Vitamin D Deficiency (With Video)
We See A Lot of Low Vitamin D Levels
Vitamin D is the sunshine vitamin, right? That means a little sunshine every day should do the trick. A report from the American Academy of Dermatology in 2012 concludes that too little sun exposure is not the culprit in the current vitamin D deficiencies around the country.
Healthy Vitamin D Levels
But first, what exactly is a healthy level of vitamin D and how can you make sure you get enough? The answer will depend on your general health. If you don't have any autoimmune problems, heart disease, cancer, multiple food sensitivities, are close to ideal weight and have normal blood pressure etc, you might be just fine with a blood level of 40 to 60 ng/ml. Most of the people who come to OVitaminPro aren't in that category and are working to regain some aspect of health. You probably are dealing one or more of the conditions listed above and so in most cases can benefit from blood levels between 70 and 100 ng/ml.
Too Little Sunshine Is Not To Blame-See Glyphosates
So why might a person have low D levels even in sunny climates. One theory that bears repeating is the exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient of Roundup herbicide. Glyphosate is ubiquitous in our environment now. Every person on the planet is exposed in the food, air, soil and water. A dependence on GMO Roundup Ready crops has contributed greatly to our exposure as well. I have a couple of articles on Roundup and the toxic effects on humans in Health References in OVitaminPro.com. Sufficient for this conversation is that it appears that Roundup interferes with the conversion of cholesterol to vitamin D3. It also appears to interfere with the activation and utilization of the vitamin D. This can explain why even people who live in places like San Diego, Florida and Hawaii can still have low D levels. If that is true, what does that say about people living in central and northern states?
We Often Recommend 5000 IUs or More of D per Day
We have steadily increased our own intake of D3 and have increased our recommended supplements amounts for patients and clients over the years. We thought we were taking a lot when we starting taking 3000 IU's per day. Looking at vitamin D levels on blood tests has now become routine and that has changed our opinion of what is adequate supplementation. We now recommend 50,000 IU's one day per week and 2000 to 4000 IU's on the other six days. Don't worry about spreading out the dosage throughout the day. Taking the 50,000 all at once is fine. We get reports from people who have been doing this for some time and they tell us of a dramatic reduction in the number of colds and flu episodes. Also if you feel a cold coming on, take 50,000 IU's per day for two to three days and in many cases that will stop the cold dead in its tracks. One clinician we know reports having put about 15,000 people on these higher doses over the years with virtually no adverse effects. They use it to support the body when it is fighting life-threatening diseases like some types of heart disease and various forms of cancer for example.
Vitamin D Effects Your DNA
A quick note on why vitamin D is so important. Vitamin D activates a receptor in the cell nucleus that acts directly on DNA expression. The products of the vitamin D nuclear activation are involved in immune balance and cancer resistance. This could be why some doctors have reported that their patients who take these large doses of D have a much lower rates of cancer, especially breast, colon and prostate. We also recommend spending some time on the Vitamin D Council website for more information. We also like the videos from Dr. Prendergast on youtube. The best approach for you is to test, treat and retest. That is to say, get your 25 hyroxy D tested, try taking D3 supplements and then retest to see what happens. Remember if you are trying to stabilize your health or regain some aspect of health, look for blood values between 70 and 100 ng/ml.
