[Melissa MarshallParticipant]

Those are all awesome suggestions. My mom has just been trying to pack her diet with foods that can lower her LDL and raise her HDL levels. She is making lifestyle changes to avoid the doctors recommendation of taking cholesterol medications. Lately I have been interested in the benefits of avocados, because I have always been told they were high in fat and not to eat them too often. But an article I recently read about Hass Avocados shows the cholesterol lowering and multiple health benefits of eating half of an avocado daily (1). Thank you for your input about the increase in exercise and probiotics as well.

1. Dreher M. Davenport A. Hass Avocado Composition and Potential Health Effects. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. 2013;53(7): 738-750.

[Melissa MarshallParticipant]

Vitamin D is such a beneficial vitamin that is vital to our overall health. It is involved in improving bone health, blood pressure, and immunity all while decreasing inflammation and reducing the risk of certain types of cancers, autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases (1,2). Vitamin D deficiency is now recognized as a very common deficiency, mainly due to lack of adequate sun exposure (1,3). The sun is the main source of vitamin D for our bodies, because there are very few foods that naturally provide sufficient amounts of bio-available vitamin D (1,3).

A correlation has been found between decreased melatonin production while taking vitamin D supplements (4). Melatonin is a hormone that helps regulate our sleep cycles as well as helps us fall asleep (4). It may be recommended on the day your husband takes the supplement to be sure to take it in the morning as to not disrupt his nighttime melatonin production. It may also be best to take the supplement on the same day every week so his levels will remain consistent over time.

Since vitamin d is the sunshine vitamin, be sure your husband is getting at least 15-20 minutes of sun during 10 am – 1 pm. This doesn’t mean tanning along the pool side, but just exposing the hands and face allows the body to produce sufficient vitamin d in that time frame (1,2,5).

1. Holick M. Sunlight and vitamin D for bone health and prevention of autoimmune diseases, cancers and cardiovascular disease. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2004; 80(6):1678-1688.

2. Kulie R, Groff A, Redmet J, Hounshell J, Schrager S. Vitamin D: An Evidence-Based Review. The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine. 2009; 22(6);698-706.

3. Holick M, Chen T. Vitamin D deficiency: a worldwide problem with health consequences. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2008;87(4):1080-1086.

4. Golan D. Staun-Ram E, Glass-Marmor L, Lavi I, Rozenberg O, et al. The influence of vitamin D supplementation on melatonin status in patients with multiple sclerosis. Brain, Behavior and Immunity. 2013;32:180-185.

5. Moan J, Grigalavicius M, Dahlback A, Baturaite Z, Jezenieve A. Ultraviolet-radiation and health: optimal time for sun exposure. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology. 2014;810:423-8.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 1 month ago by  Melissa Marshall.

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