Sheep keep me healthy!

Sometimes, checking Twitter makes me discover really interesting things... like the fact that sheep play a part in keeping me healthy. Just like my dad, and my mum, and even the most patient husband of them all... who, like me, take regular Vitamin D3 supplements. (Coincidentally, today is the day when I have my weekly dose. How fitting.)

And due to that random tweet today, I learned that Vitamin D in the usual prescription preparations is derived... from lanolin. Which, as you probably know, is the waxy stuff that makes sheep's wool nice and greasy and water repellent. The process is rather complex, and you can read about it on Wikipedia or in this less technical blog article.

As an aside, while we're on that topic - if you are like most people living in Middle or Western Europe and don't have an outdoor job, or even if you have an outdoor job, you might want to ask your doctor to check your Vitamin D levels, or if you prefer not having your doc do it, there are even prick-your-own-finger-to-bleed-into-this-small-vial kits that you can use to get the levels checked. Most of us living in Middle/Western Europe have too low Vit D levels, and that stuff is essential for a metric fuckton of important body functions. Mine were critically low when I had them tested, and my dad's were almost lethally low.