Vitamin D
You always seem hear in the news that there’s some new vitamin to consider or new deficiency to consider, but when it comes to fibromyalgia or any autoimmune condition – it’s very important that patients are taking Vitamin D to help their immune system.
Modern diets are lacking in Vitamin D rich foods. What are Vitamin D rich foods? Liver (To be honest with you, I can’t stand liver), organ meats, lard, many forms of seafood, butter and egg yolks (remember what I said about eating eggs for breakfast and how important it is in your blood glucose level?).
Sunlight is another important factor and source of Vitamin D. BUT, you should NEVER take Vitamin D without having your Vitamin D levels tested, specifically, 25 OHD and 125 OHD. Most M.D.s will only test 25 OHD but it is very important to have both levels tested. This way, you are eliminating the guess work. You could be low in Vitamin D or on the low side of normal; either finding would constitute a different recommended dosage.
Why is Vitamin D so important? Vitamin D deficiency is associated with many, many autoimmune conditions. Frankly, autoimmune rates have been skyrocketing in the past 20 years, which correlates with decreased levels of Vitamin D in the general population.
Adequate Vitamin D levels help to keep the immune system in balance so it doesn’t swing out of control into an autoimmune disease. When it comes to fibromyalgia, the problems with Vitamin D deficiency are made worse by genetics.
Many people, especially people suffering from fibromyalgia, need higher amounts of Vitamin D to maintain health, even if their blood tests show sufficient Vitamin D.
Do not take Vitamin D without having your blood levels tests. You need both 25-HD and 125-OHD tested. 25 is the storage form and 125 D is the active form. You need both levels checked! In many cases, patients will come in to my office with only one level checked and their Vitamin D levels will be on the low side of normal. Their MD has told them, “You’re fine, there’s nothing wrong with you,” when actually if you’re on the low side of normal you need to be supplementing with Vitamin D. I recommend that all my patients with fibromyalgia or any autoimmune condition take extra Vitamin D.
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