Calling All Canucks: Vitamin D Drive

Check it out! February is Vitamin D month, and GrassrootsHealth in the US setting up a campaign to solve vitamin D deficiency. Daction is a program to generate awareness of the problem and testing. The program will involve testing twice a year over five years to study the effects of Vitamin D levels on the body.

Okay, so I've been accused of being a bit of an earth muffin. But I'm a big believer in the effect of what you ingest affects your overall health. I include vitamin D supplements in my personal battle with seasonal affective disorder.

Vitamin D is the fat-soluble one called the "sunshine vitamin" because it's produced by your body when UV rays contact the skin, and it's not commonly found in foods naturally.

I'm fair-skinned, so my daily use of an SPF 8 reduces vitamin D absorption by 95%, and since I live in Edmonton, there's not enough UVB here for me from October to mid-March. Interestingly, that's when my SAD hits and recedes every year.

There are several diseases which have strong links to vitamin D deficiency. Rickets is the original deficiency disease, but a lack of vitamin D increases risk for high blood pressure, chronic muscle pain, osteoporosis, periodontal disease, type 1 diabetes, cancer, tuberculosis and some autoimmune diseases.

Oxford University released a study this week showing that a form of vitamin D triggers an immune system gene linked to multiple sclerosis. This is especially important to me because a dear friend was recently diagnosed with MS.

Think this doesn't affect you? 97 percent of Canadians are vitamin D deficient at some point in the year, according to University of Calgary research.

The cost to join the Daction project is USD30.00, which includes a health survey and at-home vitamin D blood spot test. The test results will be shipped directly to you, and you are able to make our own changes. This is a really reasonable cost for a five-year program that could make such a big difference to your life. It's a great chance to see what changing your vitamin intake can do to improve your health.

What can you do? "Participate in the study, get tested, get your serum levels to the 40-60 ng/ml range and learn all you can about Vitamin D," said Dr. Vieth of the GrassrootsHealth sponsored testing.

Remember to take your vitamin D supplement with a calcium or magnesium supplement for maximum absorption. Don't worry about overdosing on it; toxicity requires taking more than 100 times the RDA amount for months.

Please join the campaign and tell at least two friends about it.

Props to BodyBeautiful.ca for sending out a call to action for Canadians to join the campaign!

Pink Bites: One A Day Women's Make Up Call

If you're like me, even if you try to eat healthy, you fall into the trap that "I'm not doing enough" and take vitamins. I do because I don't always eat as healthy as I want to, so I take vitamin and herbal supplements. My mom's advice was always to take a multivitamin because usually the balance of vitamins is good and it's more of a no-brainer.

One of the multivitamins I've gone back to over and over again is One A Day. The balance of vitamins is good, I trust the quality of the products and I like that they add other things to the mixture for specific needs, like men's formulas and supplements for people over 50.

In honour of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, One A Day is doing a lot. First, they are donating $200,000 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The Breast Cancer Research Foundation's mission is to achieve prevention and a cure for breast cancer in our lifetime. To learn more click here: www.bcrfcure.org.

Also, how would you like to get a phone call from a celebrity? One A Day Wake Up Call lets you send a call from Ellen Degeneres to someone you love reminding them about their breast health. To test this out, I sent a message to myself through email (you can also send it to a phone number). This was a very cute message from Ellen, funny without being too glib, and was a strong, yet positive, message about women's breast health.

I think this is a great way to remind your friends and family about their own health. Send a phone message to someone you love and remind them to take their health seriously.