Most everyone knows that you get Vitamin D from the . And living in Austin and surrounding areas, how could any of us be vitamin D deficient?

People with darker skin absorb less vitamin D from the sun. The way our lives are now, we spend less time outdoors, and more time in front of “screens.” And when we do go outside, we have skin cancer ingrained in our brains… so we slather on the sun screen, further preventing this important vitamin from being absorbed. There are different figures as to how many Americans are deficient in this important vitamin, though some figures are as high as 85%! So what does vitamin D do… exactly?

Vitamin D is vital in helping your body absorb important minerals such as calcium and magnesium, making STRONG BONES. But that is far from all that it does. Vitamin D is important in regulating both your immune system and your neuromuscular systems. Vitamin D deficiency has now been linked to breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, heart disease, depression, and weight gain… just to name a few. Increasing vitamin D levels have been linked to helping conditions such as depression, autoimmune disease, cancer, chronic pain, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and even the flu!

So how can you increase your vitamin D levels? Getting thirty minutes of to back, arms and shoulders and abdomen twice a week without sunscreen is enough for most people to maintain their vitamin D levels. Certain foods are higher in vitamin D than others. Fatty fish, like tuna, mackerel, and salmon, foods fortified with vitamin D, like some dairy products, orange juice, soy milk, and cereals, beef liver, cheese, and egg yolks are high in vitamin D. Skin Bar also offers Brass and Bones, an injectable vitamin D supplement to help you achieve optimal vitamin D levels. Why does Skin Bar offer this? Because there are so many with gut issues (this is a topic all on its own!!) that absorbing vital nutrients is difficult. In addition to absorption issues, our foods are just not as nutrient-dense as they used to be. These factors, combined with our indoor, sedentary lifestyles, lead to the high numbers of vitamin D deficient people… and we are here to help!

* Checking your blood levels of this important vitamin is the best way to know if you are deficient.