What I learned on my vacation

This year I decided that it was time for a tune-up, so I headed down to Miami and checked into the Pritikin Longevity Center. I had been there a dozen or so years ago for the first time and knew it was time for a refresher – a low-fat diet rich in whole grains, vegetables, fruit and hours of exercise.

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I’m fortunate that I wanted to lose just a few pounds and my cholesterol and other lipids are in fine shape. Pritikin is my favored choice because aside from the hundreds of clinical research studies that have proven it to be one of the best long-term lifestyle approaches to health & wellness, it's also medically supervised and starts out with a thorough Doctor’s review, blood panel and stress test.

And I’m glad it does.

What I discovered and never thought possible was that I am borderline Vitamin D deficient. How could that be? I live in Southern California (the Sunshine State!) and consume foods that are rich in Vitamin D. So about two weeks ago I started taking Vitamin D3 supplements. Just slightly ahead of reading about the results of a report in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

The headline was jarring: Inadequate vitamin D could increase your risk of death by 26 percent! The study also found that of the more than 13,000 people who took part in the survey that 41 percent of men and 53 percent of women in the United States were not getting enough of this nutrient. This study was conducted over an eight and a half year period in which levels of Vitamin D were measured. "Those who had the lowest levels of vitamin D had a 26 percent higher risk of death from all causes compared to those with the highest vitamin D levels," Melamed noted as well as reporting that this study confirms a trend seen in other studies which link vitamin D deficiency to an increased risk for breast cancer and depression in the elderly. The same researchers previously found that vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of circulatory problems in the legs by 80 percent.

The U.S. Institute of Medicine suggests that the average person get between 200 and 400 IU of vitamin D per day. And while the best way to get vitamin D is by being out in the sun and in foods such as milk and fish, you never quite know until you test for it...as I found out.

So, my suggestion is that the next time you visit your Doc, have them check your level of Vitamin D. The research findings are clear; and it's one of the easiest ways to reducing risks for heart disease, some cancers, type 2 diabetes and peripheral vascular disease.