Great Information on Vitamin D and Hundreds of LINKS to Vitamin D Information.
Information You Need To Know .....
WHAT IS VITAMIN D?
Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol): Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that helps maintain blood levels of calcium, by increasing absorption from food and reducing urinary calcium loss. Both functions help keep calcium in the body and therefore spare the calcium that is stored in bones. Vitamin D may also transfer calcium from the bone to the blood, which may actually weaken bones. Though the overall effect of vitamin D on the bones is complicated, some vitamin D is certainly necessary for healthy bones and teeth. Vitamin D is also produced by the human body during exposure to the ultraviolet rays of the sun. However, seasonal changes, latitude, time of day, cloud cover, smog, and sunscreen can all affect UV exposure. (www.nutritiondata.com/help/glossary#V)
Vitamin D deficiency is more common in northern latitudes, making vitamin D supplementation more important for residents of those areas. Vitamin D plays a role in immunity and blood cell formation and also helps cells differentiate—a process that may reduce the risk of cancer. From various other studies, researchers have hypothesized that vitamin D may protect people from multiple sclerosis, autoimmune arthritis, and juvenile diabetes. Vitamin D is also necessary to maintain adequate blood levels of insulin. Vitamin D receptors have been found in the pancreas, and some evidence suggests that supplements may increase insulin secretion for some people with adult-onset diabetes. (www.nutritiondata.com/help/glossary#V)
The high rate of natural production of vitamin D3 cholecalciferol (pronounced koh·luhkal·sifuhrawl) in the skin is the single most important fact every person should know about vitamin D—a fact that has profound implications for the natural human condition.
Technically not a "vitamin," vitamin D is in a class by itself. Its metabolic product, calcitriol, is actually a secosteroid hormone that targets over 2000 genes (about 10% of the human genome) in the human body. Currentresearch has implicatedvitamin D deficiency as a major factor in the pathology of at least 17 varieties of cancer as well as heart disease, stroke, hypertension, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, depression, chronic pain, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, muscle wasting, birth defects, periodontal disease, and more. (www.vitamindcouncil.org)
Many people are supplementing with 1,000 to 2,000 IU of vitamin D3 daily, but according to the Vitamin D Council that may not be enough. And blood testing is the only way to know for sure whether your regimen is appropriate. It’s hard to know exactly how much vitamin D your body is making from sun exposure. It depends on factors like what latitude you live at, your skin color and how much skin you expose for how long. And your needs may change according to the seasons, your age, your health and your weight. The Vitamin D Council suggests taking 5,000 IU of Vitamin D3 every day for three months, then get a 25-hydroxyvitamin D test. Optimal blood levels are between 50-80 ng/mL year-round. Adjust your dosage up or down according to your results. (www.vitamindcouncil.org)
A study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology indicated that people with low vitamin D levels might be twice as likely to suffer from a heart attack or stroke than those with higher vitamin D levels.
A University of California San Diego study found a 50 percent drop in colon cancer and a 30 percent decreased risk of ovarian and breast cancer with increased intake of vitamin D, which also reduced prostate cancer risk in men by 43 percent.
Based on the most recent research, the current recommendation is 35 IU’s of vitamin D per pound of body weight.
So for a child weighing 40 pounds, the recommended average dose would be 1,400 IU’s daily, and for a 170-pound adult, the dose would be nearly 6,000 IU’s.
However, it’s important to realize that vitamin D requirements are highly individual, as your vitamin D status is dependent on numerous factors, such as the color of your skin, your location, and how much sunshine you’re exposed to on a regular basis.
So, although these recommendations may put you closer to the ballpark of what most people likely need, it is simply impossible to make a blanket recommendation that will cover everyone’s needs.
So how do you ensure optimal vitamin D levels for yourself, your child, and aging parents?
Blood Testing is the
ONLY Reliable Way to Determine the Vitamin D level in your body.
A blood test is extremely important!
Vitamin D Found to Influence Over 200 Genes, Highlighting Links to Disease
ScienceDaily (Aug. 24, 2010) — The extent to which vitamin D deficiency may increase susceptibility to a wide range of diseases is dramatically highlighted in newly published research. Scientists have mapped the points at which vitamin D interacts with our DNA -- and identified over two hundred genes that it directly influences.
Research Sheds Light on Vitamin D's Role in Immunity
It may be key in protecting people from infections like tuberculosis, study shows
October 12, 2011
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 12, 2011 (HealthDay News) -- Vitamin D plays a critical role in the body's ability to fight off infections like tuberculosis (TB) -- a potentially fatal lung disease, according to a new study.
An international team of researchers found that vitamin D, which is a natural hormone, is linked to human immune reactions and might also help protect against cancer and autoimmune diseases.
If your mother gave you vitamin D-rich cod liver oil when you were a child, she may have been way ahead of her time.
A new animal study from Japan suggests that vitamin D may help clear the brain of amyloid beta, a toxic protein-like compound that accumulates in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.
Human Research Support This animal study validates the results of a previous study done in human Alzheimer's patients. In the human study, vitamin D together with curcumin -- a chemical found in turmeric spice -- appeared to stimulate the immune system in a way that helped clear the brain of toxic amyloid beta. But this new animal research suggests that vitamin D alone may be able to do that job nicely. Even more amazing, the lab animals that received vitamin D were able to remove a significant amount of amyloid beta buildup in their brains, literally overnight. It seems the vitamin may somehow regulate production of transporter proteins that ferry amyloid beta across the blood-brain barrier and out of the brain. Pretty exciting stuff.
In a study done by the
University of Kansas, more than 10,000 patients were observed in
relation to their vitamin D intake. Researchers discovered that more
than 70 percent of those being analyzed were suffering from vitamin D
deficiency, which makes them highly susceptible to health problems, like
diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiomyopathy.
Also, a vitamin D deficiency nearly doubles an
individual’s chances of dying.
I've written before about the
importance of vitamin D3 for health and well-being. New studies confirm that
vitamin D3 plays a powerful role in protecting us from chronic diseases,
including heart disease, cancer, multiple sclerosis and life-threatening
infections.
Recent research published in the
Archives of Internal Medicine indicates that people with the lowest vitamin
D levels have more than twice the risk of dying of serious illness than do
people with highest vitamin D levels.
Additional studies also show
significantly greater heart attack, prostate cancer and colon cancer risk in
those deficient in vitamin D.
Vitamin D won't ease COPD symptoms: Study
CBS News
(CBS) Many patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD),
one of the most common lung diseases, have vitamin D deficiency.
But a new study shows that high doses of vitamin D won't help.
COPD, also known as "chronic bronchitis" or ...
Vitamin D won't help most COPD patients
USA TODAY
By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay Vitamin D supplements don't
seem to help most patients suffering from chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a new study by Belgian
investigators. "Vitamin D restoration to normal levels in
COPD ...
Vitamin D linked to reduced risk of colorectal cancer
Examiner.com
Now a new study indicates that raising blood levels of vitamin D
may reduce the risk of this often deadly cancer by nearly 40%. In
the new study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology,
the researchers also found that dietary calcium was ...
Most need more Vitamin D in the winter
KSDK
By Dana Dean St. Louis (KSDK) -- Vitamin D can prevent
disease, but we may not be getting enough of the nutrient in the
winter. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, low
levels of Vitamin D are a big concern. And they say
Vitamin D plays a ...
»
Vitamin D may help functioning of ageing in eyes: Study
NutraIngredients.com
The researcher team, from the Institute of Ophthalmology at
University College London (UCL), UK, said they hope the findings
may mean vitamin D supplements could provide a simple and
effective way to combat age-related eye diseases, such as
macular ...
Higher death risk for men with low vitamin D: Swedish
study
The Local.se
Low levels of vitamin D have been associated with
increased mortality in elderly men, a new Swedish study has
shown. "The sun's importance to us is made very clear,"
researcher Helena Johansson told The Local. Johansson and
her team at Sahlgrenska ...
How the right vitamins can improve your daily diet
Scottish Daily Record
WINTER brings shorter days with less sunshine so we miss out on
vital Vitamin D. And we also need other {vitamins to help
our immune systems fight the cold and flu illnesses, which are
rife this season. But chefs and nutritionists at a Scots
restaurant ...
Vitamin D May Be Overused
ThirdAge
A recent surge of vitamin D recommendations has Americans
taking the supplement to prevent everything from bone fractures
to cancer. According to the Boston Globe, however, a new Tufts
Medical Center study shows that taking too much vitamin D
can ...
Are you taking too much vitamin D?
The Boston Globe
By Deborah Kotz Many Americans have been warned that they're
deficient in vitamin D and need to take supplements to
protect against all the purported ills of getting too little of
the vitamin, such as heart disease, diabetes, fractures, and a
variety ...
How Much Vitamin D Do You Need?
LifeGoesStrong
Supplements aren't the only source of vitamin D.
You can get it from sun exposure as well as from the
food pictured here: salmon, fortified cereal, fortified
milk and egg yolk If you follow medical news, you've
probably heard a lot about the purported ...
Vitamin D deficiency rates cause for concern
HealthCanal.com
Almost one-third of adults over the age of 25 have a
Vitamin D deficiency, a new study evaluating the
Vitamin D status of Australian adults has found. The
paper is the largest study of its kind, drawing on 11218
people from the AusDiab Study and ...
Israelis find vitamin D helps against liver
diseases
Jerusalem Post
By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH Two Israeli research teams have
separately become the first to discover two different
benefits from vitamin D against common liver
diseases – hepatitis C and cirrhosis. One involved the
mechanism in human cells in the lab, ...
Letter: Vitamin debate
Scotsman
Whether or not giving higher dosed vitamin D
supplements can improve or prevent certain conditions
and diseases will have to be shown in randomised trials
as Professor Sattar suggested (your report, 13 January).
However, by definition, 70-80 per cent ...
How much daily vitamin D should you get? abc7.com May 5, 2011 LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Many health experts were stunned when the Institute of Medicine suggested only a slight increase in the recommended daily allowance for vitamin D. Studies link vitamin D to helping a host of diseases.
How they could come to this conclusion is truly beyond belief, because there are literally hundreds if not thousands of studies showing that it benefits dozens if not hundreds of clinical conditions.
Hilton Head Hospital By VIRGINIA M. HERRMANN, MD, FACS
Vitamin D has received a lot of attention lately. We know Vitamin D is important for health by promoting the absorption of calcium from the intestines. If Vitamin D levels are too low, or deficient, adequate calcium cannot be absorbed. Vitamin D is necessary for bone growth during childhood and adolescence, bone healing for fractures, and together with calcium, Vitamin D helps protect older adults from weakening of the bones, or osteoporosis.
Vitamin D has other important roles in the body. This vitamin is important for regulating the growth of cells, preserving immune function, and reducing inflammation. Vitamin D has also been shown to help stabilize various genes and our DNA. Recent studies support Vitamin D for breast cancer prevention. Vitamin D acts as a hormone to help stabilize cell growth in the breast, and may help reduce the risk of breast cancer. We know there is an increased incidence of Vitamin D deficiency (or low Vitamin D levels), in women who are diagnosed with breast cancer. Maintaining normal Vitamin D levels after a diagnosis of breast cancer is important, and may help stabilize breast tissue, and reduce the risk of recurrence. We also know the treatment of breast cancer has been associated with Vitamin D deficiency, particularly in women who need anti-estrogen medication. Studies have shown that many of the musculo-skeletal symptoms in women, particularly in women taking anti-estrogen medication, may be relieved by normalizing the level of Vitamin D. This is exciting and new information, and helps us in our ability to care for patients, and maintain a good quality of life during breast cancer treatment.
July 13, 2010 -- Higher levels ofvitamin D may reduce the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, a new study suggests.
The finding builds on previous research linking low vitamin D levels to Parkinson’s, and could mean that getting more sunlight and assuring an adequate dietary intake of vitamin D may help some people ward off the neurological disorder.
Paul Knekt, DPH, and colleagues at the National Institute for Health and Welfare in Helsinki, Finland, studied 3,173 Finnish men and women between the ages of 50 and 79 who did not have Parkinson’s when the research project began in 1978 to 1980.
Participants filled out questionnaires and were interviewed about socioeconomic and health backgrounds and underwentblood tests to be analyzed for vitamin D.
After 29 years, 50 of the participants had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Participants who had the highest levels of serum vitamin D had a 67% lower risk of developing Parkinson’s than those in the lowest 25% of the group studied.
Despite the overall low vitamin D levels in the study population, a dose-response relationship was found,” the authors write. “This study was carried out in Finland, an area with restricted sunlight exposure, and is thus based on a population with a continuously low vitamin D status.”
Therefore, the average serum vitamin D levels in the entire studied population were about 50% of what is considered optimal.
Vitamin D promises to be the most talked-about and written-about supplement of the decade. While studies continue to refine optimal blood levels and recommended dietary amounts, the fact remains that a huge part of the population — from robust newborns to the frail elderly, and many others in between — are deficient in this essential nutrient.
If the findings of existing clinical trials hold up in future research, the potential consequences of this deficiency are likely to go far beyond inadequate bone development and excessive bone loss that can result in falls and fractures. Every tissue in the body, including the brain, heart, muscles and immune system, has receptors for vitamin D, meaning that this nutrient is needed at proper levels for these tissues to function well.
The normal range for vitamin D was 41 to 80
nanograms per deciliter (ng/dl). Patients in the study were designated as
having excessive vitamin D had had readings above 100 ng/dl.
By
Linda Carroll
msnbc.com contributor
updated
11/16/2011 3:50:04 PM ET
2011-11-16T20:50:04
When it
comes to the heart, vitamin D can be a double-edged sword.
Scientists have long
known that low levels of the nutrient can hurt the heart, but new research
shows that higher than normal levels can make it beat too fast and out of
rhythm, a condition called atrial fibrillation, according to a report
presented at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association.
The study, which
followed 132,000 patients at a Utah based medical center, found that the risk
of newly developed atrial fibrillation jumped almost three-fold when blood
levels of vitamin D were high.
Most people get at
least some of their daily needs of vitamin D from sunlight. But in cold
northern climates where everyone bundles up for the winter -- inadvertently
blocking rays that raise the body’s vitamin D levels -- people are often
encouraged to take supplements to boost levels of the nutrient to protect the
bones and heart, said the study’s lead author, Dr. Jared Bunch, director of
electrophysiology research at the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray,
Utah.
However, because
everyone absorbs these supplements differently, blood levels need to be tested
to make sure they’re in the safe range, Bunch explained.
High levels of vitamin
D only occur when people take supplements, Bunch said. Because consumers
assume supplements sold over the counter are safe, they may not realize the
danger of taking too much vitamin D, he added.
“People are looking
toward therapies considered to be natural to treat a broad variety of disease
states and as a means of prevention,” Bunch said. “We see patients who take a
tremendous amount of vitamin supplements.”
Bunch said the normal range for
vitamin D was 41 to 80 nanograms per deciliter (ng/dl). Patients in the study
were designated as having excessive vitamin D had had readings above 100 ng/dl.
About 10 to 15 minutes spent outside in full sun will give a fair-skinned person dressed only in his skivvies 10,000 to 20,000 IUs. Turns out the debate about how much vitamin D we need has intensified over the past 10 years. One part of the discourse focuses on the growing body of research that points to numerous health benefits of the chemical (actually a hormone): it can help prevent rickets in children and severe bone loss in adults and potentially lowers the risk of multiple sclerosis, juvenile diabetes, cancer, heart disease, colds and influenza. Amid all this new evidence, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) has assembled a panel of experts to re-evaluate just how much vitamin D we really need and can safely tolerate. Current IOM recommendations, set in 1997, are 200 IUs a day from birth to age 50 and a bit more after that. The upper limit of safety, according to the institute, is 2,000 IUs daily--too much can lead to, among other things, nausea and kidney stones--yet some vitamin-D proponents are pushing for up to 4,000 IUs a day for adults.
Low Vitamin D Linked to Aggressive Breast Cancer WebMD By Salynn Boyles April 29, 2011 -- Women with low vitamin D levels may have an increased risk for the most aggressive breast cancers, new research suggests. Several earlier studies have suggested a link between low vitamin Dlevels and breast cancer
Low Vitamin D Levels Linked to Diabetes Risk Reuters 4-27-11 By Leigh Krietsch Boerner NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Lower levels of vitamin D circulating in the bloodstream are tied to a higher risk of developing diabetes in a new study of Australian adults. After following more than 5000 people for 5 years, ...
Posted by Emily Jacobson on October 7, 2011 3:30 PM
Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to several different cancers, according to a new study.
The researchers analyzed vitamin D levels in blood samples from 160 cancer patients. They found that 42 percent had insufficient levels of vitamin D (between 20 and 30 nanograms per milliliter of blood) and 32 percent had vitamin D deficiency (less than 20 ng/mL).
Among the participants, the average level of vitamin D was 24 ng/mL. Anyone who lay below this level were nearly three times more likely to have stage III cancer than those with higher levels of vitamin D.
These findings are only preliminary, and have not yet been peer-reviewed, but they suggest that vitamin D could play an important role in cancer in cancer prevention and treatment. It also goes hand in hand with previous research, which has indicated that vitamin D plays a role in regulating the spread and multiplication of cancer cells, and has anti-tumor properties.
According to study author Thomas Churilla, the researchers administered vitamin D to the participants with low vitamin D levels, but it was too early to tell whether this improved their prognosis.
Good sources of vitamin D include fatty fish such as salmon or mackerel, milk, and certain breakfast cereals. Vitamin D can also be absorbed through direct exposure to sunlight.
The research was presented at the American Society for Radiation Oncology.
(CBS News) Pale? Pasty? A new study suggests you might benefit from a vitamin D supplement.
The English study suggests that pale people tend to be deficient in the "sunshine" vitamin and that without supplements they're unlikely to get their levels up without getting sunburned.
That can put them at risk for bone loss, heart disease, and poorer survival from breast cancer, according to the study's authors. "This should be considered for fair-skinned people living in a mild climate like the UK and melanoma patients in particular," study author Dr. Julia Newton-Bishop, a cancer researcher at the University of Leeds, said in awritten statement.
For the study - published in the Oct. 4 issue ofCancer Causes and Control - researchers tested vitamin D levels in 1,200 people and found 730 of them had below-normal levels. Levels were lowest in fair-skinned folks.
Vitamin D is associated with healthy bones, and levels below 25 nmol/L s are considered deficient. The study defined 60nmol/L as the normal vitamin D level, which research suggests can be associated with healthy benefits.
The National Institutes of Health recommends vitamin D levels of 50 nmol/L and above for adequate bone health.
Think you're not getting enough vitamin D?
Besides supplements, foods including cod liver oil, salmon, and mackerel contain the daily value of vitamin D, while foods like, tuna, milk, yogurt, and eggs contain some amounts of the vitamin.
Sara Hiom, director of health information at Cancer Research U.K, said in the statement, "If you are worried about your vitamin D levels, our advice is to go see your doctor."
Scientists Taking Vitamin D in Droves Globe and Mail Bruce Hollis, a pediatrics professor at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, who has spent years studying vitamin D, recently increased...
TUCSON - Vitamin D is known as the sunshine vitamin, because sunlight exposure to skin is the best and only natural source for it. It's known to be essential for bone health, but research shows it's also crucial for fighting all kinds of diseases.
Todd Whitthorne, a health and wellness expert said, "We're finding that when we measure thousands of patients, the vast majority of them are low."
And Dr. Richard Honaker, a family practice physician, sees the same trends, "If you're low on vitamin D, your immune system does not function as well, or you're more susceptible to infections. There's a greater incidence of heart attacks and strokes in people that are vitamin D deficient versus people who are okay on their vitamin D levels."
Your body may make better use of a vitamin D supplement if you take it with your largest meal. Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic examined 17 patients with Vitamin D deficiency. Over a period of two to three months, the patients were told to take Vitamin D supplements with the biggest meal they ate each day. This boosted the level of Vitamin D in their blood by an average of 56%, the researchers said. The study was recently published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.
Even on Formula, Babies Not Getting Enough Vitamin D.......
From: CNN.com
By Denise Mann, Health.com March 22, 2010 6:19 p.m. EDT
HOUSTON, TX - May 18, 2009 - Current recommendations for Vitamin D were called "grossly inadequate" at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) 18th Annual Meeting & Clinical Congress. "National recommendations from the Food and Nutrition Board are 400 to 600 International Units (IU) a day," Neil Binkley, MD, an Associate Professor in Geriatrics and Endocrinology at the University of Wisconsin said. "That's simply not enough." "Experts recommend somewhere between 1500 to 2600 IU daily," Dr. Binkley said. "It's considered a very safe vitamin. One would need daily doses of 40,000 IU or higher before seeing negative side effects."
Dr. John Cannell MD is a psychiatrist at Atascadero State Hospital in California, a maximum security hospital for psychiatric patients. In 2005, an influenza A epidemic broke out in the hospital. One by one, each ward became infected as patients came down with chills, fever, cough, and severe body aches. Only one ward in the hospital remained free of infection — Dr. Cannell’s. Why was this so? His patients intermingled with patients from other wards and were not noticeably different in their age, health, or medical treatment. The only difference that could be discerned was that Dr. Cannell’s patients had been receiving a daily dose of 2000 IU of vitamin D for several months. That’s it. All of his patients took vitamin D and not one caught the flu! (Melanie Segala07/15/2009)
Vitamin D doesn't
prevent heart attack or cancer, study says
By Kerry Grens Thursday,
December 8, 2011
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Among seniors with a high
risk of bone fractures, taking vitamin D or calcium pills has no impact on
their chances of dying from cancer or vascular disease, researchers say in a
new study.
Vitamin D is considered beneficial for bone health, and
earlier studies have found that having low vitamin D levels in the blood is
tied to a greater chance of dying from heart problems (see Reuters Health
reports of November 25, 2011 and June 24, 2011).
The thinking, therefore, has been that taking extra
vitamin D might cut that risk.
Based on the latest research, many experts now agree you need about 35 IU’s of vitamin D per pound of body weight. This recommendation also includes children, the elderly and pregnant women.
However, keep in mind that vitamin D requirements are highly individual, as your vitamin D status is dependent on numerous factors, such as the color of your skin, your location, and how much sunshine you’re exposed to on a regular basis. So, although these recommendations may put you closer to the ballpark of what most people likely need, it is simply impossible to make a blanket recommendation that will cover everyone’s needs.
The only way to determine your optimal is to get your blood tested. Ideally, you’ll want to maintain a vitamin D level of 50-65 ng/ml year-round.
Vitamin D More Effective Than Previously Known
Editorial by Bill Faloon of Life Extension Foundation:
A large number of new vitamin D studies have appeared in the scientific literature since I wrote my plea to the federal government. These studies don’t just confirm what we knew 16 months ago—they show that optimizing vitamin D intake will save even more lives than what we projected.
For instance, a study published in June 2008 showed that men with low vitamin D levels suffer 2.42 times more heart attacks. Now look what this means in actual body counts.
Each year, about 157,000 Americans die from coronary artery disease-related heart attacks.4Based on this most recent study, if every American optimized their vitamin D status, the number of deaths prevented from this kind of heart attack would be 92,500.
To put the number of lives saved in context, tens of millions of dollars are being spent to advertise that Lipitor® reduces heart attacks by 37%. This is certainly a decent number, but not when compared with how many lives could be saved by vitamin D. According to the latest study, men with the higher vitamin D levels had a 142% reduction in heart attacks.
Naturally, this would be the first question to answer before we can actually TREATvitamin D deficiency. I’ve answered this question on theNormal Vitamin D Level page, and you should go there right now to find out what your vitamin D level SHOULD be- and the answer is NOT the same answer that is on your lab sheet.
The lab sheet does not provide you with what the optimal’ Vitamin D Levels are. And many researchers believe that the low level on your lab sheet is WAY too low and should be considered “vitamin D Insufficiency” rather than ‘Low Normal Vitamin D Level’.
Despite the argument for D3 that was made, the D2 will certainly not harm you and will be effective at correcting your deficiency. If, however, you read the argument and prefer not to take D2 (a good choice), then going out and buyingVitamin D Supplements in the form of Vitamin D3 is really the best choice.
Either way, youSHOULD be using Vitamin D3 for yourDaily Vitamin D Requirements after your regimen of Vitamin D Deficiency Treatment is finished.
The Right KIND of Vitamin D Supplements
Once you find out your Vitamin D Level, you need to decide what KIND ofVitamin D Supplements to take for your Vitamin D Deficiency Treatment. The BEST vitamin D supplements are those containing Vitamin D3- also known as Cholecalciferol, and you can see theVitamin D 2 vs Vitamin D3 argument on that page. But if you are being followed by a doctor for your Vitamin D Deficiency Treatment, it’s likely that you will get a prescription for Vitamin d 2- also called ergocalciferol.
Vitamin D Deficiency Treatment Protocols
It is becoming more and more apparent that the Vitamin D Dosage required for a normal vitamin D level is MUCH higher than you might think. In fact, it is such a large amount that many doctors just won’t give enough to actually correct the deficiency- although this is changing as doctors are becoming more experienced with vitamin D deficiency treatment.
Enough to get the Vitamin D Level Between 50 -80 ng/ml
Enough to get the Vitamin D Level Between 50 -80 ng/ml
If you have evenmild Vitamin D Deficiency, it is likely that you will need to be taking approximately 50,000 IU’s per week for 4 to 12 weeks.
If you have SEVERE deficiency, then you may need to be taking Vitamin D Supplements as high as 50,000 IU’s per DAY for a month or even two months until getting a repeat Vitamin D Serum Level. Some doctors may even give a Vitamin D injection of 600,000 IU’s once a month for several months until your Vitamin D Level gets up to the ‘Optimal Range’ of 40 to 80 ng/ml.
While these doses may seem VERY high to those who are not used to them, they are all acceptable dosages for Vitamin D Deficiency Treatment. There is little risk of aVitamin D Overdoseas long as you are getting your Vitamin D Level checked every few months of treatment and then at least every year thereafter. In fact, there has NEVER been a documented case of Vitamin D Overdose on 10,000 IU’s per day or less, in an adult, even when taken for several years!
If you use suntan parlors once a week or if you live in Florida and sunbathe once a week, year-round, do nothing. However, if you have little UVB exposure, my advice is as follows: healthy children under the age of 1 years should take 1,000 IUvitamin D3 per day—over the age of 1, 1,000 IUvitamin D3 per every 25 pounds of body weight per day.Well adults and adolescents should take 5,000 IUvitamin D3 per day. Around 2–3 months later have a 25-hydroxyvitamin D blood test, either through ZRT or your doctor.
Start supplementing with the vitamin D beforeyou have the blood test. Then adjust your dose so your 25(OH)D level is between 50–80 ng/ml(125–200 nmol/L), summer and winter. But remember, these are conservative dosage recommendations. Most people who avoid the sun—and virtually all dark-skinned people—will have to increase their dose once they find their blood level is still low, even after two months of the above dosage, especially in the winter. Some people may feel more comfortable ordering the blood test before they start adequate doses of vitamin D. We understand. Test as often as you feel the need to, just remember, no one can get toxic on the doses recommended above and some people will need even more.
Today, the FNB has failed millions...
3:00 PM PST November 30, 2010
After 13 year of silence, the quasi governmental agency, the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) Food and Nutrition Board (FNB), today recommended that a three-pound premature infant take virtually the same amount of vitamin D as a 300 pound pregnant woman. While that 400 IU/day dose is close to adequate for infants, 600 IU/day in pregnant women will do nothing to help the three childhood epidemics most closely associated with gestational and early childhood vitamin D deficiencies: asthma, auto-immune disorders, and, as recently reported in the largest pediatric journal in the world, autism. Professor Bruce Hollis of the Medical University of South Carolina has shown pregnant and lactating women need at least 5,000 IU/day, not 600.
The FNB also reported that vitamin D toxicity might occur at an intake of 10,000 IU/day (250 micrograms/day), although they could produce no reproducible evidence that 10,000 IU/day has ever caused toxicity in humans and only one poorly conducted study indicating 20,000 IU/day may cause mild elevations in serum calcium, but not clinical toxicity.
Viewed with different measure, this FNB report recommends that an infant should take 10 micrograms/day (400 IU) and a pregnant woman 15 micrograms/day (600 IU). As a single, 30 minute dose of summer sunshine gives adults more than 10,000 IU (250 micrograms), the FNB is apparently also warning that natural vitamin D input - as occurred from the sun before the widespread use of sunscreen - is dangerous. That is, the FNB is implying that God does not know what she is doing.
Disturbingly, this FNB committee focused on bone health, just like they did 14 years ago. They ignored the thousands of studies from the last ten years that showed higher doses of vitamin D helps: heart health, brain health, breast health, prostate health, pancreatic health, muscle health, nerve health, eye health, immune health, colon health, liver health, mood health, skin health, and especially fetal health. Tens of millions of pregnant women and their breast-feeding infants are severely vitamin D deficient, resulting in a great increase in the medieval disease, rickets. The FNB report seems to reason that if so many pregnant women have low vitamin D blood levels then it must be OK because such low levels are so common. However, such circular logic simply represents the cave man existence (never exposed to the light of the sun) of most modern-day pregnant women.
Hence, if you want to optimize your vitamin D levels - not just optimize the bone effect - supplementing is crucial. But it is almost impossible to significantly raise your vitamin D levels when supplementing at only 600 IU/day (15 micrograms). Pregnant women taking 400 IU/day have the same blood levels as pregnant women not taking vitamin D; that is, 400 IU is a meaninglessly small dose for pregnant women. Even taking 2,000 IU/day of vitamin D will only increase the vitamin D levels of most pregnant women by about 10 points, depending mainly on their weight. Professor Bruce Hollis has shown that 2,000 IU/day does not raise vitamin D to healthy or natural levels in either pregnant or lactating women. Therefore supplementing with higher amounts - like 5000 IU/day - is crucial for those women who want their fetus to enjoy optimal vitamin D levels, and the future health benefits that go along with it.
For example, taking only two of the hundreds of recently published studies: Professor Urashima and colleagues in Japan, gave 1,200 IU/day of vitamin D3 for six months to Japanese 10-year-olds in a randomized controlled trial. They found vitamin D dramatically reduced the incidence of influenza A as well as the episodes of asthma attacks in the treated kids while the placebo group was not so fortunate. If Dr. Urashima had followed the newest FNB recommendations, it is unlikely that 400 IU/day treatment arm would have done much of anything and some of the treated young teenagers may have come to serious harm without the vitamin D. Likewise, a randomized controlled prevention trial of adults by Professor Joan Lappe and colleagues at Creighton University, which showed dramatic improvements in the health of internal organs, used more than twice the FNB's new adult recommendations.
Finally, the FNB committee consulted with 14 vitamin D experts and – after reading these 14 different reports – the FNB decided to suppress their reports. Many of these 14 consultants are either famous vitamin D researchers, like Professor Robert Heaney at Creighton or, as in the case of Professor Walter Willett at Harvard, the single best-known nutritionist in the world. So, the FNB will not tell us what Professors Heaney and Willett thought of their new report? Why not?
Today, the Vitamin D Council directed our attorney to file a federal Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the IOM's FNB for the release of these 14 reports.
Most of my friends, hundreds of patients, and thousands of readers of the Vitamin D Council newsletter (not to mention myself), have been taking 5,000 IU/day for up to eight years. Not only have they reported no significant side-effects, indeed, they have reported greatly improved health in multiple organ systems. My advice, especially for pregnant women: continue taking 5,000 IU/day until your 25(OH)D is between 50-80 ng/mL (the vitamin D blood levels obtained by humans who live and work in the sun and the mid-point of the current reference ranges at all American laboratories). Gestational vitamin D deficiency is not only associated with rickets, but a significantly increased risk of neonatal pneumonia, a doubled risk for preeclampsia, a tripled risk for gestational diabetes, and a quadrupled risk for primary cesarean section.
Today, the FNB has failed millions of pregnant women whose as yet unborn babies will pay the price. Let us hope the FNB will comply with the spirit of "transparency" by quickly responding to our Freedom of Information requests.
John Cannell, MD The Vitamin D Council 1241 Johnson Avenue, #134
What vitamin may we need in amounts up to 25 times higher than the government recommends for us to be healthy?
What vitamin deficiency affects 70-80 percent of the population, is almost never diagnosed and has been linked to manycancers, high blood pressure,heart disease,diabetes,depression,(i) fibromyalgia, chronic muscle pain, bone loss andautoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis?(ii)
What vitamin is almost totally absent from our food supply?
What vitamin is the hidden cause of much suffering that is easy to treat?
The key is D
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The Sunshine Hormone
