But is it an issue in sunny San Diego? The reason I ask is there was a big ta-do about breast fed babies not getting enough vitamin D in breast milk at the time I was nursing my younger son. I looked into it and talked to my ped about it – it was a total non-issue in San Diego and other sunny climes unless you avoided sun, stayed indoors etc… 20 minutes a day of sunshine produced more than enough vit D.
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I’ve done a ton of research on this ever since I first read about the studies linking vitamin D and cancer (mother and her brother lost to breast/liver cancers at 53 and 67, respectively). One thing I’ve learned is that the commonly held belief that 15 minutes or so of sun supplies all the D you need is a little misleading. It assumes you’re at the correct latitude (San Diego is good), it’s summer, you’re outside when the sun is at its zenith, and you’re wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Just going for a walk around the office building at 3pm wearing business casual doesn’t cut it. Sunblock also blocks the needed rays.
That’s my dilemma. I have almost no time to get decent exposure, so I take it in a supplement form, preferably the dry powder and not fish oil (which many people have an allergic reaction to, me included). I take 2,000 IU/day. It is ridiculously cheap – I get it here:
Many doctors are unaware of the latest research. My wife’s doctor told her specifically not to supplement with D3 when she was pregnant, pulling the reasoning out of her derrière – “it’s stored in fat so you don’t need it.” She was half right – it is stored in fat, but rapidly used up. Meanwhile, studies are showing that during pregnancy and in the first few years of life is the most important time to supplement. Talking her into taking D3 against her doctor’s instructions was a lot like talking a brainwashed bull out of buying in 2005, but I showed her enough studies to convince her.
Another nice benefit is a reduction in colds/flu. This was very helpful during our 2-year-old’s first 6 months in child care.
