Boost Performance With Vitamin D

Even with all of my fish oil supplementation it turns out that I have a Vitamin D deficiency, so I have started Vitamin D supplementation on the advice of my internist.

Because Vitamin D is synthesized in the skin in response to sunlight exposure, it's not unusual for many individuals to find themselves with a Vitamin D deficiency, especially during the winter months when we spend most of our time indoors.

Vitamin D plays such a crucial role in our health - ensuring healthy teeth and bones, modulating inflammation and even guarding against certain forms of cancer - it's important to make certain to have your Vitamin D levels checked during your annual physical.

Vitamin D deficiency is reached for serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) levels less than 20 ng/mL (50 nmol/L), insufficiency in the range from 20-32 ng/mL, and sufficiency in the range from 33-80 ng/mL, with normal in sunny countries 54-90 ng/mL, and excess greater than 100 ng/mL. I tested at 25 ng/mL, which puts me at an insufficient level.

If you need another reason to have your Vitamin D levels checked, consider that there are numerous studies, particularly in German research dating back to the 1950s, indicating that Vitamin D may actually boost athletic performance. As Vitamin D levels go up, so does performance (and vice versa).

Of course, this is not to say that anyone should simply start arbitrarily supplementing with any Vitamin as Vitamins can be toxic. Make certain to have baseline blood work and supplement under the guidance of your physician.

Train hard; stay strong.

Peace.

Susan