Only few foods contain vitamin D and for most people, the major source is the sun. Your body naturally produces vitamin D when UVB rays strike the skin, but depending on where you live, the time of year and the darkness of your skin, you may not get enough. The good news is that we can still get this sunshine vitamin — even on cloudy days. Let’s shine a light on PurePharma D3. Your bones provide the framework you need to run, jump and do the heavy lifting in all of life’s tasks. The body requires vitamin D to absorb calcium and plays a major role in maintaining your bone and muscle function. Make sure you get enough vitamin D to keep your bones strong, so that no matter what comes your way, your bones are as strong as you are. Take Care Of Your Immune System Every day you are exposed to a great number of bacteria and other factors able to make you sick. Your immune system is what fights these invaders keeping you healthy and ready to achieve your goals. Vitamin D is essential for immune function and help maintain this great defense.
Take care of your immune system with D3, so it can take care of you.As a wellness doctor, I get a lot of questions about what supplements to take. My first reaction is to get someone eating clean as quickly as possibly. When a patient comes into my office, whether they are a man, woman, pregnant or postpartum, I make sure they are eating real food. This means grass-fed beef, wild-caught fish, free-range chicken, organic or local fruits and vegetables and plenty of good fats like avocados. If someone is having a difficult relationship with food, then I start him or her on the Whole9 Life’s Whole30 Program. It is exactly what it sounds like — 30 days of a complete nutrition clean-up. We also discuss a few lifestyle modifications to practice during these 30 days. This plan of attack works for a professional athlete as well as a weekend warrior. The difference in each approach is determined by the initial consult and carried out through each week’s specific individual programming. Once they have completed the Whole30 Program (with lifestyle modifications included), that’s when we begin to talk about introducing foods back into their diet and about supplementation.
While doing the nutrition clean-up, there are three things that I feel every human being needs without question: omega-3s, probiotics and vitamin D. Our current food supply does not support adequate consumption of omega-3s as compared to omega-6s. Even if you are eating a clean diet, chances are your omega-3-to-omega-6 ratios are not 1:1. I consume grass-fed beef on a regular basis and wild caught fish at least four times a week, and I supplement with Original Nutritionals Functional O3 on a daily basis. I test my omega-3 levels regularly now, and they continue to stay 1:1. If you body is dominant in omega-6s, then I guarantee there is inflammation in your body and you are not as healthy as you could/should be. Omega-3 supplementation during pregnancy and postpartum is safe, and it’s a must. Omega-3 fatty acids are also known as polyunsaturated fatty acids. More than half of the brain is made up of polyunsaturated fatty acids that regulate inflammation and provide neural support.
These fatty acids are critical for growth and development in a growing fetus, a newborn, as well as a high performance athlete. EPA (eiocosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) are two of the significant omega-3s. EPA and DHA occur naturally together and work together in the body, but have very distinct effects on the body. EPA supports the heart and the immune system. Omega-3s are best absorbed via the food we eat. Therefore, consume grass-fed beef and cold-water fish such as salmon, mackerel, tuna and anchovies. And supplement your clean food diet with the clean fish oil. Now, let’s move on to the gut. Our gastrointestinal health is pretty much the game-changer as far as the effectiveness of our immune system. It makes up at least 70 percent of the immune system. Our intestinal flora or gut biome communicates with and informs our immune system. It’s composed of good and bad foreign microbes living in harmony with us. The idea is that everything is in harmony and functioning optimally.
The intestinal lining is like the gate keep, so when it has to spend more time fighting off riff-raff, then it cannot communicate to the immune system as efficiently as possible. One way to support your gastrointestinal health is by consuming probiotics. Start with real-food products such as kraut, kimchi or eventually yogurt from a raw dairy source. I try to add kraut into my meals at least three to four times a week. There are tons of probiotic-rich foods, so find the ones that suit your taste buds. If someone has recently been on an antibiotic or just not in his or her optimal health, then I suggest a round of probiotic supplementation. To be clear, I only do this after the Whole30 Program. If someone needs multiple rounds of probiotic supplementation, then we do this at different times. There is no increased benefit to being on a continuous probiotic supplementation. Give your body a chance to adapt and excel. And lastly, I want to discuss vitamin D. All too often I see people popping vitamin D pills, pharmaceutical grade or store-bought supplements, without an objective.
Vitamin D is basically a group of vitamins that are precursors to many hormones and particularly important to endocrine health and immune function. More times than not, if you have adrenal issues, then you probably have vitamin D issues. Vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 are the most common forms of vitamin D. As I mentioned before, lifestyle modifications play a key role. One can obtain vitamin D from sunlight and certain foods like mackerel, oysters, sardines and egg yolks. Therefore, if you are stuck inside at a desk all day, get out and walk around for 20 minutes a day. Go get coffee, lunch or just walk. Before supplementing with vitamin D, I recommend getting your vitamin D levels tested (25-hydroxy-vitamin D). Every individual is different, and different seasons will have an effect on your vitamin D levels. I recommend testing your vitamin D levels quarterly for the first year. That way you have some sort of baseline and can do trial and error from there. Each individual metabolizes vitamin D differently based on various things going on within their bodies.