Vitamin D Q & A

Should children who do not drink much milk and who wear sunscreen get their blood levels of 25-vitamin D checked?

It’s not unreasonable to have your children tested if you are concerned about their being vitamin D deficient because they don’t drink milk or wear sunscreen all the time. This will help convince you and the pediatrician that the child is vitamin D deficient and requires vitamin D treatment. However, because this test is rather costly, it is recommended that children simply take 1,000 IU of vitamin D a day along with a multivitamin containing 400 IU of vitamin D a day.

Does time of day matter for recommended sun exposure?

The time of day does matter, because the angle of the sun is different. It’s very difficult to make vitamin D in the early morning or late afternoon, even I the summer, and you will make more vitamin D between noon and 2:00 P.M. than you will either make at 10:00 A.M. or 3:00 P.M.

Are there any vitamin D-stimulating lightbulbs for humans?

Vitamin D will not be produced by exposure to incandescent lightbulbs. You need to be exposed to a vitamin D-producing lamp that emits UVB radiation. Tanning beds that have fluorescent lamps also emit UVB radiation.

Does it matter whether I wear sunglasses when I expose myself to the sun?

It is recommended some face protection and sunglasses or other eye protection to reduce the risk of cataracts.

Does boiling cow’s milk destroy vitamin D?

Boiling cow’s milk will not destroy vitamin D. Vitamin D is heat stable at least up to a temperature of about 300F.

Is vitamin D better absorbed from fortified dairy or from fortified juice?

Vitamin D is equally bioavailable from fortified juice, fortified milk, and vitamin D supplement capsules.

I’ve heard that vitamin D in skim or nonfat milk isn’t as bioavailable. Is this true?

Vitamin D is just as bioavailable from skim and nonfat milk as it is from whole milk. Fat is not needed to efficiently absorb vitamin D.

Isn’t Vitamin D fat soluble? Is there a water-soluble form of vitamin D that is used to fortify orange juice and skim milk?

The vitamin D that is used in orange juice is in a micronized form that makes it water soluble. The vitamin D in skim milk is the same vitamin D that is in whole milk and is perfectly bioavailable.

Will I wash off the vitamin D I produce in my skin if I take a bath or shower within thirty minutes of being exposed to sunlight?

No. Vitamin D is made in living cells in the skin. You cannot wash it off!

USANA’s Vitamin D supplement helps to prevent vitamins D deficiency

One Pill a Day

Most of your dietary woes are soothed if every day you eat at least eight servings of fresh fruits and vegetables, six servings of whole grains, three glasses of calcium-rich milk or soy milk, and two servings of extra-lean chicken, fish or legumes. Sounds reasonable, but there’s a catch – finding anyone who does that is about as likely as trying to find someone who can walk on water.

The irony is most of us think we’re eating pretty well. A Gallop poll conducted by the American Dietetic Association found that 90% of women surveyed said their diets were healthful. Most of them are delusional, since every national nutrition survey dating from the 1960s to the present repeatedly and consistently finds that most Americans don’t come close to adequate, let alone optimal. Only one in every 100 people meet even minimum standards of the proverbial “balanced diet”.

Even if you are perfectly, no diet can realistically provide optimal amounts of certain nutrients. Take, for example,

Vitamin E. You need at least 100 IU of this vitamin daily to cut the risk for memory loss and possibly Alzheimer’s. Are you willing to eat 8 cups of almonds, ¾ cup safflower oil or 62 cups of fresh spinach every day to meet this need?

Calcium. This mineral might help soothe the grumps in women seized with PMS. In fact, as calcium intake goes up, so does mood for these women. The latest calcium recommendation to curb that bad mood is 1,000 to 1,200 milligrams daily, which is easy enough if you drink four glasses of milk or soy milk daily. For those people who shun milk, meeting this quota means consuming 6 ounces of tofu, a can of salmon with the bones, and 2 cups of black bean soup every day.

Folic acid. This B vitamin is critical to mood and memory, but even though white flour an all the junk food made from it are now fortified with folic acid, intakes still fall short for a huge section of the population. You need at least two servings every day of foods rich in folate, like greens. But when researchers at the University of California, Berkeley investigated women’s intake of dark green leafies, they found almost 9 out of 10 women failed to include even one serving on any one of four days!

Vitamin D. frankly, I don’t know where anyone gets enough of this vitamin, since even drinking four glasses of fortified milk or soy milk daily won’t meet current needs for most people, and the amount of time you must spend in direct overhead sun without sunscreen is totally unrealistic, especially in the winter. Yet not getting enough of this vitamin is a big mistake if you battle mood, memory or possibly even weight issues.

Happy, fit people know that to improve their moods, sharpen their minds, life energy and fill in nutritional gaps while dieting, it’s a smart idea to take a moderate-dose, balanced multivitamin and mineral supplement. There is even evidence that a moderate dose multivitamin can lessen depression, improve mood, reduce stress and anxiety and soothe troubled emotions.

This makes sense since most vitamins and minerals are assembly-line workers in the brain. For example, the B vitamins covert glucose into energy for the brain and also help build some of the nerve chemicals that then tell you to cry at a sad place in a book or laugh at the right spot in a movie. Vitamin D protects nerves in the brain from degenerating. Vitamin E protects brain cell membranes from aging. Iron ensures your brain gets enough oxygen. Iodine ensures normal brain metabolism. The list goes on and on.

Rev3 On the Go

Let’s face it—you are busy. We understand that you need a little boost in the middle of your hectic day. So when you turn to USANA’s products for energy, be sure to pick up a Rev3 Energy Surge™ Pack.



A Surge Pack is the perfect option when you need an extra boost during the middle of the day. Whether you find yourself traveling, heading off to a presentation, making a quick trip to the gym, or just needing a quick pick-me-up, Rev3 Energy Surge Pack is the way to go. All you need is a pack and a bottle of water. Quickly mix it up and you are on your way. It is convenience at its best!

With caffeine from antioxidant-rich teas and only 10 calories per serving, a Surge Pack is a healthier and better-tasting alternative to soda or high-calorie energy drinks that will leave you feeling drained. Try the Rev3 Energy Surge Pack for a cleaner, smarter, stronger energy.

Eat Avocados

Avocados are incredibly healthful for you. In addition to being packed with important vitamins, avocados are able to lower bad cholesterol, decrease your risk for cancer, and prevent heart disease because they include oleic acid (a monounsaturated fat) and healthy fatty acids, and they are high in magnesium and potassium. Research has also shown that these tasty fruits help the body absorb nutrients from other foods eaten with them. Just keep in mind that an avocado is high in calories – each fruit contains approximately 300 calories and 35 grams of fat – as you figure out new ways to incorporate it into your meals.

USANA Retail Products Available in the UK

The following is a list of products available for retail sale in the UK.

* The Essentials - Mega Antioxidant and Chelated Mineral will only be available packaged together
* The HealthPak 100
* Usanimals
* BiOmega
* Procosa II
* Proflavanol 90
* Active Calcium
* CoQuinone 30
* Nutrimeal - Dutch Chocolate and French Vanilla flavors
* Nutrition Bars - Peanut Butter Crunch and Oatmeal Raisin flavors

Products not listed above will continue to be available on a personal use / NFR (not for resale) basis. These products may not be resold because they are not labeled for sale in the UK and a NFR price list is unavailable. NFR products will continue to feature U.S. labels.

All of the products available in the UK market are available in the online shopping cart, which is accessible from USANA Vitamins Website.

UK and U.S. NFR products can be ordered on the same order and shipment.

Broken Tablets

From time to time you may find a broken tablet in your bottle of USANA supplements. We know this can cause concern, and we would like to explain why this breakage occurs.

In order to maximize the bioavailability (utilization) of nutrients in USANA supplements, we formulate our tablets to disintegrate rapidly after you swallow them. This is accomplished through the use of tableting aids and through the use of minimal pressures in our tablet equipment. Both result in softer tablets that disintegrate rapidly.

Unfortunately, there is a tradeoff. Softer tablets break more easily. And in the process of coating, filling bottles, and shipping, a small number of tablets do break. We have procedures in place to remove broken tablets from our process stream, but sometimes the breakage occurs after the final sorting steps.

Be assured that we continue to search for ways to eliminate tablet breakage without sacrificing nutrient bioavailability. This research is part of our commitment to continuous quality improvement and to providing you with the highest quality nutritional supplements possible, Nutritionals You Can Trust.

The recent study showed that over half of the tablet products tested failed to disintegrate fully within 20 minutes (a stringent standard), and nearly 25 percent of the products failed to meet a less stringent USP disintegration test for supplements. Poor disintegration means poor bioavailability of nutrients. USANA's MultiMineral was included in the study and passed the most stringent test, meaning it has maximum bioavailability.

Your health, Your Way

Show prospects how they can customize their health.

Everyone wants something personalized, customized, something they can call their very own. That’s especially true with our health. Everyone has specific, individual needs—there’s no cookie-cutter approach. Luckily, USANA offers the MyHealthPak™.

But what’s the best way to let prospects know about this exciting product?

MyHealthPak Brochures allow you to explain to prospects how they can create the ideal combination of USANA Nutritionals in their own AM and PM packages. It also shows the exclusive Super Pills only available in MyHealthPak. The brochure gives prospects a glimpse into the thousands of potential combinations for personalizing their nutrition, and shows how customization doesn’t have to come at the cost of convenience.

With all the great information on one of USANA’s most exciting products, it’s a great piece to leave behind on a coffee table. Make sure to pick some MyHealthPak Brochures up in the shopping cart so you don’t go out without a sizable stack.