Why You Need To Supplement With Vitamin D3 And Vitamin K2 This Fall

Inside: Learn why you need to supplement with vitamin d3 and vitamin k2 to keep your child’s heart and bones healthy. Plus, enter for a chance to win a vitamin d3/k2 supplement from Raise Them Well that will help you keep your child’s vitamin d level in a healthy range year round. This natural supplement not only tastes great, but it’s super easy to use and kids love it! Enter for a chance to win a bottle of vitamin d3/k2 drops at the end of this post!

When I had my first child, I felt overwhelmed with all the things I needed to learn about in order to raise him naturally. There was breastfeeding and introducing solids, there were baby skin care products and diapering choices, and of course there were choices to make about vaccines, medications, and nutritional supplements. The list could go on and on for miles!

Seeing how Judah was born in May, I had to decide fairly quickly what to do about sun exposure and whether or not to use sunscreen. 

Since he was so little, I knew I wouldn’t be exposing him to a lot of direct sunlight, but I also knew that it would be good for him to be outside a good bit, even if it was in the shade. I’d read that sunscreen wasn’t recommended for infants, mostly due to the chemicals, but what about homemade sunscreen? Would that be okay? And what about vitamin d? Would he get enough of it from the little sun he was exposed to and through breastmilk, or did I need to supplement with a vitamin d supplement?

And so, my quest for information on vitamin d began.

Vitamin D: The Basics

There’s a good bit of information out there on vitamin d and why you need it, but basically it boils down to this. 

• Vitamin d is a must-have vitamin. (Yes, you have to have it to be healthy.)
• It helps your body assimilate calcium. (Hello… strong bones, teeth, and healthy cardiovascular, nerve, and hormone function.)
• It helps your immune system to be on guard. (Think coffee to your body’s t-cells.)
• You get vitamin d via sun exposure, food, and supplements (A D3 supplement is best).

So, in my young mama mind, if I simply exposed my kiddo to the sun, unprotected, for at least 20 minutes a day and fed him healthy food, that would give him sufficient levels of vitamin d.

Sounds great, right? I mean, come on… sign this mama up! 

Unfortunately, that’s not all there is to it.

The Other Side To Vitamin D

You see, there’s more to getting the health benefits of vitamin d than simply getting the right amount of it every day (whether from the sun or a supplement). You also need sufficient amounts of vitamin k2 to get the job done right… and safely.

As you know, new research is always being done. We’re now learning that unless you live in an area where you get decent sun exposure year round and have a diet high in seafood, grass-fed meat and dairy, and fermented foods, you most likely need to supplement with vitamin d3 and vitamin k2.

K-What?

Vitamin K2 comes from a certain bacteria that’s found in some fermented foods. You can get it in healthy fats from grass-fed animals (think butter, milk, cheese, egg yolks, etc.) too. It works alongside vitamin d to help the body better assimilate calcium for healthy bones and teeth (Mercola, 2015). 

This is basically how it works. 

There’s always this fine balance or shifting of calcium in your blood stream. If blood calcium levels get too low, vitamin d triggers the bones to release calcium so there’s more of it in the blood. If blood calcium levels get too high, vitamin d triggers the body to absorb some of it and store it back in the bones (Anthony, 2006).

It’s this reabsorption of calcium that can be an issue, though. If there’s too much calcium in the blood, problems can occur with basic body functions, the bones are weaker (aka… osteoporosis), and calcium can build up in blood vessels (ever heard of hardening of the arteries??) and in soft tissue (calcifications). This is where vitamin d AND vitamin k2 come into play.

Vitamin d triggers the body to reabsorb calcium with the help of vitamin k2. Vitamin k2 binds the excess calcium in the blood stream and then directs it to where it needs to go elsewhere in the body (Mercola, 2015). They both work, together, to keep your heart and bones strong and healthy.

Is Your Kid Getting Enough Vitamin D Year Round?

So let me ask you, mama… “Is your child getting enough vitamin d.”

I asked myself this question recently, and honestly, my answer was “no.” 

You see, during the summer months, I’d say yes, for sure. I mean, we’re outside in the sun, we’re drinking raw cows milk from grass-fed cows, and we eat a good bit of seafood during the warmer months. However, as the cooler months set in, we don’t get enough sun exposure, the cows go from munching on grass all day to being supplemented with hay and sometimes grain, and we eat less food that contains vitamin d. 

Maybe You Need To Supplement With Vitamin D3 And Vitamin K2

Now, I’m not a huge fan of supplements, but as I continue to learn about nutrition and healthy eating, I can definitely see that our diet isn’t perfect and there are areas we may need some help with every now and then. 

I imagine it’s the same for you. Am I right? We’re not perfect “natural mamas.” We’re striving and pushing forward. Progress over perfection, right?

Seeing how I recently came to this realization, I’ve decided to supplement with vitamin d3 and vitamin k2 during the colder months.

Sure, we’ll still get some sun but not enough to produce sufficient levels of vitamin d. Sure, we’ll still eat some grass-fed fats and seafood but probably not enough for our vitamin d levels to be in a healthy range. This is why I’ve chosen to supplement with vitamin d3 and vitamin k2, and when it comes to my kids, I think I’ve found the perfect supplement for them!

Enter… Emily & Raise Them Well

I met Emily on Instagram. (If you’re not following me on Instagram yet, you totally should be!)

She’s a mom, like me. She strives to live a healthy lifestyle, keep the toxins to a minimum, feed her kiddos real food, and love them as best as she knows how. (Isn’t that what all of us mamas do?) However, she also knows that life isn’t perfect, that she isn’t perfect, and that living 100% naturally is a great goal to strive for, but that she needs some help along the way. And you know what? I’m right there with her. 

So, Emily and her husband (who’s also a natural-minded pediatrician) decided that they needed good quality healthy supplements to help them take better care of their kiddos (especially since it often feels impossible to eat the perfect diet). This lead them to create the company Raise Them Well. Now, I’m not going to tell you all about their company or the products they offer. If you wanna check them out, you can do so here.

Instead, I want to tell you how their company can help you keep your kiddos vitamin d levels in the right place during these upcoming cold winter months (depending on where you live of course). 

Vitamin D3/K2 Drops From Raise Them Well 

This fall and winter, in addition to our cod liver oil supplement, I’ll be giving my kids daily doses of Raise Them Well’s vitamin d3/k2 drops. Not only do these drops contain vitamin d3, but they contain vitamin k2 mk-7 as well, which is awesome. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed or not, but most children’s vitamin d supplements do not contain vitamin k2. And, as I explained above, it’s really important that if you supplement vitamin d in your child’s diet that you supplement vitamin k2 as well. 

Well, here it is, mama… all wrapped up in a nice neat little bottle. 

This vitamin d3/k2 supplement is made with non-GMO oils, it contains the USDA recommended amount of each vitamin per drop (400 IU of vitamin d3 and 10 mcg of vitamin k2), and there are 365 drops per bottle. 

Now, let me just say that I will be giving my kids more than one drop a day seeing how experts agree that 400 IU is way too low. Dr. Mercola has shared his recommendations for vitamin d dosages for different age groups here, and he also has a great map that shows how likely you are to get enough vitamin d from the sun in October if you live in the US.

Now, because I’m loving this supplement so much, I’ve asked Emily if she would partner with me and offer you the chance to win some vitamin d3/k2 drops this month so you can supplement with vitamin d3 and vitamin k2 and help keep your kiddos vitamin d levels where they should be. 

And guess what? She said yes!!

Enter To Win Some Free Vitamin D3/K2 Drops For Your Kids

Okay, if you too want to supplement with vitamin d3 and vitamin k2 to keep you kids a bit healthier during the cold winter months, this is for you.

About The Giveaway

Raise Them Well is giving away a bottle of their vitamin d3/k2 drops to two winners. This giveaway will run from today, October 20th to Thursday, October 27th. Winners will be announced right here on the giveaway form below on Friday, October 28th and contacted via email. Winners must respond with their shipping addresses by Sunday, October 30th or a new winner will be chosen. 

How To Enter

Entries are easy using the form below and nothing is mandatory. Entries vary in their value… some get your name in the bucket more than others! Some entries are 1-time entries and others you can do on a daily basis. Remember, the more entries you have, the better the chance you have of winning!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW OVER.

Best of luck, mama. Now it’s your turn!!

Do you do anything special to boost your child’s vitamin d levels during the cooler months of fall and winter? Share with me in the comments below?

REFERENCES:

• Anthony, M. (2006, April 4). Wellness Foods: Vitamin D and Calcium Work Together. Retrieved October 20, 2016, from http://www.foodprocessing.com/articles/2006/068/
• Mercola, J. (2015, June 28). Vitamin K2 Benefits: The Missing Nutrient for Heart and Bone. Retrieved October 20, 2016, from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/06/28/vitamin-k2-health-benefits.aspx#!