Obesity and Vitamin D.
Ya’ll hear me rant about vitamin D and Dr. Holick’s work in the area. I respect his opinion above all others in the area of vitamin D, and you’ll note his suggestions for dosages, and both sun exposure and tanning bed exposure goes beyond what is often suggested by other “authorities.”
Hell, if we listened to certain authorities, we’d all be avoiding sunlight as if a minute’s worth of it would kill us.
(When the exact opposite is the truth).
The International Journal of Obesity reported on a study from the University of Minnesota that low levels of vitamin D increase the risk of obesity.
Here’s where my law education kicks in again.
We need to be mindful of what is NOT defined here, namely that of what is considered “low levels.”
If we listen to conventional medical doctors, “low levels” are those where we are basically in pain and/or dieing from lack of vitamin D.
(It happens…yours truly has lived it at one time, and it is a horrible experience).
And we know that North America, above a certain latitude, is especially prone to lack of D both due to lack of sun exposure as well as lack of D in the diet, which is tough to come by…just like trying to get D from the sun between about October and April is futile.
The article only went on to speculate about D supplementation as a possible effective route to weight loss. (These statements always drive an analytical thinker mad as well, as there is a difference between weight loss and fat loss).
But the point is, the levels of D we should have according to Holick differ dramatically from levels suggested by the mainstream. What if the reduced enrichment of our foods in D, and lack of understanding about the value of D, is in part responsible for the current out-of-control obesity epidemic that I reported on today in the Maintenance Motions blog?
Love, Happiness, Health and Peace……….Tim