Friday, December 28, 2012

Getting By With Help of Friends

Ha!  I bet after reading the title you thought this would be about enlisting your friends and family to help you.  While that is also a very important part of your journey [and a great topic for another post--thankyouverymuch!], this post is about vitamins.

In an ideal world we would be getting all of the nutrients we need from our diets and wouldn't need to take supplements, but...in an ideal word, we'd all be perfect and I wouldn't be blogging about this.

Did you know nearly 75% of Americans are Vitamin D deficient [17]?  I've always known that it was a high number, but until I was actually diagnosed, I didn't realize it was that high!  Yep.  A sunshine lover and dairy fiend like me is deficient in Vitamin D!  I was shocked.  But it does go to show that just because you think you're getting all the nutrients you need, you might not be.  Plus, short of having a degree in pharmacology or medicine, you might not realize that vitamins A, D, E, and K require fat to probably be absorbed [thus why milk & yogurt are great sources of both A & D] or that too much vitamin C can decrease the amount of calcium absorbed by your body.

The best place to start?  A daily multi-vitamin.  And if you're getting older or have a history of osteoporosis in your family, then also take a Calcium supplement.  If you wanna be really fancy, schmancy you can go here and let Dr. Weil be your vitamin advisor!  At your next annual physical, ask your doctor to run tests checking your vitamin and mineral levels--you just might be surprised at what you find!

Whichever way you choose--just get the ball rolling!  The sooner you do, the sooner you'll have more energy and feel better overall.  Once that happens, you'll then be able to exercise more and make better choices when it comes to food [remember, the snowball effect???]

~a grain of salt to keep your electrolytes in balance

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