We Need More Vitamin D!

The Institute of Medicine recently recommended an increase in the amount of vitamin D that we should get daily. Back in 1997 the Institute recommended 200 IUs and they have now tripled their recommendation to 600 IUs (800 IUs for adults over 70). Many doctors have been recommending much more than that--up to 4000 or 5000 IUs a day.

Vitamin D is important for building and maintaining strong bones. Also, if you have osteoporosis, it is essential that you get enough vitamin D in order for your body to absorb calcium. When vitamin D was first discovered it was labeled a "vitamin". It has since been discovered that it is actually a hormone that affects pretty much every organ in the body. According the the Vitamin D Council, "Current research has implicated vitamin D deficiency as a major factor in the pathology of at least 17 varieties of cancer as well as heart disease, stroke, hypertension, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, depression, chronic pain, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, muscle wasting, birth defects, periodontal disease, and more. "

You can get vitamin D from food, sun and supplements. Our skin makes vitamin D when exposed to the sun. This is not a very practical way for most of us to get our daily dose, especially if we live in a northern climate. If you do want to get your vitamin D from the sun, you need to remember that using sunscreen will block absorption. One tablespoon of cod liver oil or 3 ounces of sockeye salmon will provide your daily amount; most milk is fortified with vitamin D, but you'll need at least a quart a day. D3 seems to be the recommended form of supplementation and it is cheap. Since vitamin D is fat-soluble you should look for a supplement in gel-cap form or take it with some fat at mealtime.

How do you know if you are getting enough? Many doctors are now ordering blood tests (25-hydroxy vitamin D) to check current levels. When I asked my doctor about checking my vitamin D level she told me that it cost $300 and that my insurance wouldn't cover the cost. I found an online lab (Direct Labs) that would run the test for $59. You just order and pay online and then take the paperwork to one of their affiliated labs.

Fats are a Combination of Different Types of Fats

Learned something new about fat. I always thought that animal fat was pure saturated fat. Guess I had better go back to school! Actually all fats and oils are a combination of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat. The chart below shows the percentages of the three main types of fat

(data comes from here).

Percentage of Types of Fat in Oils and Fats (based on 1 oz. of fat and rounded)
	Saturated	Monounsaturated	Polyunsaturated
Animal
Beef Tallow	50	42	<1
Bacon Grease	39	45	11
Chicken Fat	30	45	21
Mutton Tallow	47	41	8
Duck Fat	33	49	13
Goose Fat	29	57	11
Turkey Fat	29	43	23
Butter	63	26	4
Plant/Seed Oils
Coconut Oil	86	6	2
Olive Oil	14	73	10
Canola Oil	8	61	26
Corn Oil	13	28	55
Soybean Oil	16	23	58

The amount of saturated fat in animal fat actually varies widely, with goose and turkey being the lowest. Most of the animal fats are actually higher in monounsaturated fat than they are saturated fat, butter being the main exception. Also, the type of fat that is highest in saturated fat actually doesn't come from an animal at all--but from a coconut!

Link of the Week

Check out this great flow chart (with a sense of humor) on how to find real food at the grocery store.

20 Potatoes a Day . . .

Chris Voigt, Executive Director of the Washington State Potato Commission, decided to go on a diet of nothing but potatoes. He did include some seasonings and oil for cooking, but no supplements. He wasn't trying to lose weight, but wanted to show how healthy potatoes are and that you could live off them for 60 days with no negative health effects. The federal WIC program has recently removed potatoes from the list of vegetables it will pay for.

He blogged regularly about his experience, posted videos and ran a weekly contest.

The average potato is 5.3 oz and 110 calories, therefore, he determined that he needed to eat 20 potatoes a day to maintain his current weight. That's almost 7 pounds a day. He actually had a hard time eating all 20 potatoes every day because they were so filling. A wide variety of potatoes (russets, yukon, fingerlings, purple, red, yellow) were included in his diet and he ate them fried, boiled, steamed, roasted, baked, microwaved, and mashed.

Did you know that 20 potatoes supply 942% of daily vitamin C requirements? They also provide over 100% of vitamin B6, potassium, fiber, maganese, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, thiamin, niacin, iron, protein, and folate. You can check out the nutrition facts here.

Chris' wife reported an unexpected effect of the diet. Although Chris is a snorer, while on the potato diet his snoring stopped. It started back up again after he went back to his regular diet. He lost 21 pounds, his cholesterol dropped by 67 points and triglycerides dropped by 60 points. His fasting blood glucose was ten points lower at the end of the diet. Stephan Guyenet does an interpretation of the diet on his blog.

I'm craving a baked potato with some real butter.

Enjoy your potatoes!