Vitamin D, the wonder vitamin?

Vitamin D is hitting the news just about every day of late.

Sure it's the 'it' vitamin right now, which automatically makes me suspicious, but the evidence is piling up that we may be causing ourselves immense harm by avoiding the sun.

Here is a sampling of just a few articles citing recent studies on vitamin D.

1. Higher blood levels of vitamin D associated with improved mobility for seniors. 
2. Taking vitamin D supplements during pregnancy is not only safe for mother and baby, but also can prevent preterm labor/births and infections.
3. Vitamin D deficiency leads to sharply increased risk of breast cancer spread. 
4. Low vitamin D may raise heart disease risk.
5. Low vitamin D is associated with increased prevalence of type 2 diabetes, high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome. 
6. Lower vitamin D levels are associated with greater risk for upper respiratory infection (colds/flus.) This association is stronger in those with existing respiratory diseases such as asthma or COPD.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

In response to the latest news, some doctors are just putting all of their patients on 'higher' doses of vitamin D, 1000iu, 2000iu, but I don't think that's good enough. What I've found in my practice is that each person needs a different load of vitamin D to reach an ideal level (I shoot for 60-90 as a rule) and then a different amount to keep them at that level once they get there. Therefore, I recommend that everyone have a vitamin D test. Once we have results, I decide how much to supplement and we run follow up labs in 6 weeks to see if an ideal level has been reached. If all is well I keep the patient on approximately 1500-2000iu daily and then test again in another 3 months to make sure the patient is stable.

Note, please that as an ND I always supplement with vitamin D3, not prescription vitamin D2. Here is a study comparing D2 to D3.

Next post will be FAQ about vitamin D.
Check back.

In Health,
Dr Samantha

Cook This: Onion, Bacon and Broccoli Quiche

This recipe started out as a tart recipe from Cook's Illustrated. I love this magazine because they not only print recipes, but also cooking techniques. My cooking is all self taught and now that I'm spending every Sunday in the kitchen, I'm thrilled to learn a bit more about how to prepare things more easily and with better results. After finding this mag I learned that there is a companion cooking show on PBS called America's Test Kitchen. We don't have cable so I thought I didn't have quality cooking show options (I'll pass on Rachel Ray, thank you). This show was a pleasant surprise.

The photo to the left was lifted directly from the ATC website. Please note that I did alter this recipe and the final product will be more like quiche than a tart so it won't look exactly like the photo above. 

The original recipe calls for a homemade crust. Thus far I can't seem to get myself to take the time to do that, so I purchased a whole grain spelt pie crust at our local health food store. It's a bit sweet for a quiche so I'd like to try to make the crust myself at some point...I'll keep you posted. 

Ingredients:

• 4-6 ounces bacon cut into small pieces (optional)
• 3/4 cup of broccoli cut into very small pieces. You can also use the stem if you peel it first.
• 1 1/2 pounds onions , halved through root end, peeled, and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices (about 6 cups.) Click here for tips on cooking onions.
• 1-2 T oil safflower or olive oil.
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (I left this out because the bacon was salty enough.)
• 1 sprig fresh thyme.
• 5 large eggs.
• 3/4 cup MimicCreme (calls for half and half but we don't eat dairy.)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
1. Pour oil into sauté pan and heat over medium flame. Add onions and once they start slightly browning, turn down to medium-low and add thyme sprig. Cook to desired finish. I tried cooking soft as well as caramelizing and decided that cooking just soft is better or they just get too sweet. This should take about 20-30 minutes.

2. While onions are cooking pre-cook pie shells until just golden. Take out and cool.

3. In another pan, cook bacon to desired finish (you could also do this with turkey bacon or veggie bacon.) Remove and drain on paper towel. Pour out bacon grease into a jar for disposal (never down the drain...)

4. Sauté broccoli in bacon pan until just soft. If you are skipping the bacon, just use a little bit of olive oil.

5. In a large bowl mix eggs, MimicCreme (or half and half), black pepper, and salt if desired.  

6. When onions are done, remove thyme and cool slightly before mixing with egg/cream mixture, add broccoli, mix thoroughly and pour into 2 (whole grain) pie or tart crusts.  

7. Sprinkle liberally with bacon.  

8. Bake pies on a baking sheet until centers are set.

Cool for at least 20 minutes before eating.  

I usually will be cooking something else between steps so it doesn't seem like it takes quite so long. Absolutely delish though, and great for lunches too! I bet it could be doubled and frozen, I'll try that next time.

Enjoy!
-Dr Samantha