Friday is D-day at my house, vitamin D-day, that is.  I’m still working my way back from an alarmingly low blood level a few months back, so I take a cheerfully green, 50,000 IU gelcap with my lunch each Friday (remember, your body absorbs vitamin D better when you take it with a fat-containing meal, so oh, darn – chocolate might have happened today!).

If you haven’t had your vitamin D level checked lately and are looking for some info on why you should, look no further than this Huffington Post piece by integrative physician Dr. Nalini Chilkov.

Are you on top of your vitamin D?  Check out Dr. Chilkov’s article for more D-licious facts.

8 Reasons You Should Be Tested for Vitamin D

1. Vitamin D can reduce your risk of the flu and complications
of flu. Vitamin D contributes to lowering the incidence of
infections and inflammation during the fall-winter flu season. The
Canadian government has recommended increased Vitamin D intake as part
of their flu prevention strategy, including prevention of H1N1 Swine
Flu.

2. Vitamin D can reduce your risk of depression. Low
levels of Vitamin D are associated with depression. Sun exposure is
known to be a factor in relieving depression, especially winter
depression also known as seasonal affective disorder.

3. Vitamin D can reduce chronic muscle aching and pain.
Vitamin D helps to normalize blood calcium which is required for tight
shortened muscles to soften, lengthen and relax out of spasm. When
calcium is available to the muscles, menstrual cramps lessen.

4. Vitamin D can reduce your risk of cancer. Low
levels of Vitamin D are associated with increased incidence of many
cancers. Vitamin D normalizes cell to cell communication, impacts
uncontrolled cell growth and allows cells to differentiate into normal
cells with a normal life cycle.

5. Vitamin D can reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease,
stroke, heart attack and atherosclerosis.
Vitamin D has been shown to protect the lining of your blood vessels.

6. Vitamin D can reduce your risk of developing Type 1 Diabetes
by 80%. Low levels of Vitamin D are found in diabetics.

7. Vitamin D can reduce your risk of getting autoimmune diseases
like Multiple Sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis,
Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Lupus. Low levels of Vitamin D
are associated with increased auto- immune attack, breakdown of your
own tissues and loss of normal functions. Vitamin D supplementation has
been shown to reduce the risk of multiple sclerosis by 40%.

8. Vitamin D can reduce your risk of bone fractures, bone loss
and osteoporosis. Low levels of Vitamin D prevent your body
from normal calcium metabolism and normal bone formation. Both men and
women are at increased risk for bone loss and fractures as they age.

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