Strange Magic: Boost Vitamin D With This Tasty Trick 🍄 ☀️

A post-Earth Day reminder to get out in the sunshine while we're young, shall we?

3-4 min read

ICYMI

• 30 seconds of red light can improve your vision

• A spoonful of salt helps the coffee go down

• See how your fitness goals are doing with this baseline test

WELL ON HEELS

👠 Badass ladies of wellness: hats off to Alua Arthur, the most prominent death doula in America today. You may not see a direct correlation between “wellness” and “death,” but Alua is here to surprise you. Her TED Talk, “Why Thinking About Death Helps You Live A Better Life” has already garnered 1.5 million views, and I recently had the honor of interviewing her about her work and her brand new book, Briefly Perfectly Human, already a NYTimes Bestseller. Our chat left me touched, belly laughing through tears, and inspired to live more joyfully and eat the potato chips. Read the book, listen to my interview, and get busy living.

IT’S D-LIGHTFUL, IT’S D-LICIOUS, IT’S D-FICIENT

In these difficult and divisive times, it’s nice to know that we all still have a few things in common.  And that is Vitamin D deficiency- shared by about 1 billion people worldwide, and over 40% of Americans.  Vitamin D helps your body to balance its calcium and maintain healthy bones, and an untreated deficiency can lead to serious health complications like osteoperosis and bone deformities.  Its most common cause is lack of sun exposure or low dietary intake, but it can also be caused by medications for cholesterol, blood pressure, and seizures, so it’s important to know if you’re at risk. A standard blood panel at your annual physical will show your levels.

If you’re in the 40% with low D, this is another case of “supplement through food, unless food is not enough.”  And food is not enough! But choosing a supplement can be confusing and overwhelming, so here’s a simple breakdown:

• D3: easily absorbed in the body, exists in foods like salmon, mackerel, sardines, and egg yolks

• D2: a plant-based alternative that can effectively raise blood levels of D, but not as well as D3

• D3-K2: a common blended supplement with K2, not easily found in food, that ensures the calcium is delivered to your bones and doesn’t form arterial deposits.

• R2-D2: glad you are still paying attention. I know, it’s a lot.

My pick: Trace Minerals Ionic. When supplementing, too much of a good thing is a thing—aim to keep levels around 4000IU per day. And of course you can try to get your D from good old fashioned sunshine, but it requires 10-20 minutes of midday sun (with no SPF), and this is not available to many of us on daily basis. But speaking of sunshine…

HERE’S A TIP, MAKE THE CHANGE

To review: I like mushrooms.  Of all kinds.  Most of them are tasty, some can help our brains, boost our immunity (tho not ABSOLUTE IMMUNITY- no one gets that, amiright?) reset our neuropathways, and bonus- they’re a natural source of Vitamin D, particularly portobello and crimini varieties. But among their many superpowers is this fun(gi) fact:  you can actually INCREASE their Vitamin D levels by exposing them to UV or sunlight before eating them.  Science, but make it magic.

Be well, have fun and please consider upgrading to a paid subscription to support my work and get the extra goodies. FREE STUFF ahead!

HIGHWAY TO WELL: AUSTIN

Introducing my city guides, where I’ll give you my healthy picks in some of my favorite places. I spend much of my time bouncing between NYC, The Hudson Valley, and Austin (where I try to meet my Vitamin D quota for the year), and as I’m wrapping up another extended stay in the latter, here’s a quick list of some of my most frequented hubs.  This town is all about working hard and playing harder, and it’s easy to get sucked into a Velveeta-colored vortex of hedonism during your stay, so I’m here to add a little splash of wellness to your experience. Just in queso: