Vitamin Information Center

Over the past few years the sun has gotten a bad rap. Too much sunshine can put you at risk for skin cancer. And an overdose of sun can also lead to nasty sunburns, or even heatstroke.

But the sun isn’t always bad for the body. Scientists have known for years that the sun is a great source of vitamin D. This vitamin naturally boosts the immune system, your body’s defense against disease. Now mushrooms bathed in ultraviolet (UV) light — like that from the sun — can help you get some of this valuable vitamin.

Each year there are more and more studies released that suggest if you want to be healthy, vitamin D is where it’s at. Vitamin D strengthens your heart and bones, and can prevent asthma and some forms of cancer and diabetes.

Some foods, like fish and eggs, are naturally brimming with the vitamin. And others, like milk and some cereals, are fortified with vitamin D. But you would need to consume a lot of milk and cereal to get your daily dose of vitamin D. Sunlight still reigns king as the best source for vitamin D.

Recently scientists have shown that specially treated mushrooms could give people a vitamin D boost. U.S. Department of Agriculture researchers in California treated portabella mushrooms to suntanning sessions of up to 18 minutes. The mushrooms didn’t develop a bronze glow or complain of heat stroke though. Instead each mushroom produced nearly 4 micrograms of vitamin D per gram of tissue. When white mushrooms were given similar sun treatments, these fungi boasted extra vitamin D, too. Now both kinds of vitamin-infused ‘shrooms are on the market. So if you like mushrooms, you could munch your way to a higher daily dose of Vitamin D.

Depending on a person’s age, people should get between 5 and 15 micrograms (or 200 to 600 international units) of vitamin D each day. Without these amounts, people are prone to get diseases like rickets, which causes distorted, soft bones. These numbers, though, are really just a minimum. Now some scientists suggest it’s better to get as much as five times the recommended vitamin D dose each day.

Having more foods with Vitamin D is a good thing, since there are also several factors that make it hard to get enough of the vitamin from just the sun.

One factor influencing elderly people’s vitamin D intake is that they often spend less time outdoors. Therefore, they need more vitamin D in their diet. And if you spend a lot of your time indoors, playing video games or on the computer, you may need extra vitamin D from your food, too.

Skin color and weight also help determine a person’s vitamin D needs. Darker skin filters out more of the sun’s UV light, so people with darker skin need more sun exposure to make necessary amounts of vitamin D. For unknown reasons, heavier people also need a greater amount of UV light to enable vitamin D production.

And latitude — how far north or south you live — can play a major role in the sun’s ability to help you get adequate vitamin D amounts. As you get farther away from the equator, the amount of UV-filtering atmosphere increases. This means that at higher, more northern latitudes, people get less UV rays. So, if you live in a state like Alaska, most of the year you can’t get enough sun to trigger the vitamin’s production by your skin.

Eating foods enriched with vitamin D or taking a daily vitamin may not be as satisfying as breaking out your bathing suit and lying in the sun. But the right foods and supplements can help keep you healthy until summer’s rays are here again.

So much negativity has been placed on carbs. Back in the 80’s it was fat as the culprit. Today it’s carbs. Now there is talk that we are probably getting too much protein. It won’t be long before vitamins and minerals get the bad rap for weight gain. But let me share something about carbs with you….you need them in order to switch your metabolism from fat storing mode to fat burning mode.

Carbohydrate metabolism I don’t care what carb you eat whether it’s a “good” or “bad” it breaks down to the same energy source: glucose. All carbs break down to this sugar. The difference in carbs is not whether they are bad or good but how the respond to blood sugar release. When your digestive system breaks down carbs into glucose, glucose takes a trip into your bloodstream increasing your body’s blood sugar levels. That blood sugar needs to be transported into different cells for metabolism. Depending on how much sugar is in the blood stream some will be used for energy in cells and some will get deposited in fat cells. This is where the heroes of metabolism come in. The pancreas releases insulin to the rescue. Insulin is going to transport the glucose from the bloodstream to the cells.

Fast carbs vs. slow carbs We’re going to change the terminology a bit here. What use to be known as “bad” carbs are now going to be known as fast carbs. Why? Because that is what they do. They break down into glucose very fast and stimulate insulin really fast into the bloodstream. The same is true about “good” carbs. We’ll now refer to them as slow carbs. Why? For reasons opposite fast carbs.

The key to burn body fat The truth is that you can burn body fat with both types of carbs. But here you must combine them with protein. What is a protein? It’s like my mentor Robert Ferguson says: anything that use to fly, walk, or swim. To make a fat loss meal you must combine a protein to either carb. Meaning, you can have a fast carb as long as you combine it with a protein. Take for example a meatball sub with no cheese. You have a fast carb in the white bread and to a lesser extent the marinara sauce and you have your protein in the meatballs. That is a fat loss meal. Another example, is to take sushi where you have a fast carb in the form of white rice and you have protein in the form of some fish combined with it.

Word of caution Remember to be aware of calories. Just because you are combining fast carbs with proteins doesn’t mean that they are devoid of calories. It’s still fairly easy to eat 600 calories within one sitting of combining fast carbs and slow carbs with proteins. However, this is a convenient and easy way to enjoy carbs again. There is absolutely no need to eliminate them from your diet. Combine fast carbs with slow carbs and proteins. Carbs are good for you and you need them to burn fat. But how much of them should I eat? How often? When? Well, those are other questions that are off topic and you’re going to have to read my other articles and get my book.

Josue

So much negativity has been placed on carbs. Back in the 80’s it was fat as the culprit. Today it’s carbs. Now there is talk that we are probably getting too much protein. It won’t be long before vitamins and minerals get the bad rap for weight gain. But let me share something about carbs with you….you need them in order to switch your metabolism from fat storing mode to fat burning mode. Continue Reading…