Contents Acknowledgments Authors’ Note Preface to the Revised Edition Introduction Part One: The Wonders of Vitamin D Chapter 1: Most of Us Need Way More Vitamin D Looking at Your Health Issues Vitamin D Helps a Lot Shooting Down Myths Chapter 2: How Vitamin D Works Properties of Vitamin D The Sun and Vitamin D Chapter 3: The Diet–Vitamin D Connection Neutralizing the Acid Why You Need Magnesium, Too How to Get Enough Magnesium and Potassium Part Two: The Vitamin D Cure Five-Step Plan Chapter 4: Step One: Find Out How Much Vitamin D You Need Keep Your D Level Above Thirty-Something Understanding the Seasons of Vitamin D Seasons of the Sun Why the Vitamin D Cure Works Finding Your Yardstick Chapter 5: Step Two: Sun and Supplement Your Way to Great D Levels Using Sunlight to Increase Your Vitamin D How Much Vitamin D Do You Need? One Size Does Not Fit All Vitamin D Is Critical for Kids Tips on Buying Vitamin D Supplements Stay Away from Too Much Vitamin A Chapter 6: Step Three: Reduce Your Acid Excess by Changing Your Diet Survey What You Eat The Balancing Act Eat the Right Stuff Breakfast Management Lunch to Go Doing Dinner Right Cutting Salt Sampling Vegetables How about Nuts and Seeds? Vitamin D Cure Two-Week Meal Plan Vitamin D Cure Recipes Chapter 7: Step Four: Cover Your Bases with Other Supplements Nutrients You Need Knowing What to Take Chapter 8: Step Five: Add a Little Exercise Vitamin D Boosts Your Exercise Benefits Vitamin D Helps You Get the Job Done Exercise Boosts Your Vitamin D The Vitamin D Cure No-Sweat Workout The Final Stretches Cardio Up for Better Health Mantra Your Way through Workouts Part Three: The Vitamin D Cure for Total Health Chapter 9: The Vitamin D Cure for Obesity, High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, and Heart Disease Fighting the Metabolic Syndrome The Truth about Being Fat Size Matters To Feel Full, Eat Protein Looking for Nutrition in All the Wrong Places Stop Your Soaring Blood Pressure Vitamin D and Diabetes A Heart-to-Heart Moment Vitamin D, Inflammation, and the Metabolic Syndrome Diet and the Metabolic Syndrome Interpreting the DASH Diet The Mediterranean Difference Going Paleolithic Moving Out of the Metabolic Syndrome Lowering Your Risk Chapter 10: The Vitamin D Cure for Mood and Memory Developing Brain Disorders Vitamin D, Diet, and Chronic Pain Blue Moods Vitamin D, Diet, Learning, and Memory Lowering Your Risk Chapter 11: The Vitamin D Cure to Optimize Your Immune System The Immune System Team Specific Protection The Perfect Storm Type 1 Diabetes Systemic Lupus Erythematosis Multiple Sclerosis Inflammatory Bowel Disease Psoriasis Rheumatoid Arthritis Infections Cranking Out Protection Lowering Your Risk Chapter 12: The Vitamin D Cure to Help Prevent and Treat Cancer Breast Cancer Prostate Cancer Colorectal Cancer Skin Cancer Diet and Cancer Lowering Your Risk Chapter 13: The Vitamin D Cure for Your Bones, Joints, and Teeth The Calcium Balancing Act Pain Osteoarthritis How Vitamin D Impacts Osteoarthritis Gout and Pseudogout Strength and Coordination Issues Protein and Strength Why Do Bones Break? Protein for Good Bones Exercising for Bone Health Rickets and Osteomalacia Good Bones, Good Teeth Kidney Stones Lowering Your Risk Chapter 14: Your Most Important Health Move Ever The Big Picture Appendix A: Vitamin D Cure Questions and Answers Appendix B: The Right Vitamin D Tests Appendix C: Acid-Producing Levels of Different Foods References Recommended Reading Index Copyright © 2012 by Words That Heal LLC. All rights reserved Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada Credits: graphs on page 37 adapted from the NOAA/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; map on page 123 adapted from the Centers for Disease Control. 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