Hello All, I would like to quickly introduce myself, as Sam has so graciously invited me to write a couple of blog entries for her, while she focuses on other parts of her business (yay for me). So, my journey into fitness and nutrition has been quite long, and sometimes has felt like 2 steps forward and a million steps in any direction other than that. In terms of nutrition, my undergrad degree was pre-med, with a concentration in nutrition (yes, most do biology, or chemistry, but I chose to study something that most doctors hardly know anything about).

Time for a quick fact break – did you know that doctors are not required to know or understand nutrition, in fact, most doctors only take a single “intro to nutrition” class their entire educational tenure? Yeah, crazy, I know, especially since your digestive system accounts for about 75% of your immune system.

I can’t wait to get into your microbiome in a later blog post, but let me just say that nutrition is my jam, and I get super duper excited about it. I get super duper excited about it, because nutrition has also personally helped me through my health struggles, including thyroid problems that lead to adrenaline fatigue that lead to well…..infertility. Understanding the importance of nutrition, including micronutrients, continues to be at the forefront of me befriending my body.

Vitamin D is no ordinary fat soluble vitamin, Vitamin D is the daily dose of a hormone you didn’t know you couldn’t live without.

 

As I went through my IVF journey over the last couple of months, I have found just how important it is to get your bloodwork for your vitamin levels. Now, if you are deficient in some, no big deal, but when you are deficient in others, well, it can affect your egg quality, blood pressure, bone strength, flexibility, and your overall fertility. Just like in life, when you don’t have something you want, pft, no biggie, but if you don’t get something you need – that impacts your core self, your wellbeing, and that’s a big deal, a BIG deal. So, without further ado, I would like to unveil a hidden hormone that has been hiding amongst the vitamins we take. Think of Superman/Clark Kent kind of persona, along with some pretty big super powers to boot.

Say hello to Vitamin D.

Vitamin D is no ordinary fat soluble vitamin, Vitamin D is the daily dose of a hormone you didn’t know you couldn’t live without. Vitamin D can be made by your body, synthesized by your liver and kidneys into “D3” sun exposure. This is a fancy way of saying that once you get exposed to the Sun, the initial Vitamin D has to go through 2 different activation processes before it can be the Vitamin D hormone your body knows and loves. Vitamin D has a lot of various functions as a hormone in our bodies, such as making it possible for us to absorb calcium, but some would argue that you can get all you need from sun exposure.

That’s not really true – unless, in the wise, wise words of my fertility specialist, you are running around all day near sea level buck naked. While you may be running around buck naked and reading this (although why would you be reading this AND running around buck naked?), for the rest of us, we are most likely deficient. About 1 billion people worldwide have vitamin D deficiency, while 50% of the population has vitamin D insufficiency. Crazy, right?

Ok, so now you want to up your Vitamin D intake and don’t really know where to start. Well, as Sam might appreciate, I would still advocate for some good ol’ fashion outdoor activities and exercise, as longs as it’s in the summer, with sunscreen, and that at least 50% of your body isn’t covered up. Food is another great way to get your Vitamin D on. But even with sunshine, fish, eggs and mushrooms on your side, you probably still won’t get enough Vitamin D if you are deficient. So, supplements are your way to go, but just remember that as far as “vitamins” go, it’s fat soluble, which means that you need to take it with fat in order for your body to absorb it. If you are not taking it with dinner, or are not on the keto diet, I would recommend a glass of milk, yogurt, or a nice tablespoon of peanut butter will usually do the trick. Make sure and look for the “D3” version so that it goes straight to work for you and your body.

As a fat soluble vitamin, too much of it can lead to toxicity, so there are recommended daily amounts and the max amount you should take, what’s called the “Upper Limit.” Now, when I was deficient in vitamin D, I had to take what is called prescription strength, which was 50,000 IU of the stuff once a week, plus about 4,000 IU every day, and I didn’t die or suffer from toxicity, but the reason I took so much was to get my Vitamin D stores in my liver back up, and to make sure there was enough Vitamin D to spare in my bloodstream. Also, I only did this for 4 weeks, and then went back to get tested, and you usually can’t go for longer than 2 – 3 months on this high of a dose. Now I take 4,000 IU per day, which isn’t anywhere near what I initially took to get to a normal baseline, but it is the “safe” upper limit for vitamin D daily intake.

I would recommend getting bloodwork done and talking to a dietician before trying to regulate too many of your vitamin D habits, plus you can’t get the prescription kind without a doctor’s notes anyway.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to join you again for another exploration of how wild and fascinating our bodies are and can be, next week!