Saturday, October 17, 2009

How much Vitamin D is optimal for you?

Do you feel that you can obtain your optimal level of vitamin D from diet alone? Many people have the misconception that you can in fact get all the vitamins you need for optimal functioning of your body. However, what they fail to realize is that people's lifestyles have changed over the last few decades; people's eating habits have evolved towards more fast food eating; pollution levels are higher; toxins in tap water; soil quality has eroded; food processing is dubious. This combined has proven to lower the food quality and thus the vitamins retained have been lost. The ideal scenario for a healthy lifestyle in today's modern environment is three-fold:

1. Eat a healthy well-balanced diet that is low glycemic
2. Exercise regularly - at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes a time
3. Supplement with high quality vitamins

Dr Ray Strand talks about Vitamin D intake below:

When you get your 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D blood level, the normal range is usually reported as 32 to 100 ng/ml. However, researchers are now beginning to believe that desired level of vitamin D should be over 50 ng/ml and some are recommending that it should be greater than 60 ng/ml. Depending on your level of vitamin D you will need to first get your level into the desired range. However, I would at least recommend that you try to achieve a blood level above 50 ng/ml.
Your personal physician should actually prescribe the amount of increased vitamin D that you will need to bring your vitamin D up to the proper level. It should then be rechecked to be sure that this goal has been accomplished. Once you have achieved this goal, you then should supplement with 1,000 to 1,200 IU of vitamin D3 daily.

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