Dear ,
I think I have early onset seasonal affective disorder.
We changed our clocks back from Daylight Savings
Time last week and it's just after four o'clock
and it's getting dark outside.
The only time I've ever appreciated this transition
to shorter days was when my kids were babies.
I was the Queen of Beddie-Bye. Back then,
I actually looked forward to the early arrival
of evening. I remember sometimes having
my three babes tucked into bed
for the night by 5:10pm, the world record
for overwhelmed moms.
But things change.
Now that they are teens, my "babies"
get a second wind at about 9:45pm and
let's just say, I really don't need an extra
hour of darkness anymore.
Speaking of darkness, we now have a very real
health related darkness problem.
I first heard of this issue at, where else,
but brilliant doctors on staff at
Canyon Ranch.
Since the advent of sunscreen usage
many people (and Canyon Ranch estimates
the number of people to be nearly
70%of Americans!) have developed
a Vitamin D deficiency.
And it gets worse.
I hate to break this to you
but there is a conclusive, growing body
of evidence about the potential link
between lack of Vitamin D and risk
for certain cancers and diseases.
Current research has implicated vitamin D
deficiency as a major factor in the pathology
of at least seventeen varieties of cancer (!!)
as well as heart disease, stroke, hypertension,
autoimmune diseases, diabetes, depression,
chronic pain, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis,
muscle weakness, muscle wasting, birth defects,
periodontal disease, and unexplained muscle
and bone pain. (sigh)
This is especially a concern for people with
black skin or people over the age of seventy,
neither of which convert vitamin D effectively.
(Click here to listen to a recent NPR Interview)
The Canadian Cancer Society has gone so far
as to issue a recommendation that Canadians
consider adding a vitamin D supplement when
Daylight Savings Time ends (and it is darker
for a greater portion of the day).
You get your vitamin D from one of three
sources: sunlight, fortified dietary foods,
especially dairy products, some cereals and
oily fish like salmon.
The radiation that converts vitamin D in the
skin is the same wavelength that causes sunburn,
so those of you who are religious about
application of sunscreen (even if it's just 15 SPF!)
can drastically impair vitamin D production. It just ain't fair!
If you live in the northern latitudes, there
is not enough radiation to convert vitamin D
into a usable nutrient, especially during the winter.
What to do?
Check with your doctor first,
but if you typically avoid sunlight exposure,
research indicates a necessity to supplement
with at least 5,000 units (IU) of vitamin D
daily.
The US government recommends only 200 IU
a day! It is my humble opinion that this
is an outdated guideline that was based
on Vtiamin D not being a water-soluable vitamin
that could possibly build up in the body to
toxic levels. This was prior to the sunscreen era.
Tell me now that federal nutritional guidelines
aren't in need of an overhaul.
To give you an idea of how much 5000 IUs
of vitamin D is, it is equal to 50 glasses of milk.
With a multivitamin, that's more than
10 tablets.
The skin produces approximately 20,000 IUs
of vitamin D from twenty to thirty minutes
of summer sun exposure (my apologies to
dermatologists everywhere)on your forearms
and face-100 times more than the US
government's recommendation of 200 IU
per day!
What to do?
Get your vitamin D level checked
at your next physical.
It's a $20 to $30 test.
Just don't load up on vitamin D
because it still can be toxic at mega doses
if you are not deficient.
Me?
I'm moving to Brazil.
If it weren't enough incentive that I've
just become obsessed with
getting everyone I know who has an ache
or pain (or seasonal affective disorder)
to try the Brazilian Acai berry juice,
(click here the scientific research)
I do think I could benefit from the sunlight.
(Catch me before I leave if you want some juice)
And now that I have conclusive
medical science to back me up,
does anyone know if the
Brazilian Rain Forest has any good beaches?
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