vitamin but also motivated you to action.

Vitamin D Sources

Now that you know the dangers of Vitamin D deficiency and my rules, let’s look at how to boost your levels.

Remember, the first goal is a Vitamin D level of at least 50. 

There are several therapeutic ways to achieve this goal! And none of them are complicated.

Just a couple of small changes will make a world of difference.

Vitamin D from the Sun

Don’t forget the sun. 

Unfortunately, the sun has gotten a bad rap in recent decades. However, it’s vital to our survival in many ways, not the least of which is as a source of Vitamin D.

The degree of warm weather, distance from the equator, elevation, and lifestyle all impact how much sun exposure we get. 

These also impact how much Vitamin D our bodies can absorb and produce.

Ideally, we can each get an average of 15 minutes of pure sun exposure a day.

• Use a break at work to take a quick walk or sit on the steps of your building enjoying the quiet with the sun and the Son.
• Set a reminder on your phone to spend a few minutes outside pulling weeds, picking up toys little humans tend to leave scattered about, or praying for your neighbors.
• Sit on a deck or patio or porch to work for an hour.

There are lots of creative ways to get outside each day (when the weather cooperates), but we are much more likely to do it if we’re intentional.

Treat the sun not as a threat to be avoided, but as a resource given by our Creator to help our bodies.

Vitamin D Plus!

While you’re spending 15 minutes outside, thank God for His marvelous creation and that He made it so the sun synthesizes this essential nutrient in our bodies.

Remind yourself: GOD LOVES YOU! And praise Him for His everlasting, perfect, all-knowing love.

Even if you have to bundle up, get outside, and let your face soak in the warmth and nourishment of the sun (although, if only your face is exposed, I strongly recommend more than 15 minutes).

Praise the Lord for sunshine! During the craziness happening around us, we all need some extra Vitamin D.

Sun exposure is important for helping our bodies manufacture Vitamin D, but is it enough?

Not usually. And we’re grateful there are other ways to boost our Vitamin D levels.

Vitamin D From Food

Just like with other nutrients our bodies need to survive and thrive, God has provided many foods that help build our Vitamin D levels.

The NIH has a list of these foods (found in this extensive article on Vitamin D), but here’s a shortlist that will make it easy for you to get started:

• Fish (specifically trout and salmon)
• Cod liver oil
• Egg yolks (cooked)
• Mushrooms, tuna
• Carrots
• Apples

God has supplied what we need in the foods He created. And how creatively He’s done so! Even in this shortlist, there’s a variety that everyone can find something to celebrate about.

Make a goal today to try out a new recipe each week with one of these ingredients. Your taste buds and the rest of your body will thank you.

Vitamin D Supplement

Should you be taking Vitamin D supplements?

The answer is definitely yes!

There are many things working against us in our culture. We spend the majority of our time indoors, and when we do get outside we tend to lather up with sunscreen.

We want to protect ourselves from skin cancer, but unfortunately, this also inhibits our Vitamin D absorption. 

The recommended 15 minutes a day may not get your numbers where they need to be for optimal health, but it will help your body synthesize its own vitamin D.

The sun works for you in multiple ways when it comes to Vitamin D. But often, it’s not enough to get to that ultimate goal of a Vitamin D level of 70 needed for optimal health.

Thus, even when we get regular sun and add the foods that increase Vitamin D levels, a supplement is not just a good idea, but a fantastic one.

The Best Vitamin D Supplements

So how do you choose?

There are some good Vitamin D3 (it must be Vitamin D3! It’s the only source your body can metabolize) supplements out there, some okay ones, and some great ones. There is a handful I recommend.

Vitamin D drops: Drops are perfect for kids and babies, but they’re not just for the little ones. Adults who don’t absorb Vitamin D well or who prefer not to take another pill can benefit just as much from liquid Vitamin D3.

Vitamin D+ tablets: These are my new favorite. I love all the additional nutrients added, plus it’s organic and non-GMO, which I always recommend.

Vitamin D3 5000: This is a Vitamin D3 supplement I recently discovered. I call it the best of the best. It’s 5000 IU in each softgel tablet and checks all the right boxes and purity and sources.

So, how much should you take? What some consider a high dose is what many people need to keep their levels at an optimal number. There is a balance of getting enough Vitamin D, making sure you’re meeting your Vitamin D needs.

Discuss your numbers with a physician or with me. We can work together to help you take from low Vitamin D levels to what you need.

Vitamin D – An Essential Part of Healthy Living

I love sharing information like the importance of Vitamin D with you. My desire is for your immune system to work well and your future health to be protected.

Today is the time to get your Vitamin D numbers checked and invest more than ever in a healthy lifestyle.

In addition to working on Vitamin D levels, build your immune system by:

• Eating by the 3 principles
• Exercising daily
• Praying
• Fasting regularly
• Supplementing all essential nutrients
• Laughing daily

And last, but definitely best, reminding yourself that God loves you!

It’s my joy to serve you God’s recipe for excellent health. I serve you because you matter to Him.

I’d love to hear how increasing your Vitamin D levels helps you live a happier, more vibrant life.