Vitamin D Is Essential To The Modern Indoor Lifestyle

Science News Magazine ^ | 10-23-2010 | Michael Holick

[blam]

Vitamin D Is Essential To The Modern Indoor Lifestyle

By Michael Holick
October 23rd, 2010; Vol.178 #9 (p. 32)

Every cell in the body has a vitamin D receptor protein. It's estimated that upwards of 2,000 genes are directly or indirectly regulated by vitamin D.It’s known that vitamin D is necessary for proper bone formation and maintenance. But recent decades have seen a torrent of studies suggesting that vitamin D can also affect many other aspects of health; some scientists have come to consider the daily recommended intake of 400 international units of vitamin D far too low.
Michael Holick is a biochemist and endocrinologist at Boston University who has spent a career researching the effects of vitamin D (which is actually not a vitamin but a hormone precursor). His new book is The Vitamin D Solution (Hudson Street Press, 2010). Holick recently spoke with Science News biomedicine writer Nathan Seppa.

How much vitamin D do we need?

Children should be taking at least 400 to 1,000 international units of vitamin D as a supplement every day, and adults should take 1,500 to 2,000 IU.

What about pregnant or breast-feeding women?

We tested pregnant women who were taking a prenatal vitamin containing 400 IU of vitamin D each day and drinking two glasses of fortified milk, and found that 76 percent of them — and 81 percent of their newborns — were still vitamin D deficient at the time of giving birth. We also estimate that most breast-feeding women are vitamin D deficient, and they pass along deficient milk to their infants.

Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to increased risks of infectious diseases, cancer, autoimmune diseases, heart disease, cognitive decline, Parkinson’s disease, asthma, mood disorders and even diabetes.

[snip]

[decimon]

Thanks.

I’ve considered how much beneficial (vitamin D producing) sunlight I’ve received over my lifetime and concluded it’s much less than I’d previously imagined. So I supplement.

[Eye of Unk]

I take one 5000 units capsule daily, and I try to get at least 5 minutes under a tanning lamp per day or every other day as well, being shut in a dark room all winter in Alaska if I don't do this I can get Seasonal Affliction Disorder.
I start to hibernate and eat a lot and basically just slow dow, during the winter I am off season and I do not work at all.

[Eye of Unk]

I take one 5000 units capsule daily, and I try to get at least 5 minutes under a tanning lamp per day or every other day as well, being shut in a dark room all winter in Alaska if I don't do this I can get Seasonal Affliction Disorder.
I start to hibernate and eat a lot and basically just slow down, during the winter I am off season and I do not work at all.

[maggief]

Vitamin D ping!

[csmusaret]

And high doses of calcium can cause heart palpitations.

[Jazz1968]

“(latest serum level = 75 ng/ml)”

That is outstanding!
You found your sweet spot, so stick with it.

[Future Useless Eater]

80 good blog posts on Vitamin D3 here...

http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/search/label/vitamin%20D

...and excellent D3 site here as well

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/news.shtml

[Future Useless Eater]

...and stay away from “Nature Made” brand of Vitamin D capsules.

Lots of people have taken that brand for some time, then had their blood levels of vitamin D tested, and found near-zero improvement. So it has been shown to contain little or no vitamin D3.

Most other brands are fine, BUT you have to take them ALONG WITH FAT, or else take the softgel types, since this vitamin is fat-solulable (not absorbed unless it is taken along with fat)

[Pining_4_TX]

I take extra vitamin D, also. I am just cautious about the latest “miracle” whenever it pops up. Our bodies are incredibly complex, and tinkering always affects more than we know. Nothing is risk-free. Clearly, in your situation, the benefits of taking extra vitamin D outweigh any possble risk there might be.

I will pray for you.

Freegards,
Pining

[Pining_4_TX]

Thanks!

[Pining_4_TX]

One possible downside of takng excessive amounts of D is that it might increase the risk of kidney stones in people prone to them.

Here is more useful info on D:

http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/vitamins/vitaminD/

[dixiechick2000]

Thank you! Those are very good sites!

I use doses of “light therapy”...aka tanning bed...too.

It feels like a Florida beach, and you wouldn’t believe the amount of energy I feel afterward.

I know...it’s not good for me, but I don’t do it every day, and in the summer not at all.

I reserve it for the deepest and darkest days of the year...and for before I head south on a trip.

[bert]

Your post is at odds with the testimony of many here who know from direct and long experience it is not true.

At daily levels in excess of 2000 iu per day good things begin to happen. Sickness dissipates or ceases. When there is a possibility or probability of cold or sinus an increase over the 2000 iu threshold for a few days or a week will likely eliminate the threat.

You have read...... your problem is that your one source research is trivial compared to a very large host of other sources available here on Free republic over a long period.Your skepticism is noteworthy but is unwarranted.

Blam has posted several additional sources here today.

Here are more. The first was posted on Free Republic years ago and is especially compelling

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/51913.php

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1929828/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2699123/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2699364/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2703355/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2452507/posts?page=23#23

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/sunshine-vitamin-d-and-death-by-scientific-consensus/
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/51913.php

[matthew fuller]

"My cardiologist and general practitioner both told me vitamin D helps either reduce bad cholesterol, increase good cholesterol or both, so I started taking it. I’d like to verify this info when I have time..."

I believe that the same can be said for red wine! But I am absolutely positive that Vitamin B3, Niacin, in the form of nicotinic acid, the kind that causes flushing at first, will increase the good cholesterol, and reduce the bad, as well as reduce triglycerides, if taken at 2000 mg per day level. (I weigh 175 lb. 1500 mg did not quite work for me.) The flushing can be eliminated by taking a non-enteric coated aspirin for a while, then that can be discontinued after a few days.

[Pining_4_TX]

When I come across information from what I believe is a credible source and will be of interest to Freepers, I post it. There are many health issues that are not settled, by any means, and it’s helpful to have as much info as possible.

Freegards,
Pining