I read "The Vitamin D Solution" by Dr. Holick yesterday. He explained how important good vitamin D levels are for the prevention and treatment of a huge assortment of ailments and diseases.
However, it is just not possible to get enough from food alone. The only foods that have decent amounts of it are fatty fish, but then they can be high in mercury which presents its own set of problems!
I had purchased some calf liver because it was a little higher in vitamin D than lamb liver, but the lamb liver just tastes so much better! And the difference is really insignificant in the big picture, since neither is really supplying even a fraction of the vitamin D necessary.
I also thought that sitting outside in the sunshine was giving me enough, but apparently not, based on my latest vitamin D test!
But after reading the book, I realize why. He described that based on latitude, angle of sun, time of day, and skin color, it can be difficult (impossible) to get enough vitamin D through sunshine for most people who don't live at the equator. I did not realize this! This whole time I thought by laying out in the sun here and there, and walking to and from work, etc., that was enough to synthesize vitamin D in the skin. It wasn't at all!
So, it seems the only two real options are supplements and artificial UVB light. Too bad they are both artificial sources! I don't like taking supplements, for various reasons. For one, vitamin D supplements made from fish liver could be high in mercury. If it is made from lanolin, that is OK. But so highly processed! And I hate taking pills.
The other option is artificial UVB light. Some tanning salons have UVA/UVB lamps. It doesn't take much time at all, just a few minutes every other day, to get enough vitamin D through the skin that way. In fact, that wouldn't even necessarily tan the skin at all, which is fine with me. So I think that's what I'll do!
I actually have a small handheld UVB lamp which I have been using to treat a few vitiligo patches, and I might try that all over for a while, and re-test!
I'll report back in a month or so to see how that worked. Hopefully it is enough!
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Grassfed lamb ribs with smoked salt
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