If you’re vitamin deficient, there’s a good chance you probably have no idea.
That’s what happened to Brazilian Celebrity Chef and South Florida resident Isa Souza. The TV personality who advocates for easy, healthy, and tasty meals on her daytime TV show “Isa Vida y Sabor” realized this after performing a Micronutrients test at Liquivida Lounge – a growing wellness spa for the healthy in Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, and Coconut Creek, FL.
For Chef Isa, becoming vitamin D deficient came as somewhat of a surprise. Like most people, she linked symptoms of chronic fatigue to long hours of work and travel- a common mistake in our work-intensive society.
Turns out, vitamin D does plenty of good, and the body absorbs it pretty well by getting enough sun exposure, for example. But when running low, not having enough vitamin D complicates things. According to the National Institutes of Health, without sufficient vitamin D, bones can become thin, brittle, or misshapen. Vitamin D sufficiency prevents skeletal disorders such as rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults. Together with calcium, vitamin D also helps protect older adults, especially women, from osteoporosis.
But it turns out that no matter how healthy people think they are or how much exercise they do, there’s a good chance they’re deficient in something. There are very few foods that actually have therapeutic levels of vitamin D naturally and even fortified foods do not contain enough vitamin D to support the body needs needs. The worst part is that most people don’t know they’re deficient until it affects their energy, overall mood, or get lab work done.
Becoming vitamin D deficient was a tough reality check for Chef Isa, who advocates wellness on her TV shows and at company wellness workshops across the United States. Her first signs were chronic fatigue, lack of stamina and motivation; something we all need to get things done.
This forced Isa to find alternative sources for this much-needed vitamin quickly. Like most people, she began a casual search on Google that led her to nutrient IV therapy, a service that’s becoming mainstream. Also known as vitamin infusion therapy, the treatment is actually an effective solution for delivering important vitamins, minerals, and amino acids direct to the bloodstream. Like other celebrities that rave for this trend, she too, considers this a proactive solution to what deemed to be a big downer for the TV host.
Chronic fatigue is no joke. Unlike feeling tired, chronic fatigue may worsen with physical or mental activity, and doesn't improve with rest because it can actually be linked with depression.
To gain control, Chef Isa now uses nutrient IV therapy to tackle her vitamin D deficiency as well as other health concerns affecting the general population. For instance, a glutathione intravenous infusion works to detoxify the liver and fortify cells, while slowing down aging. If glutathione is not replenished, it can increase visible signs of aging, affecting the skin’s natural and youthful appearance. Glutathione is a master antioxidant that, with age, continues to deplete making it difficult for the body to produce on its own. When levels run low, it’s possible to expose the body to serious diseases later on in life.
“The fact is your body does not absorb all of the nutrients you give it, and when you realize this, you need to take some sort of action,” says Isa.
In addition to nutrient IV therapy, Isa advocates for “superfoods” that have a significant impact on overall health. Considered another effective way to feed the body higher concentrations of certain vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and amino acids. In her search, she found a well-respected and registered nutritionist by name of Manuel Villacorta, M.S. R.D., who also evangelizes on television the power of Peruvian Power Foods.
Nature has its own way of giving the body more of what’s necessary, and it’s really a matter of identifying any gaps as early as possible to take action against chronic fatigue and other diseases. Manuel recommends consuming pichuberry, a small berry that originates from the Andes of Peru. According to his book “Peruvian Power Foods,” pichuberry is also an excellent source of vitamin D with 39% of your daily requirement of vitamin D in a ¾ cup serving.
“Research shows that withanoloides suppresses carcinogens and oxidative stress. It also has a low glycemic index of 25, making it a diabetes and weight loss friendly fruit,” says Manuel.
Above all, it’s important to undergo some basic blood work to gain the power of knowing what could be running low. Unfortunately though, most people put this off or never really take advantage of these kinds of assessments. Our practitioners recommend that a Micronutrients test be performed to eliminate any guesswork regarding the symptoms and causes of vitamin deficiency. The test evaluates 35 nutritional components including vitamins, antioxidants, minerals and amino acids within our white blood cells.