Some Healthy Foods You May Not Like

Over the next few days, I'm going to be talking about some healthy foods that you may view as inedible or yucky! These foods deserve another try because of their nutrient value.

The first one I'm going to talk about is sardines. I know the first thing you might say is they are too fishy! Maybe, but consider this. Sardines are high in vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids in addition to providing lots of protein, calcium and selenium. All of these things help protect your heart and your brain.

Because sardines are low on the food chain, they do not accumulate toxins such as mercury. They are also inexpensive and you don't have to wory about refrigeration until you open them.

Be sure to avoid sardines packed in vegetable oil. This kind of defeats their good qualities.

Vitamin D and Asthma

I just read a study about Vitamin D and Asthma. The upshot of this research was that kids who had higher levels of vitamin D tended to have less asthma treatment needs. Indicating that Vitamin D does make a difference in the immune system. Two of the markers that indicate immune activity, IgE and eosinophils were both lower in the kids who had higher levels of Vitamin D.

So how to we get it? The best way is to spend some time in the sun. Not hours but 15-20 minutes a day is enough to begin to replenish the body's Vitamin D requirements. You can also get it in Vitamin D fortified milk, fatty fish and fish oils.

Why is Vitamin D so Important?

Some of you may know about the disease called rickets. This is a disease we see in children and it is a result of not enough Vitamin D. In adults what occurs is osteoporosis.

Our bodies breakdown and build bone every day of our lives. If we don't have the right things present for this process like Vitamin D which assists with calcium which helps makes our bones strong, the bones become soft as in rickets, or spongy with a weak bone matrix as in osteoporosis. For adults, osteoporosis is a huge concern as it predisposes us to injuries such as hip fractures. While tend to think this is not as horrible as a heart attack, the fact of the matter is that a hip fracture in someone over 65 leads to complications in about 75% of cases. Of these 75% with complications, 50% will actually die of the complication. So hip fractures in someone over 65 are really not benign.

Sources of Vitamin D

So where do you get supplemental vitamin D. Most dairy products in the US, like milk, chesse, butter and cream are fortified with vitamin D, so that you can get it there. But it is naturally found in fish and oysters.

It can also be found in most vitamin supplements, just be sure that you have a good supplement and not just the cheapest thing at the store.

So how much sun light do you need? About 10-15 minutes 3 times a week. Keep in mind though, it depends upon where you live and the color of your skin.

Vitamin D and Sunshine

As I mentioned yesterday, there are times when we can't get vitamin D from sunshine. Of course, the most obvious is if there is cloud cover. While there is light, it is not at the wave length that it will produce Vitamin D in the skin. So if you live in a mostly cloudy area, you will need to supplement with Vitamin D.

Along those same lines, the use of sunscreen with SPF of 8 or higher will block the UV rays that produce vitamin D. I am not advocating that you not use sunscreen. What I am saying is that you may want to give yourself 10 minutes of sun before you apply the sunscreen. Just know that the sunscreen does block the production of vitamin D.

Also if you have darker skin, you will need more sun light to produce the right amount of vitamin D. Darker skin still requires sunscreen because sun burn is still an issue.

Also keep in mind that during the winter months, the only part of us that is usually exposed is our face. I use a sunscreen on my face year around, so I have to consciously get some sun exposure on the warm days to my arms, but I know it is not enough, so I supplement my vitamin D.

Sunshine Vitamin

Someone was asking how much sun exposure do they need to produce vitamin D in the skin. Usually it takes about 30 minutes. However, there are some exceptions to this rule and most people will need to supplement with vitamin D or eat foods enriched with Vitamin D.

Here are some of the exceptions. Depending upon where you live, the availability of the proper UV light exposure may not be there. In latitudes above 42 degrees north between November and February is insufficient to produce cutaneous vitamin D. The line is approximately from northern California to Boston in the US. Anywhere north of this line does not have the capacity to produce cutaneous vitamin D. The further north you go, the time of decreased capacity may extend up to 6 months of the year. So supplementation with foods and supplements to get vitamin D is essential.

I'll talk more about exceptions tomorrow.

Milk and Vitamin D

Vitamin D is essential for you to actually absorb calcium and assimilate it into bone. That is why you see milk fortified with Vitamin D. I won't get into all of the physiologic components here, but there are several components to vitamin D which are required to process calcium into our bones.

The natural source of vitamin D are fish, egg yolks and liver. These are usually not in everyone's diet on a regular basis. Supplementation is helpful to ensure that you get vitamin D to help with the processing of calcium in the body.

You may recall from your health class that Vitamin D is the sunshine vitamin. This occurs naturally through the skin. It only takes about 20 minutes of sun exposure to produce enough Vitamin D. Remember, if you live in a cold climate and you are bundled up in the winter time, you may not get the 20 minutes of exposure. Also if you have darker skin ( more melanin pigment in the skin), you will need more than 20 minutes.