Are you a carb-craving head sweater?
by Erin Chamerlik
The Real Food Revivalist
Photo
It's winter but you have a sweaty head. You feel a little depressed and you are craving carbs... big time.
Could it be vitamin D?
Vitamin D is incredibly important and you probably ARE deficient because only about 25% of people in the U.S. have adequate levels of Vitamin D.
Unfortunately, if you listen to the powers that be you will not get vital information that can prevent Vitamin D deficiency. The Institute of Medicine (IoM) said, "the committee emphasizes that, with a few exceptions, all North Americans are receiving enough calcium and vitamin D." 
Quick to back their buddies, the American Dietetic Association went on record with full support of this ridiculous statement.
The IoM happens to be well funded by the pharmaceutical and vaccine industries.
Read more here on IoM severe conflicts of interest which highlight the fact that we should not believe a word they say.
So let's move on to some truth.
What symptoms might be present in people with low Vitamin D?
- Winter blues, Seasonal Affective Disorder (tired, eat more, crave carbs, feel depressed)
- Excessive head sweating and/or sensitive scalp (does your child complain that it hurts when you brush her hair?)
- Fatigue
- Chronic muscle aches and pains
- Frequent colds, flu
- High blood pressure
- Osteoporosis, osteopenia, rickets
- Depression, anxiety, schizophrenia
Vitamin D deficiency is nothing to play around with.
Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to
- 17 types of cancer
- Diabetes (2 out of 3 people with diabetes are deficient in Vitamin D)
- Multiple sclerosis
- Asthma
- Heart disease, stroke
- Kidney disease
- Autoimmune disease
No wonder the pharmaceutical industry doesn't want people to normalize their vitamin D levels - there go all their profits from drugs that would no longer be needed.
17 types of cancer!?
An eight year study involving 25,000 people showed 80% reduction in colon cancer in those people with adequate Vitamin D levels (Lancet, 1989).
A University of Nebraska study of women showed that adequate levels of Vitamin D have the potential to lower all cancers by 77%.
Are you overweight?
You are more likely to be Vitamin D deficient because Vitamin D gets trapped in fat cells.
We need Vitamin D to maintain muscle mass, prevent falls in people over 50 years, and to build bone.
Where does Vitamin D come from?
God has given us a gift, sunlight, to provide Vitamin D. YOU are a Vitamin D factory.
When sunlight hits exposed skin, Vitamin D can be made.
BUT...most of us (lifeguards excluded) are never outside enough during the summer months without sunscreen and big hats.
Seven of every 10 U.S. children now have low levels of vitamin D. Those most likely to be deficient include children who are obese or who spend more than four hours daily in front of the TV, computer or video games (Kumar 2009).
We have been brainwashed (again) by "experts" who tells us that the sun is bad and causes cancer. Yes, if you have a chronic habit of excessive exposure to sunlight, laying out until you are crispy, then this can increase the risk of skin cancer.
That's not what I'm talking about.
We NEED sensible sun exposure to make Vitamin D.
Just 15 minutes a day in the summer, about three times a week with at least our arms, face and legs exposed. Dark skinned people need even more. After you get your small dose of sun, then use protection so that you don't burn.
The sunscreen industry and the American Academy of Dermatology (ADA) has been brainwashing us for 30 years that we must never be out in the sun without sunscreen and protective clothing.
The ADA tells us to
- Generously apply a broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen with a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of 30 or more to all exposed skin. (Um, how are we going to make our vitamin D? Did Adam and Eve wear sunscreen?)
- Wear protective clothing, such as a long-sleeved shirt, pants, a wide-brimmed hat, and sunglasses, where possible.
- Seek shade
It is believed that the ADA receives millions of dollars to help promote chemical sunscreen as a daily-use product. (There's that money thing again.)
Interesting that SPF 8 sunscreen blocks your ability to make vitamin D by 95%.
The mere mention of going outside without sunscreen for 15 minutes has caused at least one dermatologist to be fired. Michael Holick, MD is the world’s leading authority on vitamin D. Yet Dr. Holick was fired from Boston University Medical Center’s dermatology department for advocating what he calls "sensible sun exposure."
Dr. Holick said, "In Boston, 50% of adolescent boys and girls are vitamin D deficient. 70% of moms and 80% their babies are vitamin D deficient at birth. These infants have no vitamin D stores, and the moms have none to give them. Rickets is only the tip of the vitamin D deficiency iceberg."
Vitamin D Deficiency Rickets usually occurs within the first two years of life but can occur later on too.
Mamas, if you are deficient, your breast milk is deficient in Vitamin D.
Vitamin D deficiency is commonly misdiagnosed as physical child abuse because children are presenting in the ER with unexplained broken bones. The cause is rickets, not physical abuse by the parents. Read this horrific story.
What to do?
1. Have your vitamin D level tested.
Be sure that your doctor orders the test, 25-OH D. Hopefully your insurance will cover the test, but I have heard that some will not, and doctors are charging sometimes as much as $300 for a test.
You can order an at-home vitamin D test kit and have the results mailed to you for $75 plus $8 shipping (covers shipping the kit to you and then shipping the kit to the lab).
2. Know what is a normal vitamin D level.
Most doctors and labs set the normal range for vitamin D too low. The optimal range is 50-80 ng.
If your Vitamin D level is below 40 ng you are very deficient and must get to work raising your level by eating vitamin D foods, getting out in the sun and taking a supplement.
3. Supplement wisely.
Most people do well taking about 2,000 - 5,000 IU per day of vitamin D3 (not D2 which is much less effective).
If you are deficient you may need to supplement up to 10,000 IU per day for a few months. Don't worry, it is almost impossible to OD on vitamin D. In fact, if you go outside in the summer for 15 minutes you will make about 10,000 IU naturally.
- For babies less than 1 year, add 400 - 1,000 IU (drops are available)
- kids over age 1 can have 1,000 IU for every 25 pounds in body weight.
Since Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, choose supplements that are oil-based, preferably olive oil but never soybean oil.
Vitamin D supplements can be ordered through Emerson Ecologics at a discount using my practitioner code.
To access the discount at Emerson Ecologics:
- go to http://www.emersonecologics.com/
- Create a new account
- Referred by practitioner: Get Better Wellness
- My postal code: 60002
- My access code: GBW123
- I have created a custom order form with Vitamin D products identified
The Environmental Working Group tells us that sunscreen itself has many toxic ingredients. Some of which disrupt hormones. Look for less toxic sun products on their website.
A word about prescription vitamin D called Drisdol.
It is the synthetic form, D2. Prescription vitamin D is 87% less effective compared to vitamin D3 that you can buy on your own.
It is also full of junk ingredients like Yellow No. 5 (tartrazine) which may cause allergic-type reactions (including bronchial asthma), Blue #1, Gelatin, Glycerin, Parabens, Soybean Oil and propylene glycol (anti-freeze).
4. Eat vitamin D rich foods.
- Fatty fish like salmon (530 IU/3 oz)
- Sardines (230 IU/3 oz)
- Mackerel (154 IU/3 oz)
- Cod liver oil (400 IU/tsp)
- Duck egg (720 IU/egg)
- Chicken egg (120 IU/egg).
Pasteurized milk has synthetic vitamin D added and the amount in one 8 oz glass of milk is only 100 IU.
You would need to drink 40 glasses of milk to reach 4,000 IU, probably not a good idea.
More info, Linus Pauling Institute
Weston A Price Foundation
