Normally I try to stay with politics, but this is so important to long-term health that I feel compelled to diary it.
Older adults who are severely deficient in vitamin D may be more than twice as likely to develop dementia or Alzheimer’s disease than those who don’t have a deficiency, according to the largest study of its kind, published Wednesday in the journal Neurology.
“We expected to find an association between low Vitamin D levels and the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, but the results were surprising — we actually found that the association was twice as strong as we anticipated,” noted lead researcher David Llewellyn of the University of Exeter Medical School in a news release.
A few thoughts and facts beyond the orange swirls....
Do you remember when a tan was considered healthy? Maybe it still is.
Vitamin D insufficiency is rampant in the US, and indeed, around the world.
Perhaps the tendency to stay in the shade has cost many people their cognitive reasoning. 5 million Americans may currently have Alzheimer's. What if half of that were preventable? What if those people still had their ability to think? What if their relatives were not tasked with caring for them, or shelling out thousands and thousands to have them cared for?
Lack of Vitamin D seems to play a role in many other "modern" diseases. MS, several types of cancer, and of course, osteoporosis.
If you're not tanned or you don't take supplements, either through food or through capsules, you're probably deficient. You can get a test done. Or you can check your fingernails. If they're brittle; if they break easily, you probably need it.
A couple of years ago I was traveling in such a way that I got a very deep tan. A few weeks later I noticed that my fingernails were stronger and my hair was thicker.
A few miscellaneous tips about vitamin D:
(1) Vitamin D forms on the skin. It takes a while for it to be absorbed into the body. Don't shower or wash your exposes skin for as long as you can after spending time in the sun.
(2) The more skin you can expose the better. Not too long of course, but the midday is better.
(3) The darker your skin is naturally, the harder it will be for you to get enough vitamin D. This may be the reason that African American men are more prone to prostrate cancer, for example.
(4) If you still don't want to go out in the midday sun, expose some mushrooms to it, for about two hours. Like skin, they too will make vitamin D.
What other bad advice has been pushed on us? Like, all fat is bad - never eat eggs - here, have some diet sodas...
Just felt compared to share this, and to spread the word. A little vitamin D on a regular basis may make a huge difference to you and yours.
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Tired of politics? Need to escape? Try one of my Greek-mythology based novels, either the story of Jocasta: The Mother-Wife of Oedipus or a trilogy about Niobe, (Children of Tantalus is now on sale!) or one of the first examples of civil disobedience, Antigone and Creon. Or, if you like mysteries and/or Jane Austen, treat yourself to The Highbury Murders: A Mystery Set in the Village of Jane Austen’s Emma very positively reviewed at the Daily Kos Monday Murder Mystery blog.