What’s your vitamin D IQ?

Vitamin D has become a hot topic over the past few years and it’s no wonder.  Low vitamin D levels have fertilized our blossoming rates of cancer, auto-immune diseases and more. Many physicians now test for and treat patients with vitamin D deficiency. You may have a friend, parent, sibling or grandparent who’s been prescribed vitamin D.  Or your doctor may have suggested you to start taking it.  But how much do you really know about the sunshine vitamin?

Powerful Medicine: Vitamin D, the latest book with up-to-date research on this remarkable nutrient will be available online and in bookstores in December 2009.  Just in time to learn that your vitamin D levels are dropping. And why is that?  Take our quiz and put your knowledge of vitamin D to the test.

Vitamin D Quiz

And people, this is a good ol’fashioned quiz so please get out a pen and paper and number 1 to 15.     The answer key and results at the end so no scrolling ahead!

1. Whenever I expose my skin to the sun, my skin will synthesize vitamin D.    YES/NO

2. It takes about 10-15 minutes of exposure to noon-time sun to get my daily dose of vitamin D.  YES/NO/It Depends

3. Vitamin D will wash off my skin if I shower too soon after being in the sun or a tanning bed. YES/NO

4. A vitamin D winter refers to the winter season and is the same for everyone. YES/NO

5. Teenagers are at risk of being vitamin D deficient. YES/NO

6. A healthy adult uses as much as ______ IU of vitamin D each day.  (a) 400 IU    (b) 600 IU   (c) 2,000 IU   (d) 5,000 IU

7. A calcium/magnesium supplement should be taken with your vitamin D supplement. YES/NO

8. It’s best to take vitamin D with a fatty meal.  YES/NO

9. Parent who put sunscreen on their children whenever they are outdoors are putting them at risk for life threatening diseases. YES NO

10. Sunscreen with an SPF of 8 will still allow vitamin D synthesis in my skin.  YES/NO

11. Light white cotton clothing will still allow UVB penetration and vitamin D to be synthesized in my skin.  YES/NO

12. UVB rays penetrate glass.  YES/NO

13. Tanning beds that block the burning rays are the best choice for making vitamin D.   YES/NO

14. Survival rates from cancer related surgery is dependent on vitamin D levels.   YES /  NO

15. Optimal levels of activated vitamin D can halt tumor growth.     YES /  NO

ANSWERS

1. No.  Not if you live at a Northern (or Southern) latitude during a vitamin D winter.
2. It depends. If your skin type is 1 or 2 it will typically take you 10-20 minutes to get your daily dose, but if you skin type is 3 or higher (up to 6), it could take you up 3 hours to acquire the same amount.
3. Yes. Pre-vitamin D is synthesized in your skin and is found in the oil glands.  If you shower before the pre-vitamin D has been absorbed and converted to vitamin D, it will wash off and your vitamin D levels will not rise.  It typically takes a few hours for the absorption process.
4. No.  The vitamin D winter is related to latitude and is determined by the distance the sun must travel through the atmosphere before reaching the ground (and your skin).
5. Yes.  In fact, everyone who is not getting a dose of sunshine or an adequate supplemental dose of vitamin D is at risk of being deficient.
6. 5,000 IU
7. No.  Magnesium interferes with the absorption of vitamin D and should not be taken within a few hours of vitamin D.  A calcium supplement (without magnesium) can be taken at the same time as vitamin D.
8. Yes. Taking vitamin D with a meal that includes oil, like a salad dressing, will help with absorption.  Additionally, vitamin D has a sedative effect, similar to being in the sun, so evenings are a great time to take it.
9. Yes. If you’re not providing your children an adequate supplemental dose of vitamin D, keeping them away from sunlight puts them at risk for a number of childhood illnesses.  In fact, the practice of slathering sunscreen on children is also in direct relation to the dramatic rise in childhood diseases of autism and diabetes.
10. No.  Even an SPF of 4 will block all the UVB rays from making pre-vitamin D.
11. No. All clothing, including light white cotton, blocks all vitamin D synthesis in the skin.
12. No.  Even though your skin gets warm under a window, no vitamin D synthesis is occurring.
13. No.  Most tanning salons promote the beds with ‘non-burning rays’ which are UVA rays, but UVA rays cannot synthesize vitamin D.
14. Yes.  In fact, it’s been found that survival rates for cancer related surgery are dependent on the season of diagnosis.  And why is the season important?  Because vitamin D levels are typically higher during one season compared to another due to that pesky vitamin D winter.
15. Yes.  And vitamin D doesn’t just halt tumor growth, it can reduce tumor size as well.

How did you score?

0-5:  Hmm.  I think you better get your vitamin D levels checked right away.

6-8:  You either (a) don’t need to worry about vitamin D because you live near the equator, (b) you’re quick to pick up on the bits and pieces you’ve seen online or heard at the water cooler, or (c) you’re mildly good at taking random quizzes.  And the bad new?  (a) doesn’t have a problem, but b and c won’t raise your D levels.  And there’s no better time then right now to get current.

9-12: Great job.  You know more than most people do about what a power house vitamin D truly is.  So, you’re getting your daily dose right?!

12-14:  You’re up on your stuff.  Are you the one we spotted reading research articles at the coffee house?

15:  Congratulations, you must be one of our venerable vitamin D researchers.

For anyone who’s not at the vitamin D scientist IQ level, don’t worry.  There’s a lot of information on vitamin D that no one knew about except for those brilliant researchers; factors that each individual needs to consider to improve their vitamin D status and reap the benefits of this powerful hormone.  Yes, that’s right.  Vitamin D is not really a vitamin at all, but really a very powerful hormone that can act on over 200 genes in the body, but only when it rises above specific serum levels in the body.

Pick up a copy of Powerful Medicine: Vitamin D and learn how to become powerfully healthy.

 

 

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