There is a sly vitamin sneaking around town, wandering around your body under cover of your skin. This “vitamin” has a single purpose, although some researchers suspect he has ulterior motives. He goes by the inconspicuous handle of “D” .

Don’t be fooled by his clever disguise. D is no vitamin. He’s a steroid hormone, slipping through your body under guise of a vitamin. And he doesn’t have dozens of functions, like or , just one vital mission to mineralize your bones!

Mineralization is a key objective of every body. Imagine if we all had flabby bones. The world would look like a Salvador Dali nightmare. Vitamin D saves us from having flabby bones.

More importantly, vitamin D saves us from having brittle bones. He prevents us from rickets and osteomalacia by balancing the calcium and phosphorous in our blood. Ooh, that D is a clever one. Not only is he a master of disguises, but he is a master chemist, constantly monitoring, measuring and balancing the mix so it just right to ensure everybody has strong and healthy bones.

Word on the grapevine is that 30 to 40 of hip fractures in elderly people are the result of insufficient vitamin D. So we caught up with D, and managed to slip away with a rare interview transcript

“D, some of your fans can’t get enough of you. What should they do?”

“Get plenty of sun. That is the key. Where the sun touches your skin, that’s where I will be.”

“But, D, what about people who can’t? What about people in the far north, or those who wear head-to-toe clothing or who are stuck indoors?”

“If you find yourself overdressed in a dungeon in Mongolia, get a good multi-vitamin supplement.”

“D, that’s a wonderful idea.”

“Or drink lots of milk, fortified with me, of course. Some breakfast cereals are fortified with me, too. I also hang out in a lot of saltwater fish, like tuna and sardines and herring and salmon. And I love to slip around in the ol’ cod liver oil.”

“So if we can’t get enough sun, milk and fish will do the trick.”

“That’s right, but be careful about milk products. Not all of them are made with fortified milk. I make no commitment to be there if they are not.”

“What about the supplements, D?”

“A good multivitamin supplement should do it for most people. Get a liquid supplement, cause those pills just don’t digest. You just end up flushing me down the toilet…ooh, I hate that feeling.”

“Yuck.”

“And you shouldn’t need a specific vitamin D supplement, because it is possible to overdose. And you wouldn’t want too much of a guy like me around.”

That was all we could slip through the lines. But I think we learned a lot about what it is like to live the life of a secret vitamin. To our hero, vitamin D, we offer our best wishes. May everybody get plenty of vitamin D to keep their bones strong and healthy for many years to come.

With the amount of information that exists about good nutrition, you would think it was a big mystery. The truth of the matter is, there is no mystery involved in getting the proper nutrients that your body needs. Why should you care about getting the proper nutrients? Many people are under the misconception that eating healthy is for the young because they are growing. Tissue and cells are constantly being renewed in both children and adults. The failure for these elements to repair themselves can result in diseases of lifelong misery or worse, death. To lower your risk of developing a disease, you simply need to follow three simple steps of good nutrition.

Proper Hydration
Plain and simple, your body needs water. Being properly hydrated will benefit you from head to toe. Water keeps your cells hydrated and flowing throughout your body. It doesn’t take long to witness the benefits of drinking sufficient water. Just a week of being hydrated and your skin will have a new glow. If you need to lose weight, water can help you achieve your goal. In many instances, people misinterpret thirst for hunger. Unless it’s been a few hours since you have eaten, have a glass of water the next time you have hunger panes.

There are numerous guidelines for how much water to drink. Consuming eight glasses of water each day is the most popular guideline. People have different needs. A better indication of how hydrated you are is your urine. When you are properly hydrated your urine is almost clear. There is the possibility of water intoxication so you don’t want your urine to be completely colorless.

Eating Healthy
In addition to being hydrated, you need to eat a variety of foods. Forget fad diets that restrict certain foods. The key to healthy eating is to eat in moderation and variety. Your food choices should include a large percentage from complex carbohydrates, which is sufficient for energy. You should also consume several servings of fruits, vegetables, grains, and dairy every day. You should limit your servings of protein and fats to two or three servings each day. By including all of these food groups in your diet, you are less likely to be hungry or have cravings for sweets and other non-nutritional foods.

Vitamin Supplementation
As long as you live in a country where food is plentiful and produced safely, you should have no problem obtaining the amount of vitamins and minerals your body needs. However, food allergies, dislikes, and illness may prevent you from eating certain foods. Some people, for example, are lactose intolerant and cannot consume dairy products. In these instances, supplementation should become a part of a plan for healthy nutrition. You don’t need a prescription to purchase vitamins, but it is a good idea to discuss your particular needs with your medical doctor. Consuming excessive amounts of some vitamins can cause toxicity and unpleasant side effects.

To check out the supplement we take daily and highly recommend, be sure to check out

Dont always believe what you hear- especially when it comes to your health. Heres some nutrition myths we were taught to follow, and according to the experts, we shouldnt have listened to.

Sugar Causes Diabetes
So far, a diet high in calories, being overweight, and an inactive lifestyle are the main risk factors for Type 2 diabetes.

All Fats are bad
The key is to replace bad fats saturated fats and trans fats with good fats monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats in our diet.

Brown Sugar is better than White Sugar
Unless you eat a gigantic portion of brown sugar everyday – the mineral content difference between brown sugar and white sugar is absolutely insignificant.

Brown Eggs are more nutritious than White Eggs
Eggshell color can vary but it has nothing to do with the quality, flavor, nutritive value, cooking characteristics or shell thickness of an egg. The eggshell color only depends upon the breed of the hen.

Avoid seafood to lower blood cholesterol
Saturated fats usually found in meat products and packaged foods, and trans fatty acids, are the most important factors that raise blood cholesterol, not dietary cholesterol.

Avoid carbohydrate to lose weight
Many low-carb diets do not provide sufficient carbohydrates to your body for daily maintenance. It doesn’t matter if you eat a high or low-carb diet, you will lose weight if you decrease your caloric intake to less than that is needed to maintain your weight.

Avoid nuts as they are fattening
In moderation, nuts can be a part of a healthy diet. In fact, nuts are high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats good fats as well as plant sterols which have all been shown to lower LDL cholesterol.

Skipping meals can help lose weight
Often times, skipping a meal results in an increase in total caloric intake than if we just ate more frequently throughout the day. A better approach is to eat smaller frequent healthy meals and snacks to keep our blood sugar balanced.

So now you know the real truth and when these come up in conversation again, you can educate your friends and family.

Instead of Butter Use top quality, cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil, from the first pressing, or flaxseed oil. The taste of virgin olive oil is appealing to millions of people around the world, so why not adopt it to your taste?

Flaxseed oil is prized for health reasons and not for its taste. You can always compensate for that by adding spices to the appropriate dish. Lets say you want to add a little flaxseed oil to mashed potatoes, instead of butter. You could add basil, oregano, rosemary, curry, garlic, or any other spice that agrees with your palate.

You can use a little virgin olive oil on mashed potatoes with basil and roasted garlic, but it’s up to the individual’s own taste. At home, we use a little olive oil on toast, instead of butter. Again, you could spice it, but try to avoid salting.

Depending on whose study you read, flaxseed oil contains Omega-3, Omega-6, and Omega-9 Oils.

Olive oil has some Omega-6 value, but it tastes great.

If you want to learn a lot more about beneficial oils, visit

20NutritionNutritionoilgood.html

To name a few of the many conditions improved by Omega-3 Oils High Cholesterol Levels, Prevention of Strokes and Heart Attacks, Cancer Prevention and Treatment, Multiple Sclerosis, Allergies, Angina, High Blood Pressure, Arthritis, and Asthma.

To read a little more about the link between cancer prevention and Omega-3 fatty acids, please visit

It goes without saying any further, that omega-3 fatty acids should be boosted in most of our diets.

You will notice, I did not mention, margarine as a dietary recommendation.
Trans-fats are formed as a result of chemical hydrogenation. Depending upon the brand you buy, margarine may contain up to 45 percent trans-fats.

“The problem with trans fatty acids is that your body doesn’t know what to do with them,” said Brian Olshansky, M.D., University of Iowa Health Care professor of internal medicine.

Trans fatty acids trans-fats are linked to diabetes, high cholesterol, sudden cardiac death, obesity, and heart disease.

Expect to see a warning on the labels of food containing trans-fats in the near future. New labeling for foods is expected soon, and total trans-fats contained within a product serving, will be listed. Believe it or not, at least one trans-fat, CLA conjugated linolenic acid, is considered beneficial, but that is another story.

Suffice to say, it would be wise to avoid margarine until all the research is in. At that point, the composition of margarine will probably change for the better.

Fruits, goldmine of vitamins, minerals and fibre are ideal to consume at least 4-5 servings in a day. Since they are in the natural form, account for largest part of water and 100 bad cholesterol free, it’s much easier for the body to process and absorb the vitamins and minerals from the fresh fruit.

Apple Round fruit with lots of fibre, vitamins A, C, E and folate. Available in green, red or yellow skin when ripe. Apples reduce the risk of colon cancer, prostate cancer and lung cancer. They also help with heart disease, weight loss and controlling cholesterol.

Bananas Long thick skinned fruit yellow in colour when ripe. Good source of fibre, potassium, vitamins A, C, B6, E & folate. Unripe or green bananas are used in cooking.

Cherries small round fruit with a seed, red or black in colour when ripened. Cherries always have to be ripe to eat. Cherries contain anthocyanins that reduce pain & inflammation.

Figs Eaten either dried or fresh, figs contain vitamin A, C, folate and niacin. A small sweet fruit full of small seeds.

Kiwi A rich source of vitamins A, C, E, B – complex, calcium, iron and folic acid, kiwi is a small oval fruit with thin brown skin, soft green flesh and black seeds. The skin is a good source of flavonoid antioxidants.

Lime Lime or lemon is the most cultivated citrus fruit with green to yellow colour loaded with vitamins A, C and folate. Juice of lime is good for detoxification and has antioxidant properties.

Peach – Round juicy fruit with a yellowish red skin & flesh having a taste of acidic tang and sweetness contains a rough stone. Always to be picked and eaten ripe.

Orange – A round thick-skinned juicy edible fruit that is a reddish-yellow colour when ripe with sweet to sour flavour. Peeled and eaten fresh or squeezed to make juice. Contain vitamin C, flavanoids, provides pectin and rich in sodium when ripened in sunshine.

Plum – soft round smooth-skinned fruit with sweet flesh and a flattish pointed stone. It is high in carbohydrates, low in fat and calories. An excellent source of vitamin A, C, calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, fibre and free of sodium and cholesterol.

Papaya – A melon like fruit with yellow- orange flesh with dozens of small black seeds enclosed in skin that ranges in colour from green to orange. Either round, pear-shaped, or long like a banana. Rich in vitamins A, B, C, and D; calcium, phosphorous and iron. It is high in digestive properties and has a direct tonic effect on the stomach.

Pear – A sweet juicy yellow or green fruit with a rounded shape narrow towards the stalk. Best eaten at room temperature, pear contains kalium and riboflavine. It is good for skin and contains plenty of fibres.

Strawberry – A triangular shaped red colour fruit. It is one of the richest sources of Vitamin C and fibre. It has high content of sodium and iron. It helps in whitening of the teeth. Used to relieve rheumatism.

Watermelon – a type of melon with smooth exterior rind and juicy sweet red interior flesh. Extraordinarily refreshing to drink as juice or eaten when ripe and fresh. Valuable for minerals, vitamins and sugar with useful amount of fibre and iron.

With summer up on us, there are hordes of juicy, tasty fruits that you can sink your teeth into. They are good for the nervous & respiratory system and lead to healthier looking skin. They are approx 80 water with high natural sugar giving energy to one and all when eaten fresh and ripe. Gorge on these sweet luscious fruits this summer -

Apricots – Apricots are rich in potassium, magnesium supplying stamina. They contain vitamin C, iron and beta carotene. They are fairly firm with bright orange colour. To be had when ripe. Unripe fruit can be stored for up to 2 days or so at room temperature before eating. Keeping them in the fridge will make them last a bit longer. Rinse and wash apricots before eating.

Strawberries – Buy sweet smelling strawberries that are red in colour without any white or green spots. Strawberries are full of vitamin C, potassium, sodium and iron as well as being low in calories. Strawberries can be frozen up to twelve months whole or sliced, with or without sugar. Do not remove the stem of fruit while storing it in the fridge. Before eating, rinse gently under cold running water.

Raspberries – Good source of vitamin C, vitamin A and fiber, raspberries are the most fragile of all the berries. So they have to be plucked gently. Buy firm dry raspberries avoiding soft ones. They are high perishable and should be refrigerated if not eaten immediately. Gently rinse the raspberries under cold running water and dry them on paper towels before serving.

Watermelons – Mostly water so they are low in calories. Excellent source of vitamin C, potassium and high in pectin. To know whether if the fruit is sweet, thump it with the knuckles and if you hear a hollow sound, then the fruit is going to taste sweet. Watermelon has dark green skin and bright red coloured flesh. Uncut fruit should be stored in a cool place, while cut watermelon should always be tightly wrapped, refrigerated and used within a day or so.

Cherries – Dark cherries high in nutritional value. Packed with enzymes, vitamins and minerals. Buy heavy firm cherries with bright colour and fresh stem. They last for two days or so. Chilling not only preserves them, but also makes them more flavorful. Simply rinse cherries in cool water and drain on paper towel until they are ready to be eaten.

Pineapples – Storehouse of minerals, potassium, sodium, phosphorus, magnesium, sulfur, calcium and iron. They have loads of vitamin C and are an excellent source of bromelain, an enzyme that helps digestion. The best fruit to be eaten is the one with strong sweet aroma. The colour of the fruit skin should be dark golden colour; leaves should be fresh and green with no brown or yellow tips. They ripen at room temperature. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate it.

Peaches – They are a rich source of beta-carotene and potassium and contain moderate amounts of vitamin C. Buy bright coloured, firm peach with smooth skin and sweet aroma. They can ripen at room temperature. It is ideal to refrigerate the ripe ones and eat it within 5 days.