<p>^^^^ In the winter, no less. Imagine the shrinkage. :eek:</p>
<p>I read this shortly after having receiving my Quest test results that showed I was deficient in D even in the summer when I had an unavoidable tan from swimming a mile a day either before 10am or after 3pm without sunscreen.</p>
<p>[Vitamin</a> D Test Errors](<a href=“http://www.enotalone.com/article/19253.html]Vitamin”>http://www.enotalone.com/article/19253.html)</p>
<p>oops make that… after having received</p>
<p>Interesting article. However, it states that most of the errors were read as LOWER than they actually were, not higher. </p>
<p>The research I’ve done has indicated that it is very difficult to get enough vitamin D from sun exposure if you live in the temperate zone (north of 45 degrees north).</p>
<p>Re: all us oldsters drinking cow’s milk, that’s just groovy if you can tolerate it. I’m sure you’re aware that lactose intolerance varies widely by ethnicity (from 5% for Northern Europeans to 98% for Southeast Asians).</p>
<p>Just anecdotally, my dear old ma drinks a lot of milk/eats cheese every day. At her age-70 bone scan she was told she had the bone density of a 30-year-old. At age 80, she’s still three inches taller than I am. (Of course, she <em>is</em> a Viking. . .)</p>
<p>15 min. outside every day in day light will solve anybody’s problem with level of vitamin D. I do not believe in “goodness” of milk which is designed by nature for digesting system of baby cow and we are human beings.</p>
<p>forgot to mention that I hate milk and happen to be half an inch taller on my last measure somehow, I am not 70, but getting close. Besides vitamin D, do weights, they have a wonderful effect on your bones and …mood.</p>
<p>MiamiDAP: 15 minutes of sunshine only works if you live in certain areas… like Miami. And it interests me (as a resident of the Northwest) that the Canadians suggest a much higher level of supplementation than the US government.</p>
<p>[Medical</a> News: Few Americans Get Enough Vitamin D - in Endocrinology, Osteoporosis from MedPage Today](<a href=“http://www.medpagetoday.com/Endocrinology/Osteoporosis/13383]Medical”>PRIME® Continuing Medical Education)</p>
<p>[Daily</a> Cancer News - CancerConsultants.com](<a href=“http://patient.cancerconsultants.com/CancerNews.aspx?DocumentId=43284&Keywords=cancer,%20news,%20information,%20treatment]Daily”>http://patient.cancerconsultants.com/CancerNews.aspx?DocumentId=43284&Keywords=cancer,%20news,%20information,%20treatment)</p>
<p>I asked my OB/Gyn about Vitamin D today when I was in for a routine exam. She said 1000 IU (of the D3)/day.</p>
<p>I am outside at least 1 hour every day without sunscreen, frequently longer (take daily long walks). I live in Virginia, which gets OK sun most of the year. I am light skinned but generally neither tan nor burn, which is why I have never bothered with sunscreen. Working as a life guard in the summers as a kid I was almost as pale at the end of the summer as at the beginning of the summer after 40 hour weeks. I also drink lots of milk because I love it and WW recommends 3 glasses a day to women over 50. (I am below goal weight.) With all that, I was diagnosed as off the charts low in Vitamin D about a year ago (first time tested) and told to supplement with 1,000 mg/day. I do and it has come up a little but not a lot. </p>
<p>I think some people must have a problem with absorption. There is clearly more to learn about this problem. I think doctors are just starting to test large numbers of people, so probably made some erroneous assumptions along the way about “normal.”</p>
<p>
Well, to be fair, very little that we eat is actually “natural” in terms of what our ancestors evolved to eat. All of the grains we eat, and the vast majority of the fruits and vegetables, have been domesticated just as heavily as the cow has.</p>
<p>But very few of us have the time to hunt wild game and gather wild berries, at least not on a day-to-day basis. :)</p>
<p>
Is there any other mammal species on the planet that drinks milk after weaning, that drinks milk from another species without human intervention, or drinks milk cooler than body temperature?
Somehow I find the marketing efforts of the dairy industry very disturbing, even if fantastically successful.</p>
<p>I can’t think of any animal I raised on a dairy farm that didn’t go crazy for a bucket of milk (perhaps mixed with grains for some of them) if allowed! Ducks, geese, chickens, cats, dogs, pigs to name a few…ok, rabbits are an exception. Whether the milk came from the cooler or fresh and warm from the teat didn’t seem to matter.</p>
<p>I hate milk, and actually all dairy…I was diagnosed with osteopenia and have gone down this route of being told I was lacking in Vitamin D…which is needed to absorb calcium. So I too did the Fosamax D deep dive for a few months…but there have been some instances of large bones breaking…so I am now taking 2200 IU’s of Vit D on my own with calcium pills also… </p>
<p>I will say that I think Vitamin D has helped my focus and I feel I accomplish significantly more on days that I remember Vitamin D… </p>
<p>I was also told that anyone in the northeast was in jeopardy of not having enough sunlight… and hence not enough Vitamin D… I sense this is probably valid… </p>
<p>my kids love milk… I am glad they don’t share my dairy aversion, though I have many cousins (predominate on my father’s side) who share my aversion…no eggs, no cheese, no milk, etc… odd but true… and we did not grow up together, rather found this out as adults…</p>
<p>dmd77, everybody assumes that I live in Miami, and I am nowhere near, not even anywhere in a south at all. Actually I am only about 1 hour (or less?) from Canada. I do not have bone density problem, I hate milk and always did, I never took any Calcium or vitamin D and I am at age when a lot of my friends have prolem with bones. I spend some time outside every day in daylight no meter what weather, snow or no snow. It is important for everybody, but I heard that even more so for man for a different reason.</p>
<p>MiamiDAP—well, of course we assume you’re from Miami! Sorry.</p>
<p>It is possible to have dense bones and a vitamin D deficiency. I’m just one example. And I agree that being outside daily is important!</p>
<p>dmd77, How do you know about your D deficiency? What symptoms made you to decide to find out? I just assumed that since I do not have bone problem and I am outside for about 1 hour in daylight every day, my D is OK. Did doc. tell you what makes it not to be OK?</p>
<p>Miami, as I mentioned in my post I am outside for at least an hour a day every day in daylight, with no sunscreen. I work from home and like to take a long walk during the day. My bone density is fine and I had no symptoms of a deficiency. My doctor ran the blood test to check because she had heard about widespread Vit. D deficiency problems in her general reading and discussions with other doctors. As a result, about a year ago she decided to test all of her patients as part of her normal battery of annual cholesterol screening. She said she found about 90% of her patients were deficient and was shocked.</p>
<p>Miami–like TheAnalyst, my doctor has started routinely screening all her patients for Vitamin D deficiencies. She says ALL of them have been deficient. </p>
<p>I had no “symptoms”. However, I did have a bone cancer removed almost two years ago and a bone graft done at that time, so it is reasonable to assume I’ve been doing a lot of bone synthesis. My femur has healed well (by xray). </p>
<p>I do notice, however, that since I’ve been taking the vitamin D (last October), I’ve had less of my usual winter blahs. However, it’s been a sunnier winter, so that’s not exactly scientific proof.</p>
<p>Vitamin D is apparently one of the the “IT” things in medicine these days. My doc tested me last summer and found me to be extremely deficient. I’ve taken mega doses of a prescription strength, but haven’t been retested yet for improvement. Considering health issues in the past and now a brand new one with possible links to low Vitamin D levels, I can’t help but wonder. But it’s always something.</p>
<p>What’s a long time Northwesterner gonna do? Sunshine is a rare commodity around these parts!</p>