There are two problems here:

1. A process called “pinkwashing” defined by Breast Cancer Action as “a term in which the activities of companies and groups are criticized for positioning themselves as leaders in the struggle against breast cancer while engaging in practices that may be contributing to rising rates of the disease.

Cosmetics that contain carcinogenic substances including phthlates and bisphenol A (BPA) are frequently the subject of pinkwashing” criticism.

BMW, for example, gives $1 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure each time you test-drive one of their cars and Ford is touting a special edition Mustang with pink accents, even though pollutants found in car exhaust are linked to breast cancer.

2. Public relations campaign pressing women to have annual mammograms over the age of 40, despite a large body of research that shows mammograms deliver high levels of cancer-causing radiation (1,000 times the quantity in a chest X-ray) to sensitive breast tissue potentially aggravating small hidden cancerous growths.

For women who have had annual mammograms for more than ten years, more than half will get the dread phone call –in error — that they may in fact have breast cancer (called a false positive). Follow-ups will most often find them cancer-free at the cost of great emotional distress and, for many of them, disfiguring biopsies.

In addition, there is no proof that mammograms save lives when compared to breast cancer survival rates among women who perform monthly breast self-exams.

Safe alternative

Thermograms show patterns of heat and blood flow. They are a safe alternative to mammograms for a variety of reasons:

1. They are non–invasive. Nothing touches your body. There is no compression that may actually rupture growths, seeding the cancer.

2. There is no radiation.

3. A heat-sensing camera detects early formation of blood vessels that feed cancerous tumors and inflammation that may indicate breast cancer long before it approaches a dangerous size.

4. They can show signs of hormonal effects on the breasts that increase the risk of breast cancer before it actually occurs. We know that lifetime exposure to estrogen is the single greatest risk for breast cancer, so this is an important element of thermography.

5. They can be predictive, giving you as much as ten years head start to make lifestyle changes and be vigilant in monitoring your breast health to stop the growth of cancer cells.

Sisters, please don’t fall for the hype about mammograms. They could cost you your health or even your life. Instead, do your monthly breast self-exams and give serious consideration to including thermograms in your annual health regimen.

Find a thermography center near you.

Great news for chocolate lovers: Two new studies show that those who regularly eat chocolate, especially dark chocolate, have a significantly lower risk of heart attack and stroke.

The first, a British study from Cambridge and published in the British Medical Journal, shows that those who eat the most chocolate have a 37% lower risk of heart disease and a 29% lower risk of stroke.

What’s more, the study says that chocolate eaters have a surprisingly lower risk of cardiometabolic disorders. That’s a fancy way of including diabetes and metabolic syndrome in the mix, both disease conditions that are triggered by excessive sugar and fat consumption and obesity.

The second study, which looked at dark chocolate consumption among more than 14,000 adults in Jordan, found at those who ate four dark chocolate bars a week had substantially lower blood pressure, even among those with a family history of high blood pressure.

High blood pressure is a major cause of heart attack and stroke, so the Jordanian study validates the British study in its finding that chocolate consumption can prevent these potentially deadly diseases.

Researchers theorize that the wealth of antioxidants found in chocolate is responsible for these happy results.

CAUTION: This does not mean it’s OK hog out on chocolate. Chocolate has a high sugar and fat content. A 1.5-ounce milk chocolate mini-bar (think or it as a two-biter) has 235 calories and 13 grams of fat. Dark chocolate is a better choice: It’s about 20% lower in calories and fat, but chocolate in any form cannot in any way be considered a diet food.

Moderation is still the key. An ounce a day should be more than sufficient and I think the Jordanians who chow down four chocolate bars a week may have lower blood pressure, but they are almost surely fatter.

My regular readers know that I have recently shed more than 100 pounds of unwanted fat. Chocolate has absolutely not been part of my regular eating program. However, now that I am phasing off the diet, I think there is reason to add a couple of ounces of dark dark chocolate to my diet each week and the addition of 200 to 300 calories on a weekly basis is a worthy investment for the health return I can get from it. (Oh yes, and there’s the element of pleasure, too. Chocolate stimulates the cannaboid receptors in the brain, producing a feeling of well-being.)

That “dark dark” chocolate was not a typo. If you’re a chocolate lover as I am, you’ll discover that really dark chocolate (60% cocoa or more) is much more satisfying than milk chocolate, so an ounce or so is sufficient. I know the milk chocolate and its high sugar content triggers sugar cravings for me and probably for many others, leading to taking in hundreds of unwanted and unneeded calories.

My neighbor likes to call her nightly Dove dark chocolate habit her ”heart medicine.” It turns out, she’s right!

It seems like a no-brainer (pardon the pun), but sleeping with lights on or –- horror of horrors—the television screen flickering – is bad for your brain and bad for your health.

Recent research shows that exposure to even the dimmest light at night – such as a night light or a crack under the door– can cause changes in your brain that can cause mood disorders, depression and a host of serious health problems.

Sleeping with lights on disrupts the natural production of the hormone melatonin by the pineal gland. Melatonin, produced only during the complete absence of light, has many functions, including the manufacture of serotonin, the brain chemical that give us a sense of calm and well-being.

Dr. Joe Mercola, the natural health mogul, says melatonin deficiency can cause a host of frightening health problems, including:

• Decreased immune function
• Accelerated cancer cell proliferation and tumor growth (including leukemia)
• Blood pressure instability
• Decreased free radical scavenging
• Increased plaques in the brain, like those seen with Alzheimer’s disease
• Increased risk of osteoporosis
• Diabetic microangiopathy (capillary damage)

Wow! I don’t want to encourage any of those disease conditions and I’m sure you don’t, either.

What’s more, many studies link melatonin deficiency and depression, especially seasonal affective disorder. This is a particular problem among post-menopausal women.

Your body cannot produce melatonin unless you are sleeping the dark. Even a street light can be a problem. Many prescription anti-depressants trigger the production of serotonin, but you can do it quite easily on your own with some simple good sleep habits.

I have two family members who sleep with the television on. They are both women who live alone and they say it provides companionship. Not surprisingly, both of them suffer from depression and some of the other health problems on Dr. Mercola’s list.

There are some very simple solutions:

• Turn off all light sources at night (even covering clock radios with light displays)
• Close your bedroom door. If there is light outside the door, place a towel at the bottom of the door to seal the crack.
• Get some blackout curtains.
• Use a sleep mask.
• Silence is also bet for restful sleep, but if you really must have some sound in order to sleep or if you live in a noisy neighborhood, get one of those inexpensive white noise machines or tune your radio to a station with very soft music.
• If you need to get up at night (most of us post-menopausal women do!), keep a flashlight by the bed and use it for as brief a period as possible to avoid a fall.

I’m just talking about melatonin here, but there are many serious health consequences of poor sleep habits and the melatonins shortfall is just one of many.

I’ll go into some other recommendations for sleep hygiene in future posts, but for now, torn off those night lights and, for pity’s sake, turn off the TV!

by Kathleen Barnes

If you haven’t yet relegated your nonstick cookware to the dustbin, you now have even more reasons to do so now.

Even though Teflon™ (technical name: PTFE or polytetrafluoroethylene polymer) has been on the market for more than 50 years, numerous studies show that it can offgas toxic chemicals at high heats. The Environmental Protection Agency says it is “likely” that Teflon™ causes cancer.

Thyroid risk

Now a recent study implicates Teflon™ in thyroid disease. A British study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives (affiliated with the National Institutes of Health) shows that people with high levels of perfluorooctanic acid (PFOA), a compound found in Teflon™, are more likely to develop thyroid malfunction as well as to have various types of cancers.

Teflon™ is used in cookware, but also found in stain resistant carpet and fabric coatings.

Dupont, the manufacturer of Teflon™, says the non-stick coating is safe and adds that it has had no adverse health effects in humans. It adds that there is conflicting evidence on the thyroid issue.

Trace amounts of PFOA have shown up in blood samples taken from people across the country. When rats and mice were exposed to PFOA in far greater amounts, they developed brain tumors.

Now, an EPA advisory panel reports, “PFOA is a likely carcinogen in humans.”

Carcinogenic fumes

In terms of toxic fumes, Dupont says its cookware doesn’t decompose, possibly releasing toxic gases, until the pan reaches 680 degree Farenheit.

However, those high heats are easy to achieve. Studies show that an empty pan left on a burner for as little as three minutes can reach temperatures of 700 degrees.

PTFE fumes certainly effect birds and other small animals and there is evidence they effect humans. Studies report flu-like symptoms experienced by people who are near fumes from nonstick pans. The Environmental Protection Agency has even given the syndrome a name: polymer fume fever.

Other studies show that even higher temperatures cause the release of several other types of toxic gases.

All cookware with nonstick coatings can have the same problems, according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG). More information on the Teflon™ studies is available from the EWG.

Coming soon: How to choose safe cookware.

If you’ve always followed the religion of annual mammograms and now you’re confused by recent government guidelines recommending fewer mammograms over a woman’s lifetime, you’ve come to the right place.

This is the second part of a three-part series that began with an article discussion the dangers of mammograms.

Thermogvrams are a safe and effective alternative to mammograms.

Here’s some information on thermograms from The Secret of Health: Breast Wisdom, a book I wrote two years ago with Dr. Ben Johnson:

Thermography is absolutely the best preventive tool because it can pick up a potential problem long before a mammogram might, yet, unlike a mammogram, it is noninvasive, painless and exposes you to no radiation.

Thermography has been FDA approved for more than 30 years and can be used for all types of body tissue, not breasts alone. A thermogram offers information about your breasts that no other technology can provide. Its best use is as a preventive tool to track a woman’s breast health over a period of years and to catch potential problems before they become big problems.

Thermography is an infrared heat digital imaging system. The machine does not even touch your skin. It shows color images of heat in the tissue and gray scale, which shows vascularity or circulation in the breast.

How thermography works

A thermogram is made by a specialized type of digital camera that captures an image of the circulation of blood in your tissues. Having a thermogram is as easy as having your picture taken.

Normal tissue has a blood supply that is under the control of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The ANS can either increase or decrease blood flow to cells. Abnormal (cancerous and pre-cancerous) tissue, on the other hand, ensures its own survival by secreting chemicals that override this ANS regulation, thereby ensuring its own steady blood supply. Cancer can be thought of as being “off the power grid” of the body.

A thermogram monitors changes in circulation that can signal the presence of a tumor.

Thermogram benefits

Breast thermography does not diagnose breast cancer. Instead, it detects changes in breast tissue that indicate the presence of cancer or pre-cancerous states.

Breast thermography has several unique abilities that make it well worth your while:

• It can give tumor warning signals far in advance, up to ten years ahead of invasive tumor growth.
• Unlike after-the-fact warning when a tumor is already present like you’d get with a mammogram, ultrasound, MRI or CT scan, thermography can assess a woman’s risk of developing a tumor and can also assess her hormonal status.
• It can also distinguish between fibrocystic breasts and cancerous tumors.
• It can examine breasts with implants, which cannot be adequately screened with routine mammography because the compression could damage the implant and because the implant can actually block the view of deeper parts of the breast.
• It is effective for breasts of all sizes. Women with very small, very large breasts or very dense often do not receive adequate images from mammograms.
• The rate of false negatives and false positives is less than 10 percent, much better than for mammograms.

What an abnormal thermogram means

Women with a family history of breast cancer are at greater risk of developing the disease, but 75 percent of women who get breast cancer have no family history of the disease. Regardless of your family history, if your thermogram is abnormal, you run a future risk of breast cancer that is 10 times higher than someone with a first degree relative (mother, sister or daughter) with the disease.

Thermography is the only technology to provide women with a future risk assessment.

The luxury of time

If a thermogram shows a woman is at risk of developing breast cancer, this can be a warning she needs to work to improve her breast health.

Monitoring with regular check-ups and thermography will show improvements with time or possibly the earliest signs that a problem may exist. This information lets a woman and her doctor know when or if there is a risk of a problem developing and measures like those we discuss in this book can be taken to prevent a tumor from growing and spreading.

Since one of the greatest risk factors for the development of breast cancer is total lifetime exposure to estrogen, normalizing the balance of the hormones in the breast may be the first and most significant step in prevention. Breast thermography is the only known non-invasive procedure that can detect estrogen dominance in the breasts.

Correct hormone imbalances

If a woman’s thermographic images suggest a relative progesterone deficiency (estrogen dominance), treatment of this condition may play an important role in prevention.

With treatment from her doctor, a woman can use this information to balance the hormones in her breasts. Follow-up thermograms are compared to the baseline estrogen dominant images as part of the treatment monitoring process.

All women can benefit from thermography, but those between the ages of 30 and 50 have the best results because their breast tissues are more dense than those of older women and therefore other screening methods can be less exact.

Watch for more tomorrow on what to expect when you get a thermogram.

–Kathleen Barnes

Despite the outcry that fewer mammograms will kill women, the truth is that mammograms endanger your health.

I’ve talked about the dangers of mammograms and the
benefits of thermograms in the first two articles in this series.

If you’ve decided to schedule a thermogram, congratulations!

If you’re not sure yet or you don’t know where to get one, read more here.

Here’s what to expect when you have a thermogram.

Preparing for a thermogram

1. Avoid natural or artificial tanning for one week prior to your thermogram.
2. Refrain from saunas, steam baths, and hot or cold packs for at least 24 hours prior to your thermogram. Do not bathe, shower, or exercise during the hour prior to your thermogram appointment. Wait for 36 hours after a high fever before having a thermogram.
3. Refrain from using any tobacco products and consuming any caffeine including caffeinated coffee, tea, or sodas for two hours prior to your thermogram.
4. Remove large jewelry prior to imaging; however, small necklaces actually enable the thermogram technician to sharpen the focus of your thermogram.
6. Avoid shaving your underarms or applying any underarm deodorants or antiperspirants in addition to all powders, creams, or lotions on your arms or chest on the day of your thermogram.
7. Do not exercise, or engage in any activities that will increase your blood pressure.
8. Do not smoke or drink alcohol for a minimum of 24 hours before your appointment.
9. Take only medications that you take regularly. Your physician can give you further information.
10. Wear comfortable clothing that covers your arms and legs to your appointment. A lose button-front shirt is great.
11. Avoid confrontation or emotional stress on the day of your thermogram. That can quite literally raise your skin temperature.

What happens during an exam

When you arrive at your appointment, you be asked to take off all clothing and jewelry above the waist.

You may be asked to wait in an environmentally controlled room for about 15 minutes to get your skin temperature to a definable level.

When you are brought into the imaging room, you’ll be standing in front of the camera with your fingers clasped behind your head, elbows pointing out to the sides. Between 7 and 9 views of your breast will be taken, depending on the size of your breasts.

A second set of images is sometimes taken after your hands have been submerged in cold water for one minute.

Results

Your thermogram will be read by a licensed thermologist and, usually, by your doctor as well. Breast thermograms receive one of five ratings that range from TH1 (no detectable thermal abnormalities) to TH5 (detection of thermal abnormalities correlating with very significant risk for breast cancer).

Any positive result signals a need for further evaluation. Early thermal abnormalities may result in a recommendation to repeat thermography for comparison in 60-120 days.

Depending on the thermology rating and other forms of evaluation, a referral may be made for targeted ultrasound or to a breast specialist.
Doctors trained in holistic medicine may also recommend nutritional, metabolic, environmental, or lifestyle interventions to address early thermal abnormalities.

Cost of a thermogram

The cost of the thermograms is reasonable, generally between $100 and $200, depending on where you live.

Many insurance companies will cover thermography, but since there seems to be an endless variety of insurance plans, be sure to check with your insurer and the provider of the thermogram.

If your insurance plan includes “out-of-network” and non standard-of-care benefits, you will probably receive some insurance reimbursement. Your insurance company may require a referral from your doctor or pre-approval or authorization.

For your doctor’s information, the billing code (known as a CPT code) is 93762. Knowing this number will help you get reimbursement.

If you’re at high risk…

If you are at high risk for breast cancer (biggest risk: breast cancer in your mother or sister and, if you know, the presence of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes) or if you underwent radiation therapy of the chest, your doctor and your insurance company agree that annual MRI screening is warranted. An estimated 1.4 million American women fall into this category, but that doesn’t mean their health insurance companies . will automatically cover the $1,500-$4,000 cost of an MRI. Prepare for at least a minor skirmish, if not a major battle, to get an MRI if you and your doctor think it is necessary.

Some ammo for your battle: Guidelines from the American Cancer Society recommend annual MRI scans in addition to mammograms for all women at high risk of developing breast cancer, starting at age 30.

–Kathleen Barnes
co-author, with Dr. Ben Johnson, of The Secret of Health: Breast Wisdom(Morgan James, 2007)

The new government recommendation that women don’t need mammograms before age 50 and then only every two years is a smart one, but not for the reasons cited by the government panel.

The whole thing is explained in simple terms in a book I wrote with Dr. Ben Johnson two years ago.

Here’s an excerpt from The Secret of Health: Breast Wisdom (Morgan James 2007):

Doctors and the medical community have pounded this into our heads throughout our reproductive lives:

We think mammograms are highly detrimental to your body, mind and spirit. We recommend that you avoid them at all costs.

Fortunately there is a safe and effective alternative to mammograms that few of know about, let alone our doctors.

I’ll post in detail about thermograms tomorrow. Stay tuned.

–Kathleen Barnes

Yes, everybody’s talking about the swine flu and whether or not we should get vaccinations or even if they’ll be available.

I’m not going to go elaborate on the politics of the vaccine and the profits Big Pharma is going to make on the vaccines without any liability, thanks to protection from liability given to pharmaceutical companies by the U.S. Congress.

We all want to stay healthy.

The best way to stay healthy is to embrace a healthy lifestyle and keep your immune system strong. It all sounds so very simple. It is!

Yet we are all exposed to viruses and sometimes they get the better of us. I remember that dreadful year my husband taught elementary school when we couldn’t seem to crawl out from under the increasing heap of fast mutating viruses until school was mercifully dismissed for the summer.

We all know now about handwashing and coughing into our sleeves to prevent the spread of viruses. It goes without saying that you’re eating a healthy diet and getting lots of exercise, right?

Here are four ways you may not have encountered that will help strengthen your immune system and help you fight off viruses when they come your way:

1. Salt water washes: Dissolve a teaspoon of unrefined sea salt into a cup of warm water. Gargle morning and night and wash out your nose. If you’re able to use a neti pot or “drink” the water through your nose from a glass, do so. If not, dip a Q-tip in the salt water (after your gargle, please!) and thoroughly swab out your nose twice a day.

2. Get some sunshine: Vitamin D is one of the most effective immune system enhancers known and sunshine is the best way for your body to manufacture the vitamin D that provides a plethora of health benefits, including immune system enhancement. True enough, it’s hard to get enough sunshine in the dead of winter, which is one of the reasons why we are more susceptible to viruses at this time of year. In that case, vitamin D supplementation is the way to go. Dr. Joe Mercola recommends at least 3,000 IU of Vitamin D3 a day at this time of year and more if you have chronic illnesses.

3. Get enough sleep: Studies has shown that people who get fewer than seven hours of sleep a night are three times more likely to catch a cold or flu. If you get sick, it will take longer for your to recover if you don’t adhere to the seven-plus hours of shuteye every night.

4. Try Thieves Oil: This powerful blend of essential oils is reputed to have protect grave robbers form catching the bubonic plague during the Middle Ages. True or not, this sweetly scented blend does really seem to help if you rub it on your temples, under your nose or even gargle with a few drops of the oil added to water a couple of time a day. I’ve found Thieves especially effective in confined places, like the airplanes I needed to ride, somewhat unwillingly, four times in the past three weeks. You can also buy Thieves blends in cleaning products, hand soap, toothpaste and more. Here’s here you can find Thieves.

–Kathleen Barnes

This puts 26.1 percent of the overall population at accelerated risk of cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer because of their excess weight.

Obesity numbers inching upwards

Those numbers keep inching upwards, up .5% from 25.6% in 2007 to 26.1% in 2008.

Even more shocking, the CDC says more than two-thirds of American are overweight (defined as a body mass index of 25 or more).

African-Americans bear the greatest burden of the obesity epidemic, with 80 percent of African-American women either overweight or obese and a 51 percent obesity rate, followed by Mexican-American women with an overweight/obesity rate of 73%.

Obesity is defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a body mass index of 30 or higher.
[Find a Body Mass Index (BMI) calculator based on height and weight.

Causes of obesity, according to conventional docs

Conventional medical doctors attribute this alarming increase to our transformation into a nation of fast-food chomping couch potatoes.

There is certainly some truth to that as recent statistics show that two-thirds of us eat less than two servings of fruit a day and 73% of us don’t get the minimum three servings of vegetables, the foundations of a healthy diet. Sadly, those statistics actually include French fries as a vegetable!

And 37 percent of us admit that we do not engage in any physical activity or exercise at all.

We know there is no “magic bullet,” or magic pill that will cause you to shed pounds overnight.

Underlying cause: systemic imbalances

However, a variety of biological imbalances can cause overeating and slow metabolism, according to Dr. Hyla Cass, who wrote 8 Weeks to Vibrant Health: A Take Charge Plan for Women (Take Charge Books 2008) with me.

“Conventional doctors are thinking in a linear manner; that is calories ingested minus calories burned = leftover calories that turn into fat,” says Dr. Cass. “There`s far more to weight gain than that, since we all burn calories differently based on our individual body`s metabolic efficiency.”

Dr. Cass urges her patients to look at their food intake and their exercise out put and ask themselves, “If you`re eating too much , why? If you’re not exercising enough, why not?”

The answer clearly lies in a systemic imbalance, she says.

Among the causes of overweight, says Dr. Cass, are hormonal fluctuations, thyroid malfunction chronic adrenal overload, unbalanced blood sugar food allergies, neurotransmitter imbalances that lead to uncontrolled food cravings and even bad genetics.

Finally, Dr. Cass says, explore the possibility you have one of these systemic imbalances and find a health care practitioner who will help.

“You are not to blame if you are overweight. But you`re responsible for taking the steps to solve the problem.”

Sources:

http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html

http://www.cdc.gov/NCCdphp/publications/AAG/obesity.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/defining.html

http://www.cdc.gov/mmWR/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5610a2.htm

http://famellist.info/?p=29404

More and more studies are verifying the benefits of vitamin D for everyone at all stages of life and underscoring the premise that the majority of us are “D” deficient.

Recent contributions at both ends of life include a London School of Medicine study that adds to the evidence that higher vitamin D blood levels from supplements slow the aging process and the progress of age-related diseases.

There are several new studies on vitamin D and children. One of the most interesting shows that vitamin D deficiency appears to contribute to insulin resistance in obese African-American teenage girls. What’s more, increasing vitamin D levels can improve glucose tolerance, say researchers at the University of Alabama in Birmingham.

And according to a new Boston University study, vitamin D deficiency itself may be a contributor to the obesity epidemic among teenagers.

Mounting evidence for Vitamin D

There seems to be absolutely no question that most of us need more vitamin D and that getting sufficient amounts of the sunshine vitamin will provide protection against a host of deadly disease, perhaps even prolong your life.

I’ll be going into this information in greater detail in coming weeks as I prepare to publish a new book on the sunshine vitamin that is being kept in the dark. I promise you’ll learn everything about how vitamin D contributes to everything from healthy bones to a strong immune system to blood sugar balance and long life.

Get more sunshine

The message I want to convey today, here in the middle of summer, is how important sun exposure is to you vitamin D status.

The human body cannot manufacture vitamin D. It must get D from outside sources, and the sun is the best source. Best of all, it’s free!

You can get vitamin D from some foods and many foods, including dairy products, now have vitamin D added.

But why not get it from the sun when it’s so easy?

Ditch the sunscreen—for short exposures

The skin cancer scare has become a double-edged sward. While most light-skinned people need protection from long exposure to the sun, brief unprotected exposures will give you the vitamin D your body so desperately needs.

You don’t need a lot: Just go out for a 15-minute walk three times a week sans sunscreen. Be sure at least your face and arms are exposed and better yet, your legs, too.

Even if you’re very light-skinned, you won’t get burned in those brief exposures, but you will drink in that life-giving vitamin D.

Your body can store vitamin D or a certain period of time, so now in August you can store up your vitamin D against the winter when you’re not very enthusiastic about walking around coat-less and the sun’s rays are much weaker anyway.

Even if you’re really bulked up on your D levels, you’ll be running low by January or February. Low vitamin D levels have been shown to negatively affect mood, and that’s why many of us get the mid-winter blues. That’s nothing a week at the beach won’t cure, but if that’s not in your budget or work schedule, try some supplements.

Vitamin D supplements

All vitamin D supplements are not created equal. The natural form is vitamin D3 (cholecaliciferol), the type your body makes with sun exposure.

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition says that vitamin D3 is the most powerful and most effective form of he vitamin, but, sadly, admits that most doctors prescribe formulations of vitamin D2 (ergocaliciferol), which has fewer beneficial effects and a shorter shelf life.

You’ll need to have your blood levels of vitamin D tested to determine if and how much of a supplement you should take. If you do, insist on a D3 formulation.

Better yet, get out there in the sun whenever you can.

–Kathleen Barnes