I read that B12 manufacturing in the body can be destroyed by eating a lot of frozen foods. I eat a lot of frozen strawberries because they are much cheaper to get in big quantities frozen. I blend them with bananas. Typically i have myself about 200g of frozen strawberries every day, sometimes more. Should I stop that? Is it okay to put them in the fridge instead?

I live in Iceland and at this time of year there is absolutely no sun to have. So on an 100% raw vegan diet I can't get any D-vitamins naturally. So I have myself 1 teaspoon of fish oil a day which gives me all the D-vitamin needed for the day. What are your thoughts on that? Should I go to tanning beds instead? And if yes, how often do I need to go if I'm not to get D-vitamin deficiency? Does taking one teaspoon of fish oil a day reduce the benefits of a 100% raw vegan diet a lot?

>What are your thoughts on that?

You can take D2, which is not sourced from animals, instead. Many soymilks are fortified with it, or you can take a pill or tablet. It's also in mushrooms.

>Should I go to tanning beds instead?

Not if you wish to avoid wrinkles and sags.

>Does taking one teaspoon of fish oil a day reduce the benefits of a 100% raw vegan diet a lot?

Yes to that because the fish doesn't have to give up its liver and life.

You are a sheep farming nation, right? See if you can get cholecalciferol[D3] capsules of lanolin harvested from sheep's wool. It's not vegetarian, but is marginally moreso than fish liver oil is. Also, there is a home tanning bed product that emits only UVB rays, which penetrate the epidermis but do not activate the melanin to tan it. They merely induce your body to photosynthesize Vit D. The system is called Sun Splash, and is, unfortunately, costly. But it has been clinically reviewed and deemed effective. I don't know whether it's distributed outside of the U.S.; you could Google it. Good luck and stay warm!

Tamukha Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
"...Also, there is a home tanning bed product that emits only UVB rays, which penetrate the epidermis but do not activate the melanin to tan it. They merely induce your body to photosynthesize Vit D. The system is called Sun Splash, and is, unfortunately, costly. But it has been clinically reviewed and deemed effective. I don't know whether it's distributed outside of the U.S...."


Hi Tamukha!
Interesting, please can you elaborate more on the "only UVB rays emitting home tanning bed product"...?
---have you used it?
---do you know of any other who shared the experiences on this with you?

Interesting thing, I would benefit from extra vitamin D as well as i live in North hemisphere...

Thanks for your sharing,





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/25/2008 05:05PM by justin1.

Justin1,

Haven't used the Sun Splash system, but have heard good things about it over the years from chiropractors and such. I am thinking of getting one, as winter comes earlier and earlier every year here in Michigan, and I'd rather not have a brain disorder! I was looking into it for a family friend, who has had skin cancer and has been told to avoid the sun. We now know that synthesized Vitamin D in one's own tissues is one of the best skin cancer protectants, so it's counter-intuitive to deprive yourself of all ultraviolet radiation if you've had cancer! The B spectrum is considered safe. Please Google the manufacturer, Sun Splash to find out more about it and whether it or something with the same technology is available in Scandinavia. There should be, as your people have a long acquaintance with sunlight deprivation. The main distributor here in the Upper Midwest is Dr.Mercola, whose website you may go to to learn more about tanless sun systems: [v.mercola.com] Good luck!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/25/2008 08:30PM by Tamukha.

For those who wish to take a food source vegan D3, you don't have to take synthetic vitamin D2 or cod liver oil

[awakenedshoppe.com]

Ariel, thanks for the link.

I didn't know that S. cerevisiae could produce D3 in appreciable quantities. I am skeptical, though. I can't find any confirmation, no patent or anything like that, aside from a brief news blurb about a Chinese process. I wish there was more information. The company that produces the food concentrate, Durham, doesn't have any patents that I can find and the website is just a splash page that doesn't go anywhere.

I know, arugula, I was thinking the same thing. Also, the source for the CoQ10 in the formula? It's a Cousens' Tree of Life product, but . . .

I still maintain that, being mammals, we should get our D from ultraviolet rays.

Not me, I don't want to have to get a facelift someday. I am vain.

Judging from your posts, I'm sure you aren't vain, arugula, and if it's any consolation: my mother tanned for many years and still looked younger than she was. It's also likely that all that tanning kept genetically predetermined cancer at bay until she was in her late sixties; even given lots of other contributing factors. She lived much longer than expected after diagnosis, and even her doctors assumed her determination to get lots of sunshine helped. I never doubt anymore that proper stores of Vitamin D can prevent one's death. Since early childhood, I've hated being out in the sun, but have totally reconsidered my intrinsic aversion in the last few years.

I am sceptical of vitamin D supplements full stop and the masses amounts some supplement companies recommend ie 10 000 ius a day,yet even rickets is cured on a small amount of vit d so why would people who do nt hve rickets need large amounts of vitamin D, that makes me suspicious. If people are deficient it is almost certainly life style, ie working inside and not getting enough sun in summer. I don't buy that because it is winter in the UK people get so deficient they get ill, if that were true the human race would have died out long ago. Still I reckon a vegan D3 that is plant based and natural is better than synthetic D2, most fish oils molecularly distill the oil turning it rancid and destroy naturally occurring vitamin A and D so they add synthetic vitamin A and D to it, also fish oil is probably mercury and other heavy metal contaminated. Blue ice is a fermented cold pressed naturally occuring vitamins A and D fish oil

I just can't help thinking that some deficiencies are probably a result of 30 years pushing sunscreens by guess who, the pharmaceutical companies of course, and now they are pushing vit d supplements. Most supplements are owned by pharmaceutical companies despite the name on the bottle. [vibrationalgaiarising.com] Supplements don't work in the same way as the sun. Supplemental vitamin d raises calcium levels,and can cause calcionosis, calcium deposits in the organs and joints, the sun does not.

A sun lamp is probs next best choice after sun



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/28/2008 09:34AM by Ariel55.

i concord totally with a previous writer Ariel55

in north during winter time sun is quite low during all day, so i use every opportunity to sungaze (gaze at the sun) to "charge" my "batteries",

and i see the same instinctive behavior from people all around turning their faces and eyes right in to the sun, specially during cold periods and winter.

i think sungazing here and there a few times a week should be enough to supply with needed sunlight to produce vitamin D.

then, at summer time, the more i expose myself to the sun... to recatch and refill my sunlight deposits...

Interesting thread. I had my doctor test my vitamin B12 and D levels after one year 100% raw. B12 was fine, but I was quite low on Vitamin D. I live in Minnesota. I understand that 20 minutes of sun daily is all we need for our vitamin D needs, but that means more than just our face. I am outside frequently, but in winter only my face is exposed. Also, the sun is so low that often houses and trees shade us from it. I started taking a vegan D, but really don't like processed stuff listed in the ingredients. The above link on the food source D seemed too full of processed ingredients, too. Fish oil sounds too gross when you eat a clean raw vegan diet. It seems that our choices are limited in this imperfect world.

Newsflash, D2 is just as effective as D3.
[www.sciencedaily.com]

Mushrooms make it. You don't have to kill a fish or your skin to get it.

Wow, am I reading this map right.
[www.cdc.gov]

It lists the rate of skin cancer by state and it shows the Pacific Northwest area as having the HIGHEST skin cancer rates. FYI, the Pacific Northwest area is one of the most cloudy areas in the country as this article talks about. What gives?

[www.komonews.com]
How Many Sunny Days Do We Get Each Year?

SEATTLE - Those new to the area this summer, with its seemingly endless sunshine, might be surprised that Seattle only averages 58 sunny days a year. That's seventh-least in the U.S. of cities that report official climate data, and as you might expect, other Pacific Northwest cities dot the list.
But I bet you can't guess the least-sunny place in the U.S.

With just 48 sunny days a year, it's Elkins, West Virginia, just edging out Astoria, Oregon which has 50.

As for the rest of Seattle's days, we average 226 cloudy days (4th most in the U.S.) and 81 partly cloudy days. Of all those days, we get 155 days of rain a year (we've had 97 so far this year.)

Incidentally, Seattle is on pace this year -- having just under 40 sunny days so far this year.

Lillianswan, the link between malignant melanoma and sun isn't nearly as direct as the link between basal or squamous cell carcinoma and the sun.

Malignant melanoma is probably due to strong germline (inherited) problems and risk is related to preexisting moles. Also the UV risk that does exist is probably more due to UVA than UVB, and UVA doesn't vary as much geographically as UVB does.

Basals and squamous cancers, the nondeadly ones, which are much more common, are very strongly related to UVB. These are the ones that can disfigure but usually don't kill. Most older people get them as things cut out or burned off. Nearly everyone will get them if we live long enough, regardless of where we live, but the people with the highest exposure who are freckly redheads or blue eyed blondes will get them soonest.

Also, basal and squamous skin cancers aren't tracked in the same way as other types of cancers, but you would definitely see the map you expected if they were.