The Most Critical Vitamin Deficiency…

What’s the one vitamin that’s deficiency is linked to numerous cancers, high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, depression, chronic muscle pain, bone loss, fatigue, and autoimmune diseases, such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and multiple sclerosis? Vitamin D. 

I would argue that it’s one of the most under-diagnosed and under-treated conditions in medicine. I haven’t tested a patient yet that isn’t on a high dose of supplemental vitamin D that tests within optimal range. It seems that everyone’s vitamin D level is low, particularly in the region of the world, I practice. Let’s look at how vitamin D affects health; why people are deficient; and a few simple ways to get an optimal vitamin D level. 

How Vitamin D Affects Us

So often we take a list of potential health problems linked to a certain lab value and brush it off. If you understand how it affects you and creates the problem then you are more likely to take it seriously. I don’t want to bore you so let’s just hit some basic highlights. Vitamin D greatly impacts the health and function of our cells and genes. It’s thought that every cell in the body has a vitamin D receptor thus vitamin D may play a role in health and homeostasis of every organ system. We know that vitamin D reduces cell growth (cell growth is cancer promoting) and improves cellular differentiation, placing cells into an anticancer state. Thus it is one of the most potent cancer inhibitors. Acting on cellular receptors that sends messages to our genes it controls a variety of functions such as: reducing inflammation, boosting mood, easing muscle aches and fibromyalgia, and building bones.

Why Are More People Testing Suboptimal or Deficient?

The main source of vitamin D is through our body’s natural production when exposed to sunlight. Two obvious problems are people not being out in the sun enough whether it be from living in an area with extreme temperature changes and particularly cold winters or from overuse of sunscreen. I certainly understand wanting to protect ourselves from skin cancer and it’s wise to not get sun burnt, however, more people die from problems associated with low vitamin D levels than skin cancer. It’s estimated that sunscreen blocks 97 percent of your body’s vitamin D production! Aging skin produces less vitamin D. Aging sure beats the alternative, not getting older, but just be aware that you are more likely to need supplementation as you age despite sun exposure. The average 70 year-old creates only 25 percent of the vitamin D that a person 20 years old does. 

Another cause of low vitamin D levels is due to lack of adequate ingestion or absorption due to gut health issues. Our food sources certainly aren’t as good as they were hundreds of years ago and many of us tend to not eat much of the few good natural food sources for vitamin D which include fatty wild fish such as cod, salmon, and mackerel. And No, milk is not a sufficient source and is on my bad list for multiple reasons that I’ll save for another post. Let’s just say I’ve never known milk to do a body good.
The FDA recommends anywhere from 200-600IU of vitamin D per day with no more than 2000iu per day. Side note on vitamins: the government’s recommended daily allowance (RDA) as you see on food and vitamin packaging is the minimum amount required to not be SICK! 200-600IU of vitamin D is the minimum amount you need to prevent rickets, a bone disease caused by low vitamin D. 

What’s an Optimal Vitamin D Level? 

The problem with current lab tests is that the reference range for normal is broad. Don’t be fooled by a normal vitamin D lab value. I have seen my fair share of patients whose lab is suboptimal, yet ‘normal’ that have one if not multiple of the above linked health problems. Recent research suggests an optimal blood level of 25 hydroxy vitamin D between 75-125 nmol/L (nanomoles per liter). I typically aim for 60-90 nmol/ L. This may sound high when comparing most lab companies normal reference range of approximately 30-100nmol/L.

In discussing this, functional medicine expert, Dr. Mark Hyman, brought out some interesting statistics. Lifegaurds have been shown to have levels of 250nmol/ L without toxicity. Also, in countries where sun exposure is the equivalent of 10,000IU per day and people have blood levels of 105-163 nmol/L, autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus are uncommon. 

How Can I Get The Right Amount of Vitamin D? 

Spend all your time on the beach? One can only dream, right?! 

You simply, must supplement. The amount needed to get to an optimal level will vary pending your age, skin color, location of where you live, amount of sun exposure, time of year, and dietary intake. Work with your healthcare provider to prescribe a dosing plan to boost your vitamin D levels. Pending the information above and current blood levels, doses for deficient levels may range from 5,000IU-20,000IU of vitamin D3 daily for 2 to 3 consecutive months followed by lowering to a maintenance phase. Vitamin D3 is used instead of vitamin D2 because D2 biologically inactive. It’s important to monitor blood levels of 25 hydroxy vitamin D every 2-3 months when using high levels of vitamin D3. Once an optimal blood level is achieved, a good maintenance plan can range from 1,000IU to 5,000IU daily. 

Vitamin D plays such an integral role in not only how healthy we are but also how we feel. Take one step closer to a better life by getting your vitamin D optimized. I look forward to hearing how you are better for it!

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