That's Fit

Caught an old rerun of an Oprah show last night. Watched just long enough to hear a very enthusiastic doctor offering advice on vitamin D. All women need to have their vitamin D levels checked, she said, because most women don't get enough. And if we're not getting enough, we need to know this so we can make necessary adjustments.

Vitamin D is critical to our health -- a deficiency can result in bone problems, cancer, high blood pressure, depression, and immune-system disorders such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis. and diabetes. We need about 2,000 international units of it each day, says the good doctor, not the 400 currently recommended by the FDA.

Oprah said she's had her vitamin D levels checked. They were low. No surprise. So she started taking a supplement to bump her into a better range. Supplements are good. So is the sun -- just 15 minutes per day, and don't burn. And of course, vitamin D rich foods, like wild salmon, shrimp, skim and low-fat milk, Shittake mushrooms, fortified yogurts, and fortified cereals.

Do you know your vitamin D levels? I don't. But I should.

So I need a certain amount of direct sunlight every day in order to soak up some necessary vitamin D. But I also need to wear sunscreen at all times to protect my skin from the sun's dangerous rays. Both bits of wisdom make sense. And they don't make sense at all. I mean, if I wear sunscreen all the time, how will I get my vitamin D? And if I hang out in the sun for even 10 minutes without lathering up, I'll get burned. Trust me, I will.

It's controversial, this sun vs. sunscreen predicament. The National Institutes of Health suggests we get five to 30 minutes of sun, free from sunblock, a few times per week to avoid vitamin D deficiencies. It keeps bones strong, helps prevent heart disease, and may ward off cancer. These are biggies. But wearing sunscreen every day is big too. It's the only way to keep skin cancer at bay.

Err on the side of protecting your skin, says popular opinion. Just count on getting your vitamin D from walking to and from your car, the grocery store, your mailbox a few times a week. You can get it from food sources too, like fortified breakfast cereals and milk, or from a dietary supplement. And if you're concerned you may be vitamin D deficient, consult your physician.

For over 30 years, the medical community has prescribed vitamin D to patients with kidney disease in order to help maintain strong bones. But a new meta-analysis of many different studies concludes that this practice doesn't really help in achieving the goal it's supposed to.

The whole reason why this is prescribed was because diseased kidneys can't remove excess phosphorous from the body. Blood calcium drops due to the fact that phosphorous keeps building up. As a result, calcium is removed from the bones, hence the reason they become so weakened. This is how vitamin D became so prevalent, but the fact of the matter is that they really don't know if it helps their condition at all.

Risk of death, bone problems and other issues did not consistently change over time, even when they took the supplement compounds. In an editorial with the analysis, one associate professor of medicine out of Canada states this is evidence enough to challenge "many of our common practices." He continues by conceding that more research still needs to be done. Even so, the researchers say patients should continue following prescriptions, and more importantly pay attention to preventive measures.

It seems the very things that keep us healthy and prevent illness and disease also elevate our moods, minimize stress, and energize us. That's why we see so many of the same action items appearing on so many checklists -- because they are comprehensive and all-sweeping remedies for all of our maladies. It's no coincidence the same tasks keep presenting themselves before us. It's a sign, a sign that we need to heed such repetitive advice.

In the spirit of redundancy, here's another basic to-do list for you health-seekers out there.

• Eat a healthy breakfast full of fiber-rich complex carbohydrates, like whole grains, vegetables, and fruit. Add some protein with eggs, meat, low-fat dairy, and a tad bit of healthy fat too. Olive oil or nut oil satisfy this category.

Now more than ever, we know that certain diseases can be stalled, even prevented, by a healthy lifestyle. There was a time when a cancer diagnosis, for example, could be traced to nothing concrete. Today, women who drink as little as one drink per day increase the odds they'll develop breast cancer. That's pretty concrete.

Times have changed. And now that we're in the know, we really must know how to live life so our future days are more of a guarantee. So here's a little cancer butt-kicking know-how for you, compliments of Men's Health magazine.

1. Drink Pomegranate Juice. It contains polyphenols, isoflavones, and ellagic acid. If this means nothing to you, that's OK. All you need to know is that this juice -- try 16 ounces per day -- bolsters your body's defenses and has been shown to inhibit cancer growth.

We've all had crummy experiences while flying, but with Delta 'crummy experience' seems to be a theme. Late departures and late arrivals, which always ends up forcing me and the others around me to run full speed across enormous airports trying to make connecting flights. The amount of sprints I've completed while flying Delta are probably the reason I stay so lean. My air travel was no different this past weekend.

Now, I understand that air travel and flight schedules are often subject to delay. We'd be fools not to know it's a possibility. I'd at least like the airline employees to be considerate and motivated to do what they can to improve the situation of their customers. Compassionate even. My flight out of Chicago was delayed about two hours Monday morning, which was to make it impossible for me to make my connecting flight home. Unfortunately this was going to force me to miss my four year old daughter's special preschool program, which was really important to her. I give her the news in the morning and as expected, she was devastated. I'm bummed and torture myself over missing it throughout my entire two hour Chicago to Atlanta flight.

As my friend and I debark the plain we check to see which gate our flight home will be leaving from when we are surprised to see that the original flight we were booked for has also been delayed (surprise, surprise!) and is now boarding. With that, while carrying laptops, purses and more we run full speed across what I believe they listed to be about seven football fields in length to Terminal D. We bolt and weave to gate D26, and arrive exactly at the moment the ticket lady changes the sign from boarding to closed. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I like the view in this piece that we shouldn't rely on a pill to get all of the vitamins and minerals we need to keep our bodies healthy. Many exist in abundance in food so why no make a commitment to include them as part of a regular diet rather than always turning to a multivitamin? I'm not saying they multivitamins are useless, but if it's possible to absorb vitamins in food, why not give that a try too?

For those who are interested in giving it a go, here is a list of 10 essentials, along with one of the many reasons each is so good for you and some of the foods that are packed full of them:

• Iron - Prevents anemia, found in tofu, lean red meat, nuts and seeds, dried fruit and fortified cereal.
• Vitamin C - Helps your body deal with stress, found in orange juice and citrus fruits, strawberries, broccoli, spinach and bell peppers.
• Vitamin D - Aids in cancer prevention, found in fortified milk and yogurt, salmon and can be absorbed from a small amount of sun exposure.
• Vitamin E - An antioxidant that helps lower the risk of a stroke, found in almonds and sunflower seeds.
• Vitamin K - Aids in blood clotting, found in avocados, kale, spinach and pine nuts.
• Calcium - Essential for bone health, found in milk and dairy products, broccoli, almonds and sesame seeds.
• Folate - Fights cancer, found in peanuts, lentils, corn and spinach
• Selenium - Keeps immune system strong, found in shellfish, Brazil nuts and sesame seeds.
• Magnesium - Helps keep bones strong, found in beans, seeds, nuts and green leafy vegetables.
• Potassium - Works to keep blood pressure level, found in sweet potatoes, cantaloupe, kiwi and bananas.

To find out more about why these are all so good for you, as well as other foods that contain the 10 vitamins and minerals, take a look here. The article even includes a recipe for each, and they all look pretty tasty.

Just because you spend a lot of time in the sun doesn't mean you don't have to worry at all about your vitamin D levels. A study of Hawaiians with about 3 hours per day of self-reported sun exposure showed that 51% of them fell into ranges considered low. Considering experts say you only need about 15 minutes of sun on your hands and face to produce adequate levels of vit D, this is a bit surprising.

It just goes to show that more sun isn't necessarily better, and that other healthy habits like eating right also contribute. Low levels of vitamin D can help lead to osteoporosis, cancer, multiple sclerosis, infections, hypertension, and diabetes. To make sure you're getting enough talk with your doctor about having your levels checked and make sure you incorporate vitamin D rich foods (seafood, fortified milk, and eggs to name a few) into your diet regularly.