How to Get Your Sunshine From a Bottle

By Jon Herring

Vitamin D is absolutely vital to your health - and it's nearly impossible to get enough of it from your diet. Very few foods contain much vitamin D at all. That's why I've said that cod liver oil is the "best and most concentrated food source" of this nutrient.

It is the best "food source." But I did not mean to suggest that cod liver oil is your best "supplemental" source of vitamin D. (Your primary source should always be the sun.) A question from ETR reader KC makes the point:

"Isn't the amount of vitamin A in cod liver oil toxic if you were to take the recommended amount of vitamin D?"

Cod liver oil does contain both vitamin D and vitamin A. And while vitamin A plays an essential role in vision, bone health, and the immune system, too much of it can be harmful. The Institute of Medicine suggests that the tolerable upper intake level (UL) is 10,000 IU per day for an adult. I believe this number is grossly conservative. (It would take a lot more than that to harm you.) But the fact is that if you take enough cod liver oil to meet your daily requirements for vitamin D, you would exceed the UL for vitamin A.

So why take the risk, when it is so easy to supplement with vitamin D? Most supplements have only 400 IU, which makes it inconvenient to get the 3,000 to 5,000 units you need. But Carlson Labs makes gel caps with 2,000 IU or 4,000 IU. That's what I recommend when you're not able to enjoy as much sun as you need.

[Ed. Note: Jon Herring, a copywriter for Early to Rise, is co-author, with Dr. Al Sears, of the book Your Best Health Under the Sun. Discover how the healing power of sunlight can improve your mood, increase your fitness, and protect you against dozens of diseases, including cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.]

It's Good to Know: The Musical Road

Could iPods, CD players, and satellite radio be in danger of becoming obsolete? Probably not. But there's a new way to get your music fix while driving. In Japan, so-called "melody roads" are specially designed with grooves and bumps. If you drive over them at the optimal speed of 28 mph, you will hear a series of music-like high and low notes resonating in your car.

So far, there are three of these music roads in Japan, including a stretch that plays 30 seconds of a Japanese pop song.

(Source: The Guardian)

Word to the Wise: Inculcate

To "inculcate" (in-KUL-kate) is to teach and impress by frequent repetition or instruction. The word is from the Latin for "to force upon."

Example (as used by T.V. Rajan in an issue of The Scientist): "It is difficult, if not impossible, to inculcate in those who do not want to know, the curiosity to know; I think it is also impossible to kill this need in those who really want to know."

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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2267, 02-01-08], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.

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