It is important in these times to get your body as healthy as possible. This means getting in nutrients, sleeping well, taking care of your mental health and exercising.
One of the things I keep reading about lately is vitamin D and the role it can play in our health. I have been interested in getting my levels of this vitamin up due to what I have learned.
Recently, I tried an app on my phone that will help me with increasing my vitamin D intake and I wanted to do a review on it.
Why I think I need vitamin D
Vitamin D is known as the “sunshine vitamin” by many. This is because there is an abundance of it in the sun.
An immense amount of people are low in this vitamin due to not being in the sun very much, there not being very many foods that have a lot in it and some people just don’t absorb it very well for whatever reason.
While many people can absorb more of it by choosing to sit outside for a while everyday, those with darker skin are still often deficient because the melanin blocks it. Since I am a black woman with dark skin, I may be deficient because of that.
Another reason for me thinking I need to focus on getting more vitamin D is because I do not consume the food that contains good amounts of it (ex. mushrooms).
What vitamin D may be able to do for me (and you!)
My main goal right now is to get my immune system in tip-top shape. Vitamin D has shown evidence that it might help with that.
There has been quite a lot about it possibly playing a role in the severity of COVID19 infections. Researchers are saying that getting our vitamin D levels up can make the virus less severe if one catches it.
Vitamin D also shows evidence at helping with PCOS and PMS. Regular supplementation with the vitamin might treat the underlying metabolic issues that come along with PCOS as well as reduce the intensity of PMS symptoms. Those are two areas I definitely need help with!
Of course there are scientists that completely disagree with vitamin D having benefits but for now I will be continuing my quest to improve my levels.
The dminder app
I happened to come across an app called, “dminder” on a forum. The people were mentioning how helpful it was so I decided to look into it.
The dminder, is an app that helps you get your vitamin D levels up or maintain them. It is able to do this by tracking the sun wherever you are at as well as taking into account the supplements you consume.
To get started with it after installing, it has you set up a profile. This includes putting in your weight, height, age, skin pigment, gender and how much vitamin D you typically get each day in supplements. From this, it sets a daily goal for you.
Each day you are to record how much vitamin D you got in through supplements and your time in the sun. With the latter you can either input a prior time in the sun or start a timer.
When you are putting in sun sessions or starting them, you are to also input what you are wearing as well as how much the the sun is out in the sky. This important for the app to get the best estimate on the level of vitamin D you have gotten.
The app provides a sunscreen reminder feature. It will keep telling you when it is time to reapply your sunscreen throughout the day.
The home screen on the app is specific to your location and will show when vitamin D is available through the sun during the day. It also gives reminders about when your opportunity is coming to an end.
There is a free version and a premium version of the app. The premium version costs $2.00 and includes history reports.
My review of the dminder app
I love this app and I am so glad I stumbled across it!
The science behind getting vitamin D from the sun is really interesting to me. I learned how easy it can be to get my levels up by being outside.
Before I started using this app, I had already been taking vitamin D supplements. It was eye opening to me to see what they estimated I should be getting based on my information I put into my profile.
I had only been taking 2000 IU of vitamin D per day and not sitting in the sun at all. The app says I need at least 5,000 day! I have now started to take 4000 IUs per day in gummy form and being outside for an hour, weather permitting.
In terms of PCOS and PMS, I have not noticed anything yet. I will continue to keep track of how I feel each day in my health journal so I can see if things change in those areas in a few months.
I would recommend this app
If you are interested in increasing your vitamin D levels, this app is definitely for you! It is really easy to use.
In these times, it is important stay healthy. Since vitamin D shows some ability to help our bodies out in various ways, it is worth considering getting more of it (in my opinion).
Do you supplement with vitamin D and/or get out in the sun a lot? let me know!
The dminder app: http://dminder.ontometrics.com/index.html
You can find the vitamin D gummies I use here.
If you like supplements without the fillers that are in pre-made capsules/gel caps/gummies, consider getting Vitamin D3 powder from Bulk Supplements. They offer many other products at great prices so go check out all of their stuff!
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#vitamindsupplement #health #supplements #sun #immunesystem #nutrients #nutrition #covid19
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