Now that spring is here, we can all look forward to days when you walk outdoors to be greeted by bright warm sunshine. Remember how good it feels to just close your eyes and feel the warmth on your face? Well, in addition to the psychological benefits of basking in sunlight, Vitamin D adds heaps of physiological benefits too.

The effects of Sunny D (not the sugar loaded drink) have been measured over the years and proven that athletes almost always perform better in the summer. These studies eventually pointed to Vitamin D as the catalyst.

One article says:

n 1938 Russian researchers compared athletes who received UV radiation with those who did not. Both groups followed the same training programme. The UV athletes showed a progression of 7.4 percent, while the others only managed 1.7 percent. In 1944 German researchers did a similar kind of experiment with students. The students who received UV radiation treatment twice a week showed a performance improvement on the ergometer of 13 percent. The students who got no UV radiation showed no performance improvement.

Here’s an excerpt from Competitor Magazine:

Vitamin D deficiency is a growing epidemic in the U.S. and throughout the world. The deficiency causes rickets in children, osteoporosis in adults and stress fractures in athletes and has been linked to cancer, cardiovascular disease, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, type-1 diabetes mellitus and even influenza.

How much is enough?  Well, unless you have time to get at least half an hour of sunshine every day, most sites suggest between 1000 and 2000IU per day.  It really depends where your levels are now, but that requires a blood test.  Also, read the fine print on the back of the bottles, as many of them have unnecessary additives (soy, sugars, millet, etc).

REST DAY 03.28.10