Why 40 Year Old’s Need More Vitamin D: Your Secret Weapon Against Winter
When you feel the darkness eating away your energy, it’s time to weaponise your vitamin intake.
Mushrooms are a great source of vitamin D.
THE BRIEF
Time to read: 4 minutes
Time to action: 1 minute
Mantra: ‘An intelligent mind is constantly learning, never concluding’. - Bruce Lee
Main message: Up your vitamin D. Top 10 simplest health wins ever
Stat: 1/5 of us are Vitamin D deficient.
“Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.”
Bruce Lee
Do you remember the first time you saw Bruce Lee fighting with nunchakus? The Avengers: End Game might be the highest-grossing superhero movie, but Bruce Lee was always the ultimate Avenger. No one could have seen the cultural impact his introduction of nunchakus would have made. Originally a tool for flailing rice, they personified Bruce Lee. His secret weapon.
Where your energy is concerned, vitamin levels are your secret weapon for beating the bad guy. Vitamin D has the humblest of origins (you get a massive dose from the sun), but if used correctly, it can help you to develop superhuman performance. It is essential for the immune system. It contributes to mood regulation. It is associated with heart health, muscle strength, and a reduced risk of diseases including, autoimmune conditions and some types of cancer. When the dark nights kick in, use the most straightforward nutrition tool to kick arse until you see sunlight again.
“Only the self-sufficient stand alone – most people follow the crowd and imitate.”
Mushrooms are a great source of vitamin D. Don’t go for the ordinary mushrooms with their mediocre attitude to vitamin D enhancement. Opt for the UVB-enhanced mushrooms you can order from your local health food stores. Mushrooms that have been exposed to UVB light to increase their vitamin D content. It’s not just a gimmick.
“The less effort, the faster and more powerful you will be.”
The simplest way to increase the Vitamin D in your diet is to incorporate Cod Liver Oil. It's a traditional source of vitamin D and is available in multiple forms, including canned cod liver. So, pick a style that suits you and perfect it.
“It’s not the daily increase but the daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.”
Eat wild salmon as your fish of choice: Wild-caught salmon have higher vitamin D levels than farm-raised salmon and contain an extra vitamin D boost. That’s all you need. If you can do this a few times a week, the world is your…salmon.
“Reality is apparent when one ceases to compare.”
Regular tea is all well and good, but when you compare it to vitamin D-boosted tea, there’s only one Big Boss. Make vitamin D-infused tea by steeping mushrooms or mushroom powder in hot water or pick it up online or in a health store. It actually tastes pretty good - like a mushroom cup-a-soup-. Which is good, provided you like tea, mushrooms, or soup.
“Preparation for tomorrow is hard work today.”
This one needs a bit of forethought, but if you can, prepare by introducing ‘sunlight exposure gadgets’ into your home. Often, nowadays, these are wearable devices that emit UVB light to simulate sunlight exposure. They’re designed to be used briefly each day to help stimulate vitamin D production. A quick Google will do you proud.
“Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it.”
You don’t need to raid the local health store or spend on Google if you don't feel up to it. A DIY Indoor Herb Garden will also see your energy levels increase. Growing vitamin D-rich mushrooms or herbs like shiitake or thyme indoors is super easy, and you can set up a small indoor garden to set up your very own vitamin D production.
Regarding your body chemistry, vitamins are the secret weapon open to everybody but wielded well by very few. Or to paraphrase the little dragon, ‘The successful warrior is the average man, with a laser-like focus’. So even in the darkest days, seek the sunlight, not the shade - and expose yourself to all that heavenly glory.
PT WOLF
Wolf is a personal trainer who tries and tests every programme we put together. A celebrity trainer, Wolf has been a fitness journalist, practising what he preaches for over 20 years. Now in his 40s, Wolf has added muscle to his frame in every decade of his life and has an annoyingly healthy body fat percentage. He tries it before he says it, but even more importantly, he lives it every day.
ENERGY RABBIT
Not simply a life coach, but an award-winner in the wellness sector with over a decade of experience. Rabbit specialises in the accessibility of information. If there is a theory worth exploring, Rabbit will work out how easily it can be integrated into your everyday life.
Would you like to know more?
2008 study from Norway
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18793245reoccurring coughs or colds https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/7379094/Vitamin-D-triggers-and-arms-the-immune-system.htmlFatigue
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4158648/Vitamin D Depression
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Vitamin+D+Supplementation+for+treatment+of+seasonal+affective+symptoms+in+healthcare+professionals%3A+a+double-blinded+randomised+placebo-controlled+trialhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4653865/