Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Snake oil? No but perhaps fish oil


A friend's mother (who is also a good friend) visiting from Canada was telling me the other day that she was just getting over the first virus she's had in three years. That's right folks, no flu, no common cold, no nothing. I asked her what her secret was and her answer was vitamin D. As we enter into a predicted worse-than-usual flu season this was welcome news indeed.

Over two years ago our pediatrician told me to give Eve a vitamin D supplement since I was exclusively breast feeding. Surprised and skeptical I asked him why that was necessary and he gave me two solid reasons:

1) we live above 42 degrees north latitude and everybody knows "it rains 9 months out of the year in Seattle"

2) our modern lives are spent indoors far more than our was bodies evolved to be

I might also add:

3) we organic do-everything-from-scratch girls don't get a lot of the fortified milks, cereals, flours, juice, etc.

I've been doing some additional research (this and this for example) on the benefits of vitamin D and I'm pretty convinced. In fact I'm going today to our local natural pharmacy to ask them more about it and get some snake/fish oil for all of us.

BTW, she said that she takes 3,000 IU per day.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks Beck. I think you're on to something here...

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  2. I never put this together before, but last year my mum gave me a bottle of vitamin D to take with my Calcium (osteoporosis runs in our family.) I usually get really sick at least once a winter but last year I didn't get sick beyond a slight cold. I need to get another bottle! Thanks for the great tip.
    -Sariah

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