The D Dilemma: Is Vitamin D a Vitamin or a Hormone or what?

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The Little Known (yep) Hormone – Vitamin D

If we put this little pop-quiz out there, anywhere, chances are the majority of people would flunk out. It’s kind of complicated how D gets to be a hormone, so to eliminate the “huh?” factor, let’s just keep referring to it as Vitamin D, or just plain “D”.  Vitamin D is a hormone the kidneys produce that controls blood calcium concentration and impacts the immune system. It is also known as calcitriol, ergocalciferol, calcidiol and cholecalciferol. (Why, why do they have to create these names no one could even venture to pronounce?)Vitamin D manages calcium in your blood, bones and gut and helps cells all over your body to communicate properly. Understanding this hormone and the role it plays in the body will help you make informed health decisions that don’t include ziplining it to your pharmacy for buckets of D supplements.

D’s Duties

Another misconception is that D is all about building strong bones. Oh, but as a hormone, when it’s in balance, it does some pretty amazing other things. On the other side, Vitamin D deficiency has been shown to play a role in almost every disease. This includes:

  • Osteoporosis and Osteopenia
  • 17 varieties of Cancer (including breast, prostate and colon)
  • Heart disease
  • High blood pressure
  • Obesity
  • Metabolic Syndrome and Diabetes
  • Autoimmune diseases
  • Multiple sclerosis
  • Rheumatoid arthritis
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Bursitis
  • Gout
  • Infertility and PMS
  • Parkinson’s Disease
  • Depression and Seasonal Affective Disorder
  • Alzheimer’s Disease
  • Chronic fatigue syndrome
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Chronic Pain
  • Periodontal disease
  • Psoriasis
  • Oral health
  • Type 2 diabetes

You didn’t know? Who did. But before you start hyperventilating, read on.

Soak This Up

Another fact; only about 10% of D comes from food-even if you scarf sardines, salmon, mackerel, tuna, caviar (how high is your credit card limit?) and, we have to say, YUK, to cod liver oil. Ok, so pass on the food.

IU’s (that’s how D is measured) out the roof won’t do it.

So here comes the sun…

This is the most natural way to get vitamin D. Your body is designed to get the vitamin D it needs by producing it when your bare skin is exposed to sunlight. The part of the sun’s rays that is important is ultraviolet B (UVB). But how much sun is enough? Another conundrum. It can be an Einstein-worthy calculation that requires a multi-page spreadsheet.

Being a “worshiper” can do nothing but make your skin wretched and wrinkly and ah yes, lead to skin cancer. Slathering on SPF’s will only keep you from getting good rays. Cloudy days figure negatively into the picture. As does altitude, skin type, and the time of year and time of day. And no, you can’t get Vitamin D through a window.

Where on Earth?

Vitamin D deficiency remains the most common nutritional deficiency worldwide, affecting nearly 1 billion people. It’s epidemic. A global problem in all age groups, male and female. Generally, it’s found most where there is limited sun exposure. Which makes it surprising that even countries with plenty of sun have a high number of people with Vitamin D deficiency. For example, Vitamin D deficiency soars in sunny Australia, one of the sunniest places on earth. In the Caribbean, there’s no shortage of sunshine, but again, there’s a huge Vitamin D deficiency. The same goes for sunny states in the US, like Arizona, California and Hawaii. From Pakistan to Iceland, the D deficiencies would shock you. So where are you going to go?

The Best D Can Be

Your body contains hundreds of hormones circulating within your blood or stored within various tissues of your body. Maintaining a proper level of each hormone is absolutely key to your overall health; too much or too little of a single hormone can lead to a hormonal imbalance. And a Vitamin (hormone) D imbalance can do a boatload of damage to your whole body. So what can you do? You call Denver Hormone Health. They specialize in what your regular doctor doesn’t; hormones, and nothing but hormones. Every one of their experienced doctors can help determine if your D is deficient and exactly what to do about it. A few simple tests will tell them what they need to develop a treatment plan that targets your individual needs. So what you really need to do is make an appointment at Denver Hormone Health right now. Of the nearly 1 billion people worldwide with likely vitamin D deficiency, you don’t have to be one of them.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Hormonal Wake-Up Call

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SICK AND TIRED OF FEELING SICK AND TIRED

Seems you’re tired all the time. No, exhausted. No, crushingly fatigued. Something has to be wrong, right? Without question. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), also referred to as myalgic encephalomyelitis(ME), is a medical condition characterized by long-term fatigue and other symptoms that limit a person’s ability to carry out ordinary daily activities. It’s an energy-draining tiredness that doesn’t improve with rest or sleep. Even a solid 24 hours won’t touch it. And the worst? (Well, not worst, worst) You could be suffering from it and not even know it. All you know is that you feel outta gas. All the time. Sick, huh?

LEAPING NOWHERE

The main symptom of CFS is severe (that would be understatement) fatigue that lasts for 6 months or more. You also have at have at least four of these other symptoms:

  • Feeling unwell for more than 24 hours after physical activity
  • Muscle pain
  • Memory problems
  • Headaches
  • Unexplained muscle or joint pain
  • Sleep problems
  • Sore throat and a feeling of swollen glands in the neck
  • Tender lymph nodes

Any of these could make you just want to pull the covers over your head and worry what the heck is going on with you. That is, if you’re able to stay awake long enough to even think about it.

NO FIGMENT FEELS LIKE THIS

You feel like a constantly miserable mess. You think it’s all in your head (not your body), so you put off going to see what’s really going on. And if you don’t know, a lot of doctors know even less. They agree with your misconstrued self-diagnosis that nothing is really wrong, but they put you through a searching-in-the-dark battery of tests that tell them, well…nothing. It’s in your imagination they say. Maybe it’s fibromyalgia. Or mono. Lyme disease? Maybe (and “maybe”, is the big part) it’s an infection. Or obesity. Alcohol. Narcolepsy? This is a diagnosis? Where is the part where they connect it to a hormone imbalance? Fatigue is one of the most common symptoms of a hormone imbalance. Excess progesterone can make you sleepy. Too little thyroid hormonecan sap your energy. Just a few examples. Hormones are chemical messengers that impact the way your cells and organs function. Yet we don’t often appreciate hormones until they aren’t working like they should.  It’s well documented that low amounts of hormones are found in the brains and endocrine glands of people with chronic fatigue syndrome. Who knew? Not your doctor, obviously.

OH, WOMAN, OH MAN…

Research shows that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is six times more likely to affect women than men. But while Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is usually thought of as a woman’s illness, men can get it, too. Actually, long-term fatigue was once considered a male disorder caused by societal pressures. Just over 100 years ago, it was primarily upper-class men in intellectual professions who were affected. “Neurasthenia,” as the condition was called at the time, was a physical diagnosis with high status. The typical patient was a man, and not just any kind of man. He was “civilized, refined, and educated, rather than of the barbarous and low-born and untrained.” (Just who were the scientists dreaming this garbage up?)

Today, both male and female CFS sufferers, suffer from some of the same symptoms. But men tend to suffer in silence. Men’s perception of their worth is typically tied to their careers, earning potential, and/or their ability to take care of themselves or a family.When a man starts having chronic symptoms, he may feel less masculine, even afraid, choosing  to ignore his symptoms. In some cases, men may push even harder to tough it out, which only adds to their fatigue. (Like who needs that?)

HORMONAL “HELP!”

Time to take this distressing and debilitating condition seriously. And we know just the place: Denver Hormone Health.There isn’t anything they don’t know about hormones and the health issues imbalances can cause. And no one knows better how to get you back to balanced and feeling your best. Just talking to one of their experienced, knowledgeable doctors is enough to give you a hopeful shot of energy. With simple tests, they can determine if your hormones are having a field day with your health.  They’ll know if one hormone might be off track, or if it might be several. They’ll know, and know just what to do, creating a tailored, integrated treatment plan that can let you plan on feeling happy instead of haggard. Don’t suffer another day, wondering what’s what. Call Denver Hormone Health and take your life back.

Hormone Disruptors – ASSULT WITH A DEADLY TOXIN

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Hormone Disruptors

COME OUT, COME OUT, WHEREVER YOU ARE

In case you weren’t sure, your endocrine system is constantly churning out hormones that control everything from your heart rate, to your metabolism, mood, sex drive, appetite, and more. Think of hormones as the body’s chemical messengers which allow your organs to communicate with one another and keep your system humming. But much of the time, bumming is more like it. We’re incessantly and cruelly bombarded with hormone disruptors, whose entire mission in life is to make us miserable. Laughingly mimicking our real hormones, tricking the body into thinking they’re the real thing. Oh, and the tricks they love to play…nasty. Like promoting premature cell death. (Couldn’t you just die?)

All-powerful, they’re everywhere.

That water bottle you just drank from? Yup.

The carpet you just sat on? Ditto.

The shampoo you just used? Without question.

The fish you just ate? They love it.

THE DIRTIEST DOZEN

These insidious interlopers aren’t just ruthlessly hazardous, even their names don’t exactly roll off the tongue. Get out your fingers and a couple toes, and let’s start counting:

  • BPA – Chemical used in plastic (93% of Americans have it in their body. Good chance you.)
  • Dioxin – Industrial toxin
  • Atrazine – Herbicide
  • Phthalates – Another plastic baddie
  • Perchlorate – Rocket fuel anyone? 4th of July fireworks?
  • Fire retardants – Stops fires, fries cells
  • Lead – Worse than the worst heavy metal music
  • Arsenic – Toxins lurking in your food and water (not just a way people slowly killed each other hundreds of years ago)
  • Mercury – Naturally dangerous
  • Perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) – Non-stick cookware cooks up nightmares (99% have accumulation in bodies. Without question, most likely you.)
  • Organophosphate pesticides – Target the nervous system of insects, and your brain, should you get bitten
  • Glycol Ethers – What paint, Windex, brake fluid and anti-wrinkle creams have in common. (No kidding.)

LOCKED AND LOADED

Disruptors aren’t just insidious and unpredictable, they are carcinogenic. And the results, aren’t pretty. Hope you’re sitting down, because here are just a few staggeringly treacherous things they are linked to:

  • Infertility in men-low sperm count
  • Slow brain development in children
  • Obesity
  • Diabetes
  • Depression
  • Heart disease
  • Reproductive problems
  • Brain damage
  • Hearing loss
  • Kidney damage
  • Increased blood pressure
  • Lower IQ
  • Immune system suppression
  • Even breast cancer

CLEAN UP YOUR ACT

Take a long, deep calming breath. There are some relatively simple things you can do to put some brakes on the damage:

  • Go fresh instead of canned (organic if you can get it or put some wiggle room in your food budget).
  • Eat fewer animal products (meat, fish, milk, eggs, butter).
  • Use less fossil fuel- carpool, take transit, walk, or cycle.
  • Filter your tap water.
  • If it’s plastic, avoid it like the plague.
  • Read the labels (Although they can really hide under seemingly harmless names).
  • Wash your hands. A lot.
  • Dust and vacuum. Often.
  • Clean smarter. (Cleaning supplies are notorious for disrupters.)
  • Keep it fresh inside the house-open windows, empty stinky trash cans, even keeping an open box of baking soda in the fridge can help.

ATTACK BACK

If you really want to put on the gloves and defend your body’s health, you should think about correcting the hormone imbalances disruptors cause. Fortunately, there is someone on your side in the Denver area: Denver Hormone Health. With a few simple tests, (that simple, no kidding), one of their experienced doctors in the field can get a clear read on what’s going on with your hormones. That allows them to create a unique treatment plan (no one-size-fits-all solutions here), to help get your hormones back in balance and put your life back on track.

So call for an appointment now.

Denver Hormone Health knows how to fight the good fight. And they’re here to do it for you.