YOUR BONES AND THE SUN
The cold, dark season is coming upon us. Worried about getting the winter blues? Concerned for your bone health? Getting the blues just thinking about your bones disintegrating by the day? I have good news for you.
Let me tell you about my public passion for Vitamin D. You need it. And it doesn’t have to taste bad.
You need to get a minimum of 800 to 1000 IUs of Vitamin D each day of your life to keep your bones strong. This is according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation. An 8 ounce glass of milk or fortified orange juice has about 100 IUs of vitamin D. A typical multivitamin has 200 to 400 IUs of Vitamin D. Fresh Salmon has about 100 IUs per ounce. It’s pretty tough to get up to 1000 a day this way.
Tough in the taste department, is cod liver oil, at 1360 IU per tablespoon.
Or, you can go outside for 20 minutes to an hour every day. This is enough time to take a pleasant walk, breathe deep, and maybe even check in with a neighbor. Now doesn’t that seem like a much pleasanter way to keep your bones solid? Research is still in the early stages, but indications are that your body can produce at least 1000 IU of Vitamin D with this small amount of effort.
What if you can’t get outdoors? Recent studies have also shown full-spectrum light bulbs have the same effect on your body as sunlight, namely, your body can actually absorb vitamin D through this manufactured light. There is a whole variety of full spectrum light bulbs available, even some that are energy efficient… and they are becoming a common sight in the light bulb aisle in many local stores. We use them in our dining room at Chesterbrook Residences and believe me, they work!
For more information on Vitamin D… check out these links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D
http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamind.asp
http://www.thebodyblues.com/light.html
So, go outside and play! Or stay inside with a glass of warm milk, reading by the light of a full spectrum light bulb! That’s it for today, I’m Chef Bonita Woods. Eat healthy, eat happy, and have fun doing it!