Are You Getting Your Vitamin D This Winter

Living in Virginia, we do not get much sun in the winter. This lack of sun increases our needs for vitamin D. Since we cannot get our vitamin D from the sunlight we must look to supplements. There are two easy ways that you can supplement vitamin D. One easy way is to take a quality vitamin D supplement(just remember that you get what you pay for with supplements). The other option is to replace some of your fish oil with cod liver oil. If you go the cod liver oil route then make sure that you do not overdo it because cod liver oil also contains vitamin A which can become toxic in high levels. Being deficient in vitamin D is not only common for us in Virginia but for people everywhere. Many people are deficient in vitamin D because we do not get enough sun exposure and when we do we are wearing sunscreen. Some of the benefits of vitamin D are

• lowered risk of cancer
• improved cardiovascular health
• better bone health
• better absorbtion of calcium, zinc, and iron
• lowered risk of Alzheimers, MS, Parkinsons
• lowered risk of getting the flu
• reduced arthritis symptoms