Vitamin D for Immune System
Let’s talk about a HUGE defender of your immune system and more: Vitamin D!🛡️
This vitamin isn’t just about bones—a deficiency in vitamin D can decrease your immune response efficiency. 😯 Vitamin D helps your immune cells and acts like a conductor for your immune orchestra. 🎶
And yet: MOST Americans have insufficient vitamin D levels––about 80% of us. Why? Because very few foods in nature contain it. Plus, while vitamin D is produced as sunlight touches your skin, most of us aren’t getting a lot of bare-skin sun exposure year-round.
☀️So let’s get MORE of this fabulous vitamin! Here are 3 ways to get it:
1. 🐟 Vitamin-D Rich Foods: It’s in fatty fish like salmon, tuna, and mackerel. If you like liver, that’s also a good source. There are also small amounts in cheeses, egg yolks, and mushrooms. Plus, it’s been added to milk and some breakfast cereals, orange juices, yogurts, and soy beverages. (Be sure to check labels for it.)🥛
2. 🌞 Sun Exposure: Aim for 10-30 minutes of sunlight exposure on your sunscreen-free face, arms, and legs a few times a week. However, factors like skin tone and geographic location influence your vitamin D synthesis, so consult a healthcare professional. This only works between April and October, even in Arizona.
3. ➕ Supplementation: Ideal if sunlight exposure is limited or your dietary intake falls short. Everyone
Keep in mind: You have to consume or take vitamin D with some fat to properly absorb and store it! 🥑
From the health of your bones and teeth to your heart and immune function, vitamin D is crucial to protecting your overall health and well-being.
⭐ If you’re looking for a good source, one Vita-D3® provides 2000 IU of high-potency vitamin D3. Vita-D3 was created based on recent research, including two Shaklee industry-leading studies showing that supplemental vitamin D is clinically shown to significantly raise blood levels of vitamin D. 1,2
We are curious: ➡️ Have you ever had your vitamin D levels tested? Do you take a vitamin D supplement? Test now to learn how much to supplement for the winter. Your numbers should be between 50 and 70. 70 is better. More is not!!! and less is NOT!!!
References:
1. Maki KC, Rubin MR, Wong LG, McManus JF, Jensen CD, Lawless A. Effects of vitamin D supplementation on 25-hydroxyvitamin D, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and other cardiovascular disease risk markers in subjects with elevated waist circumference. Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2011 Jun;62(4):318-27.
2. Maki KC, Rubin MR, Wong LG, McManus JF, Jensen CD, Marshall JW, Lawless A. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D is independently associated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and the metabolic syndrome in men and women. J Clin Lipidol. 2009 Aug;3(4):289-96.
