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Hi I can’t believe that it is the 3rd week of January! Whoa, Stop. The. Bus. My big boy, J, started Grade 1.  And then I did the maths – He’ll matriculate in 2029 – what!? Today I’m sharing the final vitamin in my tablet box. I started using this vitamin back in September 2017 after I was over the pneumonia and looking to boost my immune system. If you remember I added probiotics to my tablet box back then too. I added Vitamin D. I am sure that it has made a difference to my overall health since then. It really is a remarkable vitamin. Actually, it’s not really a vitamin, it’s just referred to as one. What Vitamin D actually is, is a steroid hormone that you can get from sun exposure, food and supplements. The best way to get vitamin D is through sun exposure. It is made by our skin when we are exposed to UVB rays. Through various processes (our bodies are so clever) the body makes vitamin D.  What is vitamin D needed for? Well you may not know but it helps to prevent and cure rickets. This is a bone disease. A child that does not have enough exposure to sunlight or vitamin D supplementation could develop rickets. Adults get the same disease only it goes by another name – osteomalacia
If you don’t have enough vitamin D then no matter how much calcium and phosphorus you take in, you’ll have poor calcification of your bones. BUT if your levels of vitamin D are sufficient and you didn’t get enough calcium and phosphorus you'd still be better off. What else does vitamin D do? Along with vitamin A it has been shown to lower the chance of getting a cold. It has been used to
It has been confirmed and tested that vitamin D can help to prevent breast and colorectal cancer. Some 600,000 cases could be prevented each year if vitamin D levels amongst the worldwide population were increased. Vitamin D can cut the risk of cancer by 60%!!! Having optimal levels of vitamin D can prevent at least 16 different types of cancer; pancreatic, lung, ovarian and prostate to name a few.
Where can we get vitamin D from? The sun. How much sun? About 20 mins per day between 10am – 2pm (I know, that sounds crazy since we’ve been told to avoid the midday sun for how many years?) but it’s all to do with the angle of the rays hitting earth. Anyway, 20 mins with at least 40% of your body exposed. That’s like lying on your back with a bikini on, I guess!!!! Food sources include; oily fish (salmon, sardines, mackerel), oysters, eggs, homogenised milk. Supplements. I use Solal Vitamin D3 – 1000 IU While I was researching vitamin D, I read an interesting article on the importance of Vitamin D for pregnant women. The upshot of the article was that to prevent high blood pressure and pre-eclampsia, pregnant women need 4000 IU per day. That is 10x the RDA!!! I had pre-eclampsia with my first child, J. I wonder if my vitamin D levels were so low that it could have contributed to my condition?... Since vitamin D is actually a hormone, to know what your levels are like you would need to do a blood test. The optimal amount of vitamin D to have coursing through your veins is 50-70 nanograms/ml. If you’re treating cancer or heart disease then it can be as high as 100ng/ml. To find out your blood levels, the test you need to ask for is 25(OH) D which is 25-hydroxyvitamin D. Supplements. I use Solal Vitamin D3 – 1000 IU While I was researching vitamin D, I read an interesting article on the importance of Vitamin D for pregnant women. The upshot of the article was that to prevent high blood pressure and pre-eclampsia, pregnant women need 4000 IU per day. That is 10x the RDA!!! I had pre-eclampsia with my first child, J. I wonder if my vitamin D levels were so low that it could have contributed to my condition?... Since vitamin D is actually a hormone, to know what your levels are like you would need to do a blood test. The optimal amount of vitamin D to have coursing through your veins is 50-70 nanograms/ml. If you’re treating cancer or heart disease then it can be as high as 100ng/ml. To find out your blood levels, the test you need to ask for is 25(OH) D which is 25-hydroxyvitamin D. Share - I hope you have enjoyed this Tablet box series.  Have you added any of these supplements to your tablet box?
Let me know, I’d love your thoughts…. Lee Do you think that you only need probiotics after antibiotics? Only 6 more sleeps till Christmas! Our tree is up and lights flashing off and on 24 hours a day. We’ve just celebrated J’s 6th birthday and preparations are in the making for 25 December when we’ll be all together with extended family. It reminds me of Pink’s song from a few years back – this used to be a fun house, now it full of evil clowns! – Christmas can do that can’t it?! But let’s not forget the reason for all of this celebration and togetherness….  Anyway, I’ve always thought that probiotics were something that you took after a course of anti-biotics. Hands up if you thought that too!!! Well it turns out that probiotics are even more important to take than just after antibiotics. Our bodies have more than 20x the amount of bacteria to living body cells. And the bacteria in our digestive system have a huge role to lay in keeping us healthy. A healthy digestive system and an immune system that is in great shape are imperative to your health and ability to fight infections. The right bacteria have an important role to play too. There are of course, good and harmful bacteria. Harmful bacteria can cause infection or produce substances that lead to inflammation or cancer especially in the digestive system – think colon cancer. What you choose to eat has a big impact on the balance of good vs. harmful bacteria in your gut. As a result this has an impact on your overall health. Probiotics are the good bacteria made in your gut  Eating probiotics makes an impact in a number of ways;
As we age the amount of good bacteria declines so supplementing is a good idea. There are 2 groups of good bacteria – and they help to control the bad guys. The resident bacteria in your gut are;
Probiotics help to fight infections -
 You can find probiotics in fermented foods and supplements. These are foods that include probiotics; Buttermilk, yoghurt, cheese, kefir, lassi, leban, cottage cheese Coconut kefir Fermented vegetables, pickles in brine Olives, sauerkraut Miso, tofu, tempeh, tamari, shoyu, soya yoghurt (all from soya) Sourdough bread (from wheat/rye) These foods listed above don’t contain Lactobacillus and Bifido bacteria that colonise the gut. These foods contain other strains of probiotics. And just like a tourist, they come to visit the gut, populate it with goodness and then move on after about 10-12 days. They assist in making vitamins and converting lactose from milk sugar to lactic acid. It is this lactic acid that creates a slightly acidic environment which constrains disease causing germs These transient bacteria are Lactobacillus Bulgaricus, Lactobacillus casei, L.sporogenes, Streptococcus thermophillus. When considering a probiotic supplement then look for at least 1 – 25 billion living organisms And your 2 core resident bacteria – Lactobacilli acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum There are also foods that are a forerunner to probiotics called, not surprisingly, prebiotics! They encourage the growth of the 2 resident bacteria, they help to lower the pH of the colon, keep blood sugar levels even and for people who have liver disease, and prebiotics can help to reduce ammonia levels. Two common prebiotics are FOS (fructo-oligosaccharides –yup they’re sugar molecules) and inulin. These are some sources of FOS – bananas, barley, soya beans, Jerusalem artichoke and chicory. Some sources of inulin are onions and garlic. Prebiotics work together with probiotics to feed and speed up the growth of the beneficial bacteria. What can you do to get the benefits of probiotics? Try to reduce the elements that destroy probiotics from your lifestyle like;
Supplement with a probiotic supplement that has a variety of strains and at least 15 billion Colony Forming Units.  Chat soon, Lee |
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