Vitamin D

We have been told time and again that vitamin D, an immune enhancer, is essential to good health. So let the sun shine in!

Some Benefits of Vitamin D

Research has shown vitamin D appears to play an important role in the prevention of diseases, such as:

• breast cancer
• colon cancer
• prostate cancer
• chronic fatigue
• decline in cognitive function
• depression
• diabetes
• hypertension
• multiple sclerosis
• osteoporosis
• rheumatoid arthritis

There are also studies which have shown that Vitamin D increases the survival rate in people who suffer from malignant melanomas, a type of skin cancer.

Cholecalciferol

Cholecalciferol, a form of vitamin D found naturally in fish-liver oils (vitamin D₃₎ and egg yolks, is also the particular kind of vitamin D that’s formed by the action of sunlight, when our skin is exposed to the sun.

O.k, it’s settled. It’s common knowledge that we get vitamin D from the sun and certain foods. The challenge is, there are myriad influences that impact our body’s ability to produce enough vitamin D from the sun, such as the:

• angle of sunrays
• season of the year
• time of day
• body’s age
• use of proper sunscreen
• individual’s pigmentation

Other Sources of Vitamin D

Just as importantly, we can receive important sources of vitamin D from several sources such as oily fish, like salmon, sardines and mackerel. We can also benefit from drinking fortified orange juice and dairy products.

The Challenge

So even though it is established that we all need vitamin D, not everyone is alike. While soaking in the rays from the sun for equal amounts of time, our individual body’s consumption levels will be different.

Why? We all have different sensitivities to the sun’s rays. A darker skinned person may be able to absorb more exposure than a lighter skinned person with less harmful effects.

Even if we eat the recommended amounts of fish or juices, the nutrients in that food may be lacking. We just cannot know how much fish or how many oranges to eat to acquire sufficient levels of vitamin D.

The Solution

There is, however, a method of avoiding deficiencies due to an incorrect diet or lack of sufficient sun. That would be to fortify our diets with a nutritional supplement.

GBG’s 10-in-ONE Chewable Multivitamin

GBG’s 10-in-ONE Multivitamin is an exacting source of the correct daily intake recommended. Check out GBG’s 10-in-ONE today . . . or sooner. . . like, Right Now! It is an easy way to fulfill your daily intake requirements. You’ll be glad you did.

Thanks for reading.

Good Health and Success is a Lifestyle You Deserve, Live Well,

CK Dillon

Support@CreateVitality.Com

Tweet This Post

Every day I realize and give thanks as to how fortunate I am. I’ve not been one to spend a lot of time in or around a hospital in my lifetime.

Healthy Boomers . . . Take Note  

I can count the times on one hand that I have had to go to the hospital and on that same hand I can count the days that I was a resident.

Those aforementioned days all came a few months ago when I was suddenly snatched out of my self-imposed euphoria of the excellent health myth.

I was the one healthy Boomer in my circle of Baby Boomer friends and relatives who took absolutely no prescribed medicines. And that was my brag.

I’ve got good genes evidently. My grandma lived to be 95 and was never in the hospital until she passed 93 years of age. My mom only recently spent her first days as a hospital resident and she is 79.

Prior to November 2010, I had never been admitted to a hospital. Initially it was quite unnerving when the lead doctor, after discussing my condition with his team who was screening me said, and I’m paraphrasing here, “you’ve got a few issues and they want to admit you.”

At first it was obvious to him I was stunned when, as my record of no hospital stays hung in the balance, I said nervously, “Do you mean now, like . . . today? Maybe I should go home and think about it.” I was thinking maybe I’d wait till the holidays were over and get a retest that would prove my conviction that I was, in fact, o.k.

He made eye contact with me and unsmilingly said, “Right now, today.” He had no way of knowing, but it was his no-nonsense, honest and straight-forward demeanor that got my attention.

I’ve never experienced chest pain, other than an attack of gas once or twice a year, and had learned to live with a slight shortness of breath that had become persistent over the last few months. So in my mind, I didn’t have any problems.

Well, despite my best efforts, my record came crashing down that day and I was admitted to Carolinas Medical Hospital, specifically the Sanger Heart and Vascular Institute.

It had to be the luckiest day of my life.      

Stress tests confirmed an erratic heartbeat, and still in denial, my thought was I would be prescribed a ‘magic pill’ and sent home by five o’clock. In hindsight I realize how naive I was trying to hang on to a record that meant nothing to anyone but me.

As for hospital stays, all I had to go on was comments of others who only seemed to have horror stories and negativity about their stay in other establishments.

If you ever have the unfortunate circumstance to spend a few days in the hospital, my hope is you will be fortunate enough to be admitted to Carolinas Medical.

Every person with whom I had contact, from the doctors, to the nurses, to the dietician, was professional and courteous. I am still amazed at the  lengths the staff went to in order to make my stay comfortable.

For my first, and hopefully only, stay in a hospital I could not have scripted it any better.

Since I was dismissed from Sanger on Thanksgiving day, I feel better, breathe easier and am getting back to exercising with regularity.

When I was in denial, I didn’t know what I didn’t know.

Carolinas Medical and Sanger Institute

If any of you reading this just happens to work for Carolinas Medical or the Sanger Institute, you can be proud of your organization.

They have what they call a WOW card that can be filled out to give recognition to certain people who gave excellent care.

This article is my WOW card to everyone who cared for me in my time of need.

Again I offer my sincere thanks for making my time of uncertainty less stressful. You all have proven yourselves to be professionals.

CK Dillon

createvitality2010@gmail.com

Tweet This Post

Hey everybody. Thanks for dropping by.

As you all know, I tend to be open minded and will share my points of view freely. Today’s article will be about one of those opinionated subjects  that I am a bit more adamant about and somewhat inflexible.

This time, “It’s Personal.”

It has been a few months since my last publication appeared here on CreateVitality.Com and I have many reasons, but no excuses. During that time my life took some turns that were unforeseen. Those turns needless to say, got my attention.

My closest friends already know the intimate details so I won’t belabor them.

In that time, while still being very  good to me, life taught me a few lessons. I discovered some things about myself that I am especially proud of. Like the fact that I walk the talk.

By that I mean, I don’t promote ‘do as I say, not as I do’. If I promote something  in an article, you can bet I have tried it myself or know someone who has.

That being said, I had the opportunity last fall to follow my own advice. I had written an article last summer about it so, long story short, I went to my doctor’s office and had a complete physical.

I have always been a proponent of pro-activity, i.e., catch something early and you can do something about it, but like most men in my community, I put it off. I felt like I was o.k.

Well my wife, who is not one to let something slide said, over and over, until I got tired of hearing it,  ”you write about health, you need to follow your own advice.”

Studies have shown that when it comes to our health, we Black men are inclined to put off testing etc., until some minor condition, suddenly culminates  with us going to emergency. “Ignore it and it will go away”, is a common way of thinking.

Well, I got the physical and went home to await the results that would come in a few days. Surprisingly my doctor called that same afternoon and had already scheduled me for more tests at Sanger Heart and Vascular Clinic. He told me to back off my exercise routine until after the tests.

The Prognosis

Turns out I had (have) an irregular heartbeat, which explains why I was having shortness of breath at times. At the beginning of my workouts I would be short-winded, then it would level out and I could continue. Since I had not exercised as often as usual that month, I just ass-u-me-d I was out of shape.

During all of the stress tests at the clinic, the nurse kept asking me if I was ok. My heartbeat was all over the place. I was so used to working out that I worked through the discomfort and kept it moving. At one point the nurse asked how I got to the clinic and was there someone who could pick up my car. My heartbeat was so erratic she planned to have me admitted to the hospital, right then!

After conferring with my doctor she learned I have Sarcoidosis and it may be causing the problem. They decided it was alright for me to drive and not be admitted that day. Mind you, in all this time I never had any discomfort.  Nothing I would consider a ’symptom’ of anything more serious.

Fast-Forward to Now

Over the past few months I have had the opportunity to be admitted to a hospital (Sanger Heart and Vascular) for the first time in my life.

I say opportunity because due to that decision, and three-day stay, I am in better health than I was last fall, even though I had no knowledge that I had a health problem. My health problem was serious enough that I could not be here now. And I had no clue.

The Conclusion

So what am I advocating? Be pro-active. Get the check-ups. Get tested. You don’t know what you don’t know.

Imagine: I went to get the physical mostly to be a man of my word, and to appease my wife. I came away with an extension on my life.

If that is not a good reason to be pro-active, what is?

Good Health and Success is a Lifestyle You Deserve, Live Well.

CK Dillon

828-351-9770

Tweet This Post