Thanks for visiting my blog.  I started this blog to explore some issues related to women’s health and wellness.  My real interest lies in alternative medicine, but I am open to exploring all new ideas and learning about treatments that are out there for women. I just graduated from college a couple of years ago, and am currently a massage therapist. I am thinking in the coming years I may study something like acupuncture or nutrition. I don’t know yet. Since I am only 23, I will just leave my options open for now!

A few years ago, my grandmother died of breast cancer. At that time I was inspired to consider what sort of treatments might have helped her that she didn’t receive. For example, I recently read that breast cancer could be effectively treated with Vitamin D! Now that is something my grandmother would have never been told about my her doctors.  According to researchers at Moores Cancer Center at the University of California (USCD) over half a million people’s cases of breast and colorectal cancers could be prevented each year with increased levels of Vitamin D.

Have you ever checked out Dr. Mercola’s website? He definitely has lots of trippy news and insights about health.  Check out this link if you want to hear what he says about Vitamin D treating breast cancer.  He says that Vitamin D definiciency is a “pandemic” among Americans.  He says also that people with darker skin are likely to have deficiencies. We are Italian-American, so I am thinking that might apply to my grandmother who had a darker skin tone than I do. But I guess this problem is really prevalent with African American Women who are of childbearing age.

So what foods have Vitamin D in them?  It turns out that few foods are rich in Vitamin D.  Most people get their Vitamin D from cereals that are fortified with the vitamin. In my opinion, that just is not as good as getting the vitamin from its natural source.

So you can get it from drinking Fish Liver Oil. Yum, right?    Also it can be found in (got this list from Wikipedia)

Fatty fish species, such as:
Herring, 85g (3 oz) provides 1383 IU

Catfish, 85g (3 oz) provides 425 IU

Salmon, cooked, 3.5 oz provides 360 IU

Mackerel, cooked, 3.5 oz, 345 IU

Sardines, canned in oil, drained, 1.75 oz, 250 IU

Tuna, canned in oil, 3 oz, 200 IU

Eel, cooked, 3.5 oz, 200 IU

One whole egg, provides 20 IU

Beef liver, cooked, 3.5 ounces, provides 15 IU

I like going out for sushi, so I guess that list makes me think I need to get my boyfriend to take me out more often! After all, Eel is actually pretty good when you are consuming sushi.

Also Vitamin D is produced by the body when exposed to sunlight. Good thing I live in sunny California. Anyway, I was researching this whole topic on google, when I realized there is a book about this issue called The Vitamin D Cure. You can get it on Amazon for $13 or so. I will let you know what I think after I have read it.

My blog is going to continue to explore issues like this, so please check back tomorrow for more!