I'm finally hearing about something that is obviously SO important...Vitamin D! I've been on a search for the past 4½ years for something to help my skin because of psoriasis, so the issue of vit D has been on my radar for awhile now and I knew that the recommendations were way too low. I've been taking up to 4000 UI per day and today I heard a doctor on Good Morning America say "I recommend 1000 to 2000 international units of vitamin D supplements every day. It's cheap, there are no side effects or down sides. Although D3 is considered more potent and longer lasting, both D2 and D3 are acceptable."
I just had a full blood workup and checking for Vitamin D (which is really not a vitamin) was not even mentioned. Next time I will ASK for that...which is another frustration of mine...if WE know this information and there's so many reports about how people are so deficient in vit D, then why do we have to mention it to our doctors? Boggles the mind considering it's such an important element in our makeup.
Here's a response to the piece on Good Morning America:
5 Ways Vitamin D Could Save Your Life - ABC News: "I am Vitimin D deficient and just taking D3 was not being absorbed. I am now on a very high dose of D3 and having my blood checked to see if I am absorbing it. I was told that most of the D in food products and solid pill form was ineffective. Have your doctor order a blood test to see how much D you need. If you are going to take it, it makes sense to be taking the right amount and the correct type."
Here's a great article that explains all of this, like:
"The skin produces approximately 10,000 IU vitamin D in response 20–30 minutes summer sun exposure—50 times more than the US government's recommendation of 200 IU per day!"
Vitamin D Council | Understanding Vitamin D Cholecalciferol
So, how much did YOU know about Vitamin D?
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I was diagnosed last year with a profound Vitamin D deficiency, primarily because I'm essentially a shut in for much of the year. I take 2000 units I believe. I'd have to get up and check--been doing it so long I don't even NOTICE. Even now, though, my levels are borderline. Extreme lethargy AND sleeplessness were my primary symptoms, although my skin is better. I wonder whether that was a factor. But after about six weeks of taking the stuff, I begn to sleep better and have a more normal level of overall energy during the day. It was quite remarkable. I also drink about 14 oz of milk a day as well as look for supplements in various foods. We may not absorb it WELL, but I up the chances where I can. I take my pills with milk. My doctor was on the ball and ordered the screening in my annual physical on a hunch. GOOD DOCTOR, huh?
ReplyDeleteI've recently started taking an interest in vitamin D because it has been mentioned a lot on the Dr Bernstein Diabetes forum I am a member of as being useful for blood glucose control, plus a myriad other benefits, including boosting the immune system and acting as a natural anti-flu agent.
ReplyDeleteIt appears that many of us are quite deficient in this important nutrient, thanks to the current paradigm of insistence of avoiding the sunlight and low fat diets being the healthy way forward (or not, as the case may be :-D).
After reading a recent post by Dr John Briffa in his blog (http://www.drbriffa.com/blog/2009/07/16/my-vitamin-d-results-are-in/) and a response by someone who is very knowledgeable about vitamin D who I know from the diabetes forum I emailed Ted (http://vitamind3.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2009-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&updated-max=2010-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=16) to see what he would recommend to boost levels (I'm just recovering from the flu, and my husband has diabetes which indicates sub-optimal levels).
His suggestion to me is 50,000IUs once a week for 8 weeks and then a 50,000IU every 8-11 days (depending upon body weight) which works out at 4000 to 6000IUs per day for me and my hubby respectively.
I'm amassing quite a large folder on the PC relating to the benefits of Vitamin D. My research suggests that D3 is the best version as it is natural and more easily absorbed by the body. Hmmm, I can feel the makings of a blog post of my own on this ....
Next thing to do is to arrange a test of our levels. This can be done via http://www.grassrootshealth.net/, a source of information on Vitamin D and who are also carrying out a 5 year study on the data they receive from the test results.
So I agree, Dee, all quite interesting stuff....