Vitamin D

agingwithfitness
agingwithfitness Posts: 1,404 Member
edited September 26 in Food and Nutrition
My doctor just had me do blood tests and I am fine on everything but low on D. I live up north almost to Canada and didn't realize how much less the sun helps especially in the winter months and it was long winter this year.

I had stopped drinking milk with meals a few years back because of calories and now I am trying to have at least 1/2 a glass with breakfast and dinner.

I have been spending more time outside in sun since I found out 1/2 hr a day at least. But she wants me to take a supplement.

Does anyone know a natural company online I can order from? I normally don't take vitamins try to eat healthy.

Also does anyone know a good calcium pill that is smaller or I can chew? I have a hard time swallowing large pills.

Thanks :)

Replies

  • JustMichelleB
    JustMichelleB Posts: 290
    I take a chewable D3 from Vitafusion.
    fwiw, most people can't get enough D from sun exposure, and it's being linked to a number of maladies.
  • DonnaLFitz
    DonnaLFitz Posts: 270 Member
    Make sure you take the right Vitamin D... You need D3, or a full-spectrum D.
    And you will probably need to take a higher dosage than you would think because not of all it can be readily absorbed.
    I don't know a specific supplement for Calcium, but make sure it is organic, not inorganic like bonemeal or derived from shell. These cannot really be absorbed. Calcium Citrate is good.
  • MissKim
    MissKim Posts: 2,853 Member
    I got mine at Walgreens, it's Schiff Mega-D3. Everyone needs enough Vit D :)
  • geicko
    geicko Posts: 151
    Vitamine D is cheap and available from many different brands at most drugstores. I take 2 X 1000 UI daily from septembre to may (I live up north in Canada ;)

    As for calcium, I like the taste of Caltrate soft chew in Vanilla.
  • MissKim
    MissKim Posts: 2,853 Member
    I got mine at Walgreens, it's Schiff Mega-D3. Everyone needs enough Vit D :)

    oh, and the pills are really small and easy to swallow :)
  • bparr
    bparr Posts: 246 Member
    I too was diagnosed with Low Vitamin D (even though I live in the south, love the sun and drink plenty of milk) and was put on a Vit D pill. I didn't like it.
    I now take the Centrum Chewable multi-vitamin that includes "D" and that seems to be just enough to get me over the "too low" line.
    And as another person posted-- the majority of women in the US have love Vitamin D-- just don't know it. It's not a typical lab test that's run.
  • joscerelle
    joscerelle Posts: 3
    I looked up a foods that give vit D and it looks like several sea foods do. If you can add those in they might help. Mackerel, Trout, Salmon, Sardines, Catfish, Herring, etc etc. You can also take Fish oil pills, but those usually make me want to throw up. There's orange juice out there that has added vit D. You said that you had tried milk, but that the calories make it hard to 'swallow.' Soymilk is much lower and calories and it can come with added vit D.

    As far as calcium -- try Tums. It's not just for heart burn and indigestion. When I was pregnant with my son my doctor wanted me to take way more calcium than normal and she told me that tums was a great suppliment. The mixed berry ones taste pretty good and they're chewable.
  • Indrah
    Indrah Posts: 1
    I too was diagnosed with Low Vitamin D - I got some liquid vitamin D drops from the vitamin shoppe and I mix them with my other liquid vitamins and take them all as a "shot". Gross, but it does work.
  • agingwithfitness
    agingwithfitness Posts: 1,404 Member
    Wow thanks for all the advice. Your right not a usual test but she did it because I said my old doctor was worried about my bone density.
  • daeuka
    daeuka Posts: 1 Member
    Low D here as well. Your Dr. should give you some idea of how much you will need to take & should help you monitor to make sure that what you do is effective. If you aren't absorbing it from food, taking a low dose oral supplement may not help much. I eat pretty healthy, but apparently don't absorb certain things very well, so I'm on prescription D3 - 50,000 IU cap once a week.

    I'm not familiar with how much vitamin D there is in seafood, usually it's Omega 3 fatty acids that get the most discussion with seafood. fwiw, I just found out that popular farmed fish Tilapia & Catfish, aren't a very good source of Omega 3, due to the fact that they can be raised on corn instead of fish meal, like Salmon & Trout.
  • calequestrian
    calequestrian Posts: 39 Member
    My doctor put me on a vitamin D that I only take once a week, but levels were really low! I don't drink milk at all and am not a sun worshiper. Dark vegetables like kale and spinach have vitamin D. I don't know about soy milk....
  • rosaliabritt
    rosaliabritt Posts: 131 Member
    My doctor recommends: Caltrate Calcium + D (Caltrate 600+ D Plus)--they are chewables.
    I do not like taking pills--these are great. I have no problem taking my 2 a day.
  • marci355
    marci355 Posts: 292
    I looked up a foods that give vit D and it looks like several sea foods do. If you can add those in they might help. Mackerel, Trout, Salmon, Sardines, Catfish, Herring, etc etc. You can also take Fish oil pills, but those usually make me want to throw up. There's orange juice out there that has added vit D. You said that you had tried milk, but that the calories make it hard to 'swallow.' Soymilk is much lower and calories and it can come with added vit D.

    As far as calcium -- try Tums. It's not just for heart burn and indigestion. When I was pregnant with my son my doctor wanted me to take way more calcium than normal and she told me that Tums was a great supplement. The mixed berry ones taste pretty good and they're chewable.
    FYI, hope you don't mind.....:smile: The calcium and vitamin D in Tums is well.....total crap. Seriously. If someone is that deficient in calcium and D they need calcium citrate and Vitamin D-3, as some else mentioned. The calcium in Tums is calcium carbonate and the amount of Vit.D in there is no where near enough. Personally, I take 1500 mg's a day of Calcium Citrate and 2000mg's of DRY Vitamin D-3. Hope this helps! Sorry for hijack.....:smile:
    Nope, not a doctor, but just someone who used to work for a vitamin store.
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