Getting Your Daily D's: Part Deux

One of my close friends was getting a regular check up at the doctor's the other day, and when she got her blood tests back, it indicated that she was vitamin D deficient.

This made sense to her, because she's been having weirdly persistent knee issues that just don't go away, and she's been feeling fatigued throughout the day (which is odd for her because she has tons of energy during the day).

Vitamin D deficiency stems from inadequate sunlight exposure, coupled with inadequate nutrition. According to WebMD, generally, people who make it a point to stay away from the sun, are vegetarian, and shun dairy products are particularly at risk for developing this deficiency. Turns out my friend is a triple risk, because she falls under all of these factors.  Unfortunately, this makes her a particularly risky case for D deficiency and for potential long-term effects of it - like osteoporosis, or even cancer when she gets older.

What are some of the signs that you may need a little extra D in your life? Bob Green over at Oprah.com explains the symptoms:

• Fatigue: "It can be a quite severe fatigue," Dr. Dowd says. In fact, those diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome may also suffer from lack of vitamin D, he says.
• Body aches: "Bone pain, muscle pain, joint pain [are all signs]," he says. "[The pain] typically moves around—one day it's your back that bothers you, a week later it's your shoulders and the next day it is your feet and hands."
• Difficulty controlling weight: Vitamin D plays a role in regulating weight, and Dr. Dowd says a deficiency may make it difficult to keep your weight in check.

If any of these sound familiar, go tell your doctor you'd like to get checked. If you know for a fact that you are indeed in need of the D's, there are a few simple steps you can take right away.

1. Pick up a 1500 to 2000 UI Vitamin D bottle at your local health food store. The Whole Foods brand costs just $6.99 and if you want to go cheaper, go Trader Joe's.

2. If you're not vegan, up your dairy. If you are dead set against cheese, a simple solution is incorporating probiotics or yogurt into your diet.

3. Add some pizzazz into your supplements, and try  "Coromega Omega3+D Squeese" Vitamin D gel packs, which she found through the great monthly subscription health box Klutchclub. These are individual packets of gel that tastes like orange and also contains Omega 3. It's actually pretty tasty. 

4. Get your sun on! We previously wrote about getting your Vitamin D intake by laying out in the sun once in a while. Now we know just how important this is for your body.