If you hear "Vitamin D3" one more time it's gonna be bad for your health because you're going to lose your mind. Am I right? I bet I am because I'm feeling that way myself. Well, just read this and it can be your last time because after you learn what you need to, you can tune out all the rest of it.
So, first off, let's plan this out. We'll look at why someone might need #VitaminD, who exactly those people might be, what it's good for, and how to get it. That should wrap it all up neatly for you.
For starters, why would someone need more Vitamin D? Your body makes it when you're exposed to sunlight, and you get it in your diet if you eat the right foods, so you'd think you might not need a supplement. You might be wrong. It turns out that many people, older less active people, office workers who spend most of the peak sunlight hours indoors, and dark-complexion people who don't absorb sunlight as easily as people with fair complexions, may not generate enough Vitamin D from their exposure (or lack thereof) to sunlight.
That's okay, you say, because you can also get it in your diet. Well, that's true, but if you're like I am, maybe not. Turns out that the best source of Vitamin D in foods comes from fresh fish, and unfortunately catfish and perch don't count. No kidding. I don't know. Maybe it's the frying that kills it. It's God punishing Southerners or something, but the fish that contain the most Vitamin D are things like cod and pickled herring and tuna. I guess we all get the occasional sushi when someone picks that for date night, but in general, I'm not a big cod person and you might not be either.
I also don't drink a lot of whole milk, if any, and that's fortified with Vitamin D. Not a huge fan of egg yolks, and that has D as well.
Turns out I'm not alone. Four out of 10 Americans have a Vitamin D deficiency. Yikes. If you could hit .400 in baseball you'd be in the Hall of Fame. America is in the Vitamin D Deficiency Hall of Fame.
Now you're thinking, "big deal if I don't get enough Vitamin D. What's the issue?" Well, as you've heard 327 times in the last six months D is critical for your immune system. Anyone can say that. What the hell does it mean? It's like this: Vitamin D is used by your body in several ways, and one of the most important is as a sort of catalyst. You can even think of it as a light switch. It's the Vitamin D in your system that activates peptides to trigger an anti-microbial response from your immune system. A "microbe" (if you don't remember from 9th grade biology) is a tiny organism, bacterial or viral. Once those are in your body it's the Vitamin D that pushes the "fight back" button. When it comes to the flu, a rhinovirus (cold), or a coronavirus, your T-cells actually have receptors on them (think of ports for ships) where the Vitamin D "docks", and essentially turns on the cell to jump into the fight against the microbes. If nothing "turns on" the T-cells, the T-cells don't go fight.
That's huge. Also huge, "calcium for stronger bones". What?! You thought we were talking about Vitamin D. We are. Have you ever wondered why whole milk, which is rich in calcium, also has Vitamin D added to it? Well, it's hard for the body to absorb calcium and put it to use. Vitamin D helps your body absorb it. Think of Vitamin D as something like baking powder. You can have all the ingredients of a fine chocolate cake, but if you don't have the baking powder, you don't have a cake.
So how should you get this Vitamin D everyone wants you to take? Cheaply, that's how. No kidding. The recommended daily allowance is just under 1,000iu (that's an "international unit") of D3 per day. It's REALLY easy to get that by taking a tiny gelcap that contains 5,000iu. You're thinking "well that's 5 times too much". True, but remember, absorption of just about any nutrient when you take it orally is really bad. You'll be lucky to get a thousand or two thousand iu into your bloodstream (where it counts - it's called your "serum D level") if you take your Vitamin D orally, so you won't be overdosing at 5,000. A two month supply at Walmart cost me about ten bucks. I take it every day.
That might be fine eventually, but if you're deficient now you might think about coming into Rapid Recovery for a #VitaminDInjection to get going. Maybe one and then another two weeks later. They're 25,000iu, which is a bunch and after a couple should raise your serum D level. Think of that level as your "average". It takes a long time to get an average up by barely beating it. You go ahead and crush it a few times, you'll move the average up faster. The injections are a little more expensive. They're $35.
All that said, we REALLY want you to get your Vitamin D so we put together a plan to pay for it for you. Here it is: If you go buy that bottle of D3 gelcaps like we did (or a similar one) and spend $10 on it, bring us your receipt, or show us your bottle, and we'll take the 10 bucks you spent on it off your next #IVtherapy or #VitaminInjection because we want you to take it. And by the way, after you buy it, TAKE IT.
As always, bring this up with your doctor. They know stuff. If you don't have a primary care doctor, stop worrying about Vitamin D and start looking for a doctor! And feel free to call us to discuss anything you're concerned about or with any questions. Now you never have to pay attention to a Vitamin D commercial again.
