WEBVTT 00:00:00.180 --> 00:00:06.440 Where do vegans like me get our vitamin D? Well, from the sun, of course. I mean c’mon. 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:12.330 Can’t you tell? Can you? Probably not… 00:00:16.250 --> 00:00:21.680 Hi it’s Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome to another vegan nugget. Vitamin D is of course 00:00:21.680 --> 00:00:27.080 associate with the sun, but with estimates of around 70% of the population being deficient, 00:00:27.250 --> 00:00:32.019 we’re apparently not getting the exposure we require. Now this is an oversimplification 00:00:32.019 --> 00:00:38.730 of the matter as vitamin D comes in two basic forms: D2 and D3. D2 is present in vegetables 00:00:38.730 --> 00:00:43.750 and various supplements and D3 is mainly formed from our skin’s exposure to the sun. 00:00:44.010 --> 00:00:50.370 But is also present in a variety of animal products, like fatty fish and their oils, beef liver, 00:00:50.370 --> 00:00:55.760 egg yolks, and fortified dairy and grain products. The fortified products, however, have marginal 00:00:55.760 --> 00:01:00.809 levels for the most part, and are not well regulated. So what’s a vegan, particularly 00:01:00.809 --> 00:01:06.270 a vegan in non-tropical climates, to do? Well, in this fifth video in my nutrient series 00:01:06.270 --> 00:01:09.820 with nutrition powerhouse Dr. Michael Greger of Nutritionfacts.org, 00:01:10.200 --> 00:01:12.350 We’ll tackled the vitamin D debacle. 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:17.649 Could you talk a little bit about Vitamin-D in, you know, a plant based diet. Where are 00:01:17.649 --> 00:01:22.290 we getting it...Is it beyond just exposing yourself to the sun and how does all of that work? 00:01:22.549 --> 00:01:26.549 So, Vitamin-D is the sunshine vitamin. It’s actually not a vitamin but 00:01:26.549 --> 00:01:31.909 a hormone...our skin makes when it’s exposed to sunlight. Of course, depends on where you 00:01:31.909 --> 00:01:37.229 live on the planet. We evolved running around, you know, naked in equatorial Africa getting 00:01:37.229 --> 00:01:43.069 baked in the sun all day. We just weren’t meant to live at such latitudes where during 00:01:43.069 --> 00:01:47.149 the winter months, up in Boston for example, January, February, no matter how much you 00:01:47.149 --> 00:01:52.189 sunbathe naked on the commons, you are not going to make enough Vitamin-D. Now, there 00:01:52.189 --> 00:01:59.109 are some Vitamin-D you made in the summer that will be stored in your fat, and so you... 00:01:59.109 --> 00:02:04.139 ...but your levels will dip below which we believe is optimal. So, particularly during the winter 00:02:04.139 --> 00:02:10.248 months or anytime during the year for people not getting enough mid-day sun, and for white 00:02:10.248 --> 00:02:16.649 enough people at low enough latitudes, you know, 5 minutes forearms and face... 00:02:18.410 --> 00:02:26.010 ...can be enough mid-day sun. But, particularly at higher latitudes with darker skin, people that are 00:02:26.010 --> 00:02:33.229 older, or those that have jobs and they’re inside all day, no matter how sunny it is 00:02:33.229 --> 00:02:38.179 outside, should get their Vitamin-D from Vitamin-D supplements. So, I recommend for people not 00:02:38.179 --> 00:02:46.229 getting enough mid-day sun to take...2,000 International Units (IU) of Vitamin-D a day which is what I do. 00:02:46.229 --> 00:02:49.789 Do you know, are there any Vitamin-D supplements that you are aware of that don’t 00:02:49.789 --> 00:02:52.799 have their source from Lanolin or any sheep sources? 00:02:52.799 --> 00:02:59.389 Oh yeah, so all D2 sources come from fungi; from mushrooms, and there are 00:02:59.389 --> 00:03:05.459 now plant based sources of D3 which are made from lichen. And the studies showing that 00:03:05.679 --> 00:03:12.049 Vitamin-D, optimal Vitamin-D levels associated with longer life have come from Vitamin-D3 00:03:12.049 --> 00:03:16.829 studies, so I encourage people, eh...that D3 is better just because we have data there. 00:03:16.829 --> 00:03:21.210 So, you can get plant based or animal based D3 just as easily. 00:03:21.980 --> 00:03:26.719 I hope you enjoyed hearing from Dr. Greger on this matter. Just to note, Vitamin D is 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:31.140 essential for bone health as it helps calcium get from our intestines to our bones. 00:03:31.500 --> 00:03:36.650 You can find out all about calcium in a vegan diet in this video. It also helps with muscle 00:03:36.650 --> 00:03:42.109 function and is associated with lower risks of breast and colon cancer. Vitamin D may 00:03:42.109 --> 00:03:45.629 also play a role in mood stabilization and fighting depression. 00:03:45.939 --> 00:03:50.629 As Dr. Greger said, depending on where your live, and even your body’s individual absorption 00:03:50.629 --> 00:03:56.590 issues, you may not be getting adequate vitamin D, regardless of your diet. We were intended 00:03:56.590 --> 00:04:01.969 to get our D from the sun but as most of us are no longer running around naked in the 00:04:01.969 --> 00:04:06.932 tropical sun and feeling the rays lap our skin with their warm embrace. 00:04:12.502 --> 00:04:15.025 Well, this is...awkward. 00:04:18.155 --> 00:04:22.830 There are areas of the world where sun-based vitamin D is simply not available for long 00:04:22.830 --> 00:04:28.350 stretches of time. Dietarally, there now exists UV-exposed mushrooms that contain vitamin D 00:04:28.750 --> 00:04:33.200 Mushrooms naturally produce and store the vitamin when exposed to sunlight, but don’t 00:04:33.200 --> 00:04:38.320 tend to grow in sunlight, so farmers have taken to briefly exposing harvested mushrooms 00:04:38.320 --> 00:04:43.679 to UV light. This can also be accomplished by leaving them in the sun, however then... 00:04:44.469 --> 00:04:45.512 ...they shrivel up. 00:04:49.702 --> 00:04:50.351 Eww! 00:04:51.791 --> 00:04:52.670 No..Eww! 00:04:52.840 --> 00:04:57.430 So, if you want to supplement, how do you ensure the sources are vegan? Well, D2 is 00:04:57.430 --> 00:05:03.030 always vegan, as it’s a plant-based source, but D3, which is commonly used in supplements 00:05:03.030 --> 00:05:08.569 and vitamin D fortified grains, juices, and other products, comes from lanolin, which 00:05:08.569 --> 00:05:10.260 is derived from sheep’s wool. 00:05:10.450 --> 00:05:14.580 Now if you’re thinking “what’s the big deal? It’s not like sheep are dying for 00:05:14.580 --> 00:05:19.390 their wool". Please see my video on whether wool is vegan. Up until more recent years, 00:05:19.390 --> 00:05:24.469 there were no vegan vitamin D3 supplements. However, now there are several brands of vegan 00:05:24.469 --> 00:05:26.810 D3 on the market, derived from lichen. 00:05:27.030 --> 00:05:31.729 I have links to the vegan D3 supplements and further reading in the blog post for this video, which 00:05:31.729 --> 00:05:37.050 is linked in the video description below and in the infocard sidebar. Now I personally don’t eat any 00:05:37.050 --> 00:05:40.753 fortified foods so when I enter my food intake into Cronometer, 00:05:40.753 --> 00:05:45.156 my vitamin D always looks, kind of sad. But, I am sure to expose myself 00:05:45.156 --> 00:05:50.389 to sunlight regularly and, when living in less friendly climates, I will supplement with vegan options. 00:05:50.660 --> 00:05:56.689 Now, a word of caution- you can take too many vitamin D supplements, resulting in high blood calcium 00:05:56.689 --> 00:06:02.490 levels, which can lead to nausea, constipation, confusion, abnormal heart rhythm, and even 00:06:02.490 --> 00:06:06.049 kidney stones. So please stay within doctor-recommended doses. 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:12.520 So, to track your own vitamin D, check out Cronometer. You can enter your meals and activity 00:06:12.520 --> 00:06:16.389 to make sure you’re right where you want to be. You can even go and create your own 00:06:16.389 --> 00:06:21.259 food, select supplement and enter the data for the supplement you take. Then, in your 00:06:21.259 --> 00:06:26.069 day’s nutrition report, you can have the option of showing or hiding your supplements to see 00:06:26.069 --> 00:06:31.479 where your diet alone measures up. Pretty freakin’ cool, right? So cool that they’re 00:06:31.479 --> 00:06:35.560 actually sponsoring this video to get this information out. And the best part? 00:06:35.700 --> 00:06:41.069 It's totally free to use these services. Be sure to use the link in the video description below to make 00:06:41.069 --> 00:06:44.320 your free profile so they know that Bite Size Vegan sent you. 00:06:44.610 --> 00:06:49.493 I myself just found out about the supplement option on there and kind of had a nerdgasm. 00:06:52.373 --> 00:06:53.216 Too much? 00:06:54.006 --> 00:06:59.209 Anyways, if you enjoyed basking in the rays of vegan education, give the video a big thumbs 00:06:59.209 --> 00:07:03.889 up and share it around to spread the nutritional truth. If you’re new here, be sure to hit that 00:07:03.889 --> 00:07:08.500 big red subscribe button down there for more awesome vegan content every Monday, Wednesday, 00:07:08.500 --> 00:07:12.739 and some Fridays, and not to miss out on the rest of the videos with Dr. Greger. 00:07:13.049 --> 00:07:18.809 You can find the playlist with all of the videos so far in the infocard sidebar and in the video description below. 00:07:19.059 --> 00:07:23.069 If you want to help keep Bite Size Vegan educating, please check out either of the support 00:07:23.069 --> 00:07:27.210 links in the video description below and for perks and rewards for your support, just click on 00:07:27.210 --> 00:07:31.459 the Nugget Army icon there or the link in the description for more info on joining up. 00:07:31.789 --> 00:07:37.499 You can also find it in the info card sidebar. And hey, while you're here, go ahead and check out some of my related videos. 00:07:37.789 --> 00:07:41.679 Now go live vegan, get your D ethically, and I’ll see you soon. 00:07:42.024 --> 00:07:43.654 Where do I get my sun from? 00:07:44.036 --> 00:07:46.486 Vitamin D, not sun...from the sun. 00:07:46.666 --> 00:07:49.866 These are actually the sunglasses I wear...they go over glasses. 00:07:50.156 --> 00:07:52.676 Cause I'm to cheap to get a prescription, so. 00:07:54.161 --> 00:07:57.231 Rock it out like an old lady who just got her eyes dilated.