If you have jumped on the vitamin D3 bandwagon and begin to find yourself struggling with strange new symptoms, it may be that your magnesium level is low and the vitamin D intake is making it worse. While vitamin D is very important, and most people seem to be deficient in it now that most of us stay indoors so much and wear sunscreen when we go out, D3 has to be taken in balance particularly with magnesium, vitamin A, vitamin K2, and calcium.

In Dr. Carolyn Dean's newsletter, a client reports, "After being on the D3 at dosage of only 2000mg per day I started having cramps, heart palpitations, fatigue, insomnia, high blood pressure (I had always had low BP ) and many other problems. I thought it was the D3 so I stopped and started doing research to find that you never take D3 without mag. If your magnesium level is already low the D3 will use up more of your magnesium and cause all kinds of problems." (Note: the same is true of vitamins A and K2)

If you have heart problems, Lyme disease, blood sugar imbalance, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, frequent cramps, headaches, constipation, or insomnia, you are very likely to be low in magnesium; most people are. You may want to stop taking D3 for awhile so you can get your magnesium level back in balance. To raise your intake of magnesium, try taking magnesium citrate until your symptoms disappear, also include lots of high magnesium foods to keep your level high.

Here are some of the foods highest in magnesium: Green leafy vegetables, especially spinach, seaweeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, broccoli, almonds, cashews, oat bran, and brown rice (though rice has been found to be high in arsenic, so limit your intake), skimmed milk, kefir and yogurt, bananas, raisins, figs, ocean fish (not fried), black beans, kidney beans.

While we are on the subject of balancing nutrients with vitamin D, let's take a look at vitamin K2. Ideally, we would create enough vitamin K2 in our gastrointestinal tract by converting the vitamin K1 from leafy greens to vitamin K2, IF we never took antibiotics or ate sugary treats or flour products that disrupt gut flora, and IF we ate those leafy greens with high quality oils (such as olive or coconut oil) which help in K1 absorption.

Since most of us do not meet those criteria, our next best sources of Vitamin K2 are animal products like egg yolks and butter, but only from animals raised on green pasture. Is that why I was guided to start eating eggs after I tried a vegan diet for awhile? The only reliable vegan source of K2 is natto, a fermented soy product that might be an acquired taste. It doesn't look appealing to me with all its gooey strings, but apparently it is eaten widely in Japan.

In a recent newsletter, Dr. Mercola states that: "vitamin K2 can be broken into two additional categories, called:
    * MK-4 (menaquinone-4), a short-chain form of vitamin K2 found in butter, egg yolks, and animal-based foods
    * MK-7 (menaquinone-7), longer-chain forms found in fermented foods. There's a variety of these long-chain forms but the most common one is MK-7. This is the one you'll want to look for in supplements, because in a supplement form, the MK-4 products are actually synthetic. They are not derived from natural food products containing MK-4. The MK-7 – these long-chain, natural bacterial-derived vitamin K2 – is from a fermentation process..."

Mercola states that it is possible to ferment your own vegetables using the proper starter culture to grow K2, and it is worth a try, but if you are already low in K2, a standardized supplement would probably be the best place to start.

Dr. Kate Rheaume-Bleue, a leading expert on vitamin K2 metabolism, suggests that for every 1,000 IU's of vitamin D you take, you may benefit from about 100 micrograms of K2, and perhaps as much as 150-200 micrograms (mcg). No toxic effects have ever been demonstrated for Vitamin K2, so don't worry about getting too much.

Deficiency symptoms for K2 are:

* Boost emotional well-being
* Increase longevity
* Fight cardiovascular disease
* Keep us slim

And here is a little tidbit from the article that I didn't know: "Technically, the pulse is the seed and the legume is the pod, but for common usage the terms are interchangeable." I've been calling beans legumes for decades and I never knew I was referring to the pod! Never again.

While we were all enjoying our family gatherings and holiday dinners this week, the FDA quietly approved GMO salmon for our dinner tables. These things are monsters bred to grow twice as fast as a normal salmon! Imagine how that might affect the surviving population of wild salmon if such a creature were released into the wild.

From NaturalNews.com: "If it is released into the wild, the AquAdvantage salmon could adapt to new pray, survive in tough habitats, and reproduce much faster than its natural counterpart. Andrew Kimbrell of the Center for Food Safety concluded that 'the GE salmon has no socially redeeming value. It's bad for the consumer, bad for the salmon industry and bad for the environment.'"

What the heck? It must be good for somebody, or they wouldn't be pushing it on us. The company with a lot to gain is AquaBounty Technologies, a small American biotechnology company that stands to make a big profit from this Franken-fish. I'd have to guess that the FDA officials who approved it stand to make a bundle as well.

One thing I know is that tampering with nature always backfires. If salmon were meant to be 3 times their size, they would have evolved that way. Making them into genetic freaks will not create healthy fish or healthy food for humans or pets. So do yourself a favor, if you are going to eat salmon, make sure it is not Atlantic (all farmed) - and make sure it is not huge!

Anyone who has ever had a beloved pet already knows how much they offer in terms of companionship, love, entertainment, and affection, but did you know they can also help you live longer?

From bottomlinepublications.com - "Landmark findings: Among 92 patients hospitalized for a heart condition or heart attack, only 6% of pet (mostly dog) owners died within one year of discharge, versus 28% of people who did not own pets.

"In a study of 48 New York City stockbrokers, those who owned a dog or a cat had half the increase in blood pressure associated with stressful situations as those without pets.

"More recently, research focusing specifically on AAT [Animal Assisted Therapy] suggests that interacting with animals may have salutary effects because it increases levels of the hormone oxytocin, which is believed to have powerful effects on the body’s ability to heal and grow new cells."

After all that animals do for us, maybe it is time to start giving back a little more compassion and love, especially toward the animals who provide food. They deserve to live healthy lives in comfort and dignity, and if they must be slaughtered, there are humane ways that don't create fear and trauma. Temple Grandin has done amazing work with cattle to make their lives more comfortable, but she has only scratched the surface. Millions of animals continue to live in unthinkable filth and crowded conditions.

Just something to think about next time you order a steak or chow down on a batch of fried chicken. What kind of life did that animal experience? How much pain and misery went into your meal? When we start asking questions like this at our dinner tables, restaurants, and meat counters, our collective consciousness will change and others will start asking the same questions. That is the only way to put an end to the misery of feed lots and factory farms.

Well, I wasn't planning to get on a soapbox, but I guess that needed to be said. I really hope to see massive improvements on this issue in my lifetime.

Meanwhile, give your dog, cat, bird, horse, or whatever kind of pet you might have, an extra dose of appreciation for all they do for you. They really do a lot more than we tend to acknowledge - speaking for myself anyway. My buddy Q, the blue and gold macaw, has been with me for 20 years and I appreciate him more and more as the years go by.
Thanks Q!

Read More About the Health Benefits of Pets
http://www.bottomlinepublications.com/content/article/health-a-healing/
the-healing-power-of-animals?utm_campaign=_BQ1wZuB8vzWaMV

To read past issues of HealItAll.com Newsletter go to  
http://healitall.com/newsletterarchives.html

Bernadette Wulf is a Law of Attraction Coach, Healthy Weight Coach,
Naturopath, EFT Therapist, and Reiki Master
with a world-wide practice via phone and Internet.

Visit http://healitall.com for more information.

For Healthy Weight Coaching or Law of Attraction Coaching
contact Bernadette Wulf at wulfartist@yahoo.com
707-824-0675 (Pacific time zone)