Notes on Vitamin D

If it is between the months of August and March, without supplementation, your Vitamin D levels are on their way down. The further North you live, the more it’s likely to go down. Evolutionarily, our Vitamin D was made through regular sun exposure.

Sun exposure itself has other benefits on blood pressure, mood, immune and hormone regulation, which are not explained by vitamin D production. Some exposure when possible is a good idea.

Although Vitamin D is not typically tested for at your primary care doctor visits [like cholesterol and triglycerides, for example], most doctors will agree to ordering the test IF YOU ASK FOR IT.

The blood level of Vitamin D described as “normal”, 30 ng/mL, is how much Vitamin D it takes to keep most people from getting a deficiency disease. The disease is known as Osteomalacia in adults and Rickets in children.

Many Vitamin D researchers agree that “normal” blood levels are far from “optimal”. There seem to be benefits from having higher blood levels of Vitamin D than those needed to avoid a deficiency disease. Suggestions for optimal hover around 50-70 ng/mL.

The recommended daily amount of vitamin D is 400 international units (IU) for children up to age 12 months, 600 IU for ages 1 to 70 years, and 800 IU for people over 70 years. The average American consumes about 230 IU/day. Vitamin D experts generally believe this to be too low.

There is no evidence of harm in supplemental doses up to 10,000 IU/day.

560 randomized clinical trials, involving nearly 100,000 people lasting 4 years found those given Vitamin D lived longer, also specifically lowering the risk of dying from cancer. The benefits were found in those taking Vitamin D3, NOT Vitamin D2. Vitamin D2 is the type most commonly found in “fortified” foods like milk, but also seen in some supplements.

Supplementation of vitamin D reduces C-Reactive Protein, a measure of systemic inflammation that can be tested for in blood work. Inflammation is associated with all chronic diseases.

22 clinical investigations of patients with pain found that those with chronic back pain almost always had inadequate levels of Vitamin D. When sufficient vitamin D was provided, pain levels either reduced significantly or disappeared entirely.

I am currently taking 5000 IU of vitamin D3 daily. It comes in a liquid form that is tasteless, has 1000 IU per drop and has 800 drops in a bottle, so it’s convenient, easy to take and lasts a while.