Good-Bye to the Sun

First Day of Fall.

For those of us in the Northern hemisphere, that means it’s getting tough to get any Vitamin D from the sun. The sun’s altitude has to be 50 degrees or higher in order to provide you with Vitamin D. So, in Chicago, for example, your window for getting Vitamin D from the sun closed on September 17 and won’t re-open again until March 25. New York? Fuggedaboutit. Not until March 22. My Canadian friends? Ha! Vitamin D for you is but a distant memory.

Even in my beloved south, our window has shrunk to a 3 hour period from noon to 3pm.

Time to start taking your Vitamin D.

Don’t put it off; it’s not complicated. Buy a bottle from the grocery store or Wal-Mart, put it next to your coffee maker so you don’t forget and take it every morning. You need about 50,000 units per week if you’re low (which most of us are). It doesn’t matter whether you take tablets or liquid. It doesn’t matter what brand. Full stomach, empty stomach, morning, noon or night. Doesn’t matter. Just take it.

Why is it important?

You can read about the 101 benefits to Vitamin D here, but the short version is …

Vitamin D is more like a hormone than a vitamin and is a precursor to testosterone production. It also helps prevent various types of cancer.

And yes, my Aussie friends, I can hear you gloating from here as your days get longer and warm weather arrives. Enjoy your season in the sun!