Everybody is talking about vitamin D. Here’s what you need to know.

Posted on December 7, 2015 by Dr. G

There is a lot of buzz about vitamin D among doctors, lay media, and alternative health providers. Is there a real health concern here? The answer is YES.

Here is what you need to know.

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Vitamin D is technically not a vitamin, it is a hormone made by the body. It is made from cholesterol; yes, cholesterol is important for all hormonal production in the body and those of you trying to lower your cholesterol are in danger of your cholesterol becoming too low.

Vitamin D is found in some foods, but vitamin D consumption is not actually how humans become sufficient in vitamin D. We fortify our milk, rice milk, almond milk and even orange juice with vitamin D so we can get the minimal amount necessary to prevent a now-rare disease in the U.S. called rickets. The U.S. recommended daily allowance (R.D.A.) of vitamin D is 400 i.u. per day to prevent this malnutrition syndrome.  

Because the RDA has been the standard for 60 years, conventional medical and nutritional advice on many nutrients have been behind the research. If you are taking in more than the recommendations by consuming supplements, you are just creating expensive urine. By this logic, fruity pebbles cereal is fully nutritious as long as it is fortified with essential vitamins and nutrients.

Many people are aware that vitamin D production is stimulated by exposure to the sun. Most people are deficient in sunlight. Think about it—the human species evolved from hunter-gatherers, outdoors, to computer programmers, under fluorescent lights. Most modern Americans are deficient in sunlight. We do not need much, 40% of your skin needs to be exposed to mid-day sun for about 30 minutes.

Let’s say you far-exceed that amount of sunlight (which means you are going against conventional medical wisdom to stay out of the “dangerous” rays of the sun, another myth worth busting in a subsequent post) and you had your serum vitamin D checked only to find that you were deficient. What’s the story with that?

Well, it goes like this. The sun strikes your skin and begins a 48-hour process of producing vitamin D—this occurs on the oily layer of our skin. Most Americans are very clean; after all, we have been taught that we must rid ourselves of the evil germs around us trying to kill us and make us smell bad.  The fact is that our excessive use of soap on a daily basis results is the removal of the very important vitamin D-making oily layer that also gives us protection for our skin.

If you are cooped up indoors most of the time and you are not willing to change your bathing habits, then I suggest that you supplement your vitamin D.

• What should my serum levels be? Most labs say 32-100. However, we now know that some people have greater needs for vitamin D than others. For example, people with autoimmunity or immune deficiency problems should probably be over 50 and closer to 100. Vitamin D is now known to be a regulating agent for the immune system: A point not to be taken lightly. 80-100 is the target for people with immune system challenges.

• Prescription or over-the-counter? Over-the-counter D3. Prescription vitamin D is vitamin D2, an inactive form of vitamin D. Your body must convert it to Vitamin D3 in order for you to benefit. Don’t my doctors know this? Well, maybe, but it does not matter, pharmaceutical companies cannot patent or sell a natural substance unless it is somehow changed enough to be unnatural. Then they can have doctors prescribe it and charge your insurance company a ridiculous amount of money for it.

• Why does my doctor prescribe 50,000 i.u.?  They usually prescribe it when someone is significantly deficient. They tell you to take 50, 000 i.u. once per week for 12 weeks. What they don’t tell you is that many people have problems with the conversion process from D2 to D3.

• My blood test showed I was borderline low at 32 and my doctor told me to take an over-the-counter 1000 i.u. supplement of vitamin D3. Research shows that taking less than 5000 i.u. per day is likely to keep your serum levels right where they are or perhaps, if you are lucky, it will raise them slightly. The truth is that if you would like to raise your levels above the 50 and closer to the 100 mark, then 8,000-10,000 i.u. of D3 per day is necessary. This is not dangerous and you should have your blood checked after 8 weeks to see if you are at or close to your target.

• Vitamin D receptor issues. A significant percentage of us may have a genetic SNP that would prevent us from utilizing or being able to produce vitamin D.  This population is at particular risk for developing autoimmune conditions.

At this point, research is pretty clear as it relates to blood levels of vitamin D 25 hydroxy (OH). Waiting for a practicing physician to catch up to the research as it relates to recommendations may cost you your health and your life. As you can see, I take this topic pretty seriously.

Every point you are below 50, you raise your chances of developing autoimmunity. Every point you are below 40, you raise your risk of developing cancer (an immune system disorder). As you approach 30, you are likely having active bone loss. It is believed by many researchers that if you are at 11 or less you probably have autoimmunity or cancer and we have not found it yet.

If you have levels that are low, and your doctor recommends taking 1000 or 2000 i.u. per day, you will likely not raise those low levels above 50. If someone called my office and wanted the answer to the question, “I am an adult, I don’t have blood tests and do not know my current levels, what is a safe amount I can take every day for the rest of my life without risk?” my answer would be 5000 i.u. per day.

If you have concerns about other micronutrients and vitamins, please add your questions or experiences to the comments below so we may start a conversation and address your concerns.

Thanks for reading!