Bauman Nutrition

The Importance of Vitamin D
Vitamin D, a fat-soluble nutrient, serves most importantly in maintaining blood levels of calcium. Vitamin D accomplishes this by facilitating increased absorption of calcium from the diet and by slowing down urinary calcium loss. These actions help keep calcium in the body, which in turn helps spare the calcium in our bones, except when blood calcium has fallen too low. Although the overall effect of vitamin D on the bones is complicated, clearly, vitamin D is crucial for healthy bones and teeth.

What are good sources of Vitamin D?
Excellent dietary sources include fish liver oil (yum), and, to a lesser degree, egg yolks and butter. The vast majority of vitamin D in the body is produced by an intricate process that starts with the exposure of the skin to sunlight.

In the News
The Washington Post recently reported that “studies have produced evidence that low levels of vitamin D make men more likely to have heart attacks, breast and colon cancer victims less likely to survive, kidney disease victims more likely to die, and children more likely to develop diabetes. Two other studies suggested that higher vitamin D levels reduce the risk of dying prematurely from any cause”

While vitamin D is a controversial subject and the experts do not currently agree on how much to supplement or what constitutes a safe level of exposure to the sun, conservative estimates indicate that supplementation of 400 to 800 international units per day of vitamin D (preferably as D3) or five minutes of sunshine per day, without sunscreen, may be safe for most healthy adults.

Bauman Nutrition
Bauman Nutrition offers a variety of Nutrition Services, including Health Evaluations, Personal Health Programs, assessments of vitamin and mineral status, including Vitamin D assessment, and a new Wellness Blood Chemistry Panel. Please contact us for more information about our work (707-824-0776 or info@BaumanNutrition.com).