Beast India Company was feeling sluggish recently, and a blood test revealed that my Vitamin D levels were in the tank. The normal reference range is somewhere between 30 and 100 ng/ML. Mine was 12.
There's plenty of research on the importance of Vitamin D here. The TL;DR is that we need it to maintain the balance of calcium in our bones, and symptoms of low Vitamin D levels can include a wacky thyroid, fatigue, depression, and joint pain. Basically all the things you don't need if you're trying to build a healthy mind and body.
So, how to fix this? I'm using a couple of strategies:
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Daily Vitamin D supplements. Specifically 5,000 IUs in the morning as part of my morning medication and supplement program.
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Sitting in front of a sunlamp. You hear about these being used in Scandanavian countries when the sun goes down at 3 pm, but honestly, how many of us spent a lot of time in the sun this summer? This has been a particularly brutal summer in the United States, and most of us likely spent little time in the sun.
- Walking around shirtless. Suns out, guns out, yknow? I've taken to walking my dog shirtless and spending a good 15 minutes after my workouts stretching and mobilizing workouts outside without a shirt.
What's disappointing is that I'd been complaining to my PCP a lot about how I've been feeling sluggish and lethargic. The PCP checked my iron, my thyroid, and a thousand other metrics but never thought to check my Vitamin D levels. Now, I'm not saying that this is because he was White, but this is not a problem that disproportionately affects POCs whose melanin blocks absorption of sunlight. This isn't a knock on this PCP but yet another example of how race can affect medical outcomes.
The PCP did warn me that it'll take a few months for me to get my levels back up to normal. But after two weeks, I'm already started to feel more energized during my workout, and my knees are no longer achy. An easy but important win.