Vitamin D Are You Getting Enough? The Myth of Summer in the Big City

Vitamin D is the "sunshine vitamin" Are you getting enough?

Vitamin D is really a hormone that assists your immune systems optimal functioning.Manufactured by your body when the sun hits your skin cancers, depression, influenza, absorption of the trace minerals magnesium and calcium for strong bones, the formation of healthy babies, the lowering of hypertension in black Americans and the increased speed of recovery post workout are just some of the many benefits proven by science. Although getting enough sunshine may have fallen in the realm of lifestyle in the past, currently 70% of the US population is deficient including infants. It seems important with the summer months coming on to note that summer does not guarantee you will be getting enough D. Why? This has to do with lifestyle and for most who are chained to an office job that means spending 8 hours and upward daily indoors and away from the sunshine. If you live in a big city like New York, sunshine is something you appreciate looking at from inside your office. Though fortunate to be in a city that gets more sun than many on the globe, spending time in the sun remains a fantasy for most. The average workers day in the Big Apple looks like this;

Your D as in Deficient Day

1. Get up in the dark before sunrise to get ready for work.
2. Walk to subway or train for ten minutes before you enter the dark subway for an hour commute.

3. Emerge from subway and get 2 minutes of sunshine at the coffee vendor on the street before you head up to work. You are wearing long sleeves or bundled up so there's no chance of getting any sun though maybe on your face.

4. Work in closed office (where there may or may not be windows) under fluorescent lights all day. Sit in front of computer screen.

5. After work off you go to a dark bar or restaurant to relax over drinks with friends or head back home for an hour or longer commute. When you get home it's dark. And that ladies and gentleman was you exposure to the sunshine on a daily basis for most of the year.

Be Deliberate and Supplement

With the scare tactics used to keep the majority out of the sun while slathering sunblock that prevents your body from producing this hormone naturally it's no wonder we are as a population suffering from a lack of D. A moderate amount of sunshine to the tune of 30 minutes daily is good for you. Supplementation all year round for those who are not making a concerted effort to get outside or cannot get outside due to lifestyle constraints on a daily basis is recommended. According to new ground breaking studies by Usana Health Sciences 2000 IU per day are preferable to the old 400 IU per day previously considered adequate. Hear Dr. Brian Dixon and Tyler Barker, Phd of TOSH weigh in on some new findings about Vitamin D here