jjohn
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There are only two ways to detect low levels of vitamin D: Go for a blood test, or wait until a bone breaks.
Our advice? Choose the first method: It's quick, it's covered by insurance, and it can be piggybacked onto the cholesterol panel you should be getting annually anyway.
The specific parameter you want tested is called 25-hydroxy vitamin D, and your level should be at least 20 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml), with 45 to 50 ng/ml being ideal. If you aren't at least at the lower limit, consider buying a vitamin D supplement, one labeled "Vitamin D3," a.k.a. cholecalciferol.
A new Creighton University study showed that when men took a single vitamin D3 supplement, it raised their levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D and kept them elevated for 2 weeks, compared with a spike and then a dramatic drop with vitamin D2. GNC sells a D3 supplement that comes in a 700-international-unit daily dose.
Our advice? Choose the first method: It's quick, it's covered by insurance, and it can be piggybacked onto the cholesterol panel you should be getting annually anyway.
The specific parameter you want tested is called 25-hydroxy vitamin D, and your level should be at least 20 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml), with 45 to 50 ng/ml being ideal. If you aren't at least at the lower limit, consider buying a vitamin D supplement, one labeled "Vitamin D3," a.k.a. cholecalciferol.
A new Creighton University study showed that when men took a single vitamin D3 supplement, it raised their levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D and kept them elevated for 2 weeks, compared with a spike and then a dramatic drop with vitamin D2. GNC sells a D3 supplement that comes in a 700-international-unit daily dose.
