Worried About Urinary Incontinence? Take Vitamin D3 to Stay Out of Adult Diapers
Topping off the growing stack of great stuff vitamin D3 does for you is this good news: Keeping your D3 levels up dramatically lowers your risk for PDQ (Pee Doesn’t Quit). Yep, we're talking about incontinence.
Actually, it's called urinary incontinence. You probably call it, "Oh no." New incontinence research shows there's one thing many of the 10 million women struggling with "Oh no's" share: low levels of vitamin D3. It makes them (you?) a whopping 170% more likely to leak than those with healthy D3 levels.
Why? The vitamin may improve the muscle tone in your sphincter -- the muscle that stops dribbles -- and that could keep you out of adult diapers. By the way, men leak, too. It's just a better kept secret. (We don't know yet whether low D affects guys.) Here are some surprising statistics about overactive bladder.
The Department of Defense should be so lucky as to have such a simple way to prevent leaks.
How to be sure you're not D-ficient? A simple blood test. We like to see vitamin D blood levels between 50 and 80. If you're low (up to 75% of folks are, especially in winter), take 1,000 IU (international units) of vitamin D3 a day; 1,200 after age 60. (Vitamin D3 is the form of D your skin makes when sun hits it.) Include what's in your multivitamin and combo calcium-D3-magnesium pill. Don't go over 2,000 IU of D3 unless your doc says to. Too much can harm bones and kidneys. Find out if you're particularly likely to be low on vitamin D.
Also, take 900 milligrams of DHA omega-3s daily. These healthy fats help you absorb vitamin D3 and do good things for your heart and brain. It's not easy to get enough DHA from food.
Bonus: While helping to keep you dry (what a relief), D3 also protects you against asthma, dementia, and the flu! Discover even more vitamin D benefits.
