Age 73..... NO health problem. Do you still need to check vit D level?
by Heather
My friend is 73 yrs. She thinks that her body will let her know if she felt something is not right. In her case, she has no complains of health problem. Does she still ask to have her D level checked?
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ANSWER:
Hi Heather,
Well, that's an interesting question because even if I say yes, she may still feel that it's useless because she knows her body and she's done pretty well for 73 years listening to her body.
And who am I to argue with someone who's done so well for themselves?
So, personally I thin that EVERYONE should have their Vitamin D Level checked- even if they are healthy for two reasons:
1) If you want to stay healthy then optimizing vitamin d levels is a really great way to help achieve that. To me, asking if you should take vitamin d if you are healthy is like asking if you should exercise and eat rightif you are healthy. You don't just exercise and eat right if you are have health problems. Exercise, diet and Vitamin d are ways to PREVENT illness if you don't already have an illness.
And there have been many studies that show a lower overall mortality for those who have higher vitamin d levels.
2) The other reason is that if I just told her to take vitamin d, she'd maybe take it for a while and determine that "it doesn't do anything" because it doesn't make her feel any different. Well, just like eating a healthy dinner doesn't make you feel any different, but over time it keeps you healthy- vitamin d doesn't make you feel any different if you are healthy.
So, if she gets her vitamin d level drawn, it's likely that she will be quite shocked to see that her level is quite low and it will (possibly) convince her that taking vitamin d would be a helpful addition to her life.
So, those are the reasons that I think that everyone should have their vitamin d levels drawn. My mother is an extremely healthy 72 year old with NO medical problems and runs her own business 5 days a week where she moves furniture and lifts heavy things several hours a day- and I had her get her level done. She lives in sunny Southern California and was quite low.
I started her on supplements as well and even though she doesn't notice anything, she's willing to keep it up because I ask her too and because she saw how low her levels were!
Hope this helps!
Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune System Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Immune System
