VITAMIN D AND WHY YOU NEED IT
I’m going to get on my Chiropractic Soap Box for a minute and talk vitamin D and how INSANELY important it is for us.
What you probably already know! Vitamin D (the precursor inactive form): can be found in the UV rays as it converts melanin into the hormone D or through supplementation to be turned into the active form to be used in the blood and bones and much much more.
Why are our levels so statistically low??
Here are just a few reasons
We wear to much sunscreen in the sun instead of just protecting our skin through clothing or exposing our skin for about 20 mins a day.
We spend less time outside then we ever have in this generational time 2018 compared to 1955.
We are taking more prescriptions drugs that stop or block the conversion of Vitamin D in the body by congesting the liver.
So let me blow your mind at what else vitamin D does. The research says that vitamin D supplementation can be used to treat these diseases
❗️Crohns disease
❗️Diabetes type 1
❗️Multiple Sclerosis
❗️Rheumatoid Arthritis
❗️Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
It should be noted that active form Vitamin D not only acts like an anti-inflammatory agent it also assists in restoring the imbalance of the immune system found in autoimmunities!
But wait there’s more!!!
Low levels of vitamin D have been linked to further diseases such as
❗️Cancer- particularly breast cancer
❗️Autoimmune disorders
❗️Poor Bone health
❗️Cardiovascular disease
❗️Mycobacterial diseases
Vitamin D receptors are expressed in almost every cell in our bodies
As many of you know I am passionate about BREAST CANCER PREVENTION not awareness.
Research done showed that woman with low vitamin D ages 55+ had increased risk for Breast Cancer. There was an 82% lower incidence rate of breast cancer for woman with vitamin D concentration over 60ng compared to woman with less than 20ng!!
Did you know that the medical vitamin D sufficiency recommendation today is only 20ng/ml. That is for Bone Health only. But we have more issues facing us today then just bone health.
So I hope this has motivated you to figure out what your vitamin D levels are!
What do you need to know?
You need to know what your levels are first. This is very important before starting Vitamin D. This can be done with a blood prick test or routine blood work from your functional medicine doctor/chiropractor/naturopath/DO/or internist.
The test is called:
Serum 25 hydroxy vitamin D
Levels:
Sufficient >75
Insufficiency 50-74
Deficient <50
❕These levels do not apply to optimal immunity. Those levels would require much higher levels
❕An optimal anti-cancer level needs to be between 60-80 ng/ml
Research says, “If levels are low one should supplement with 20,000 IU of D3 for 3-6 months then assume a maintenance daily dose of 5,000 IU daily.”
❕I found this fascinating in the study.
Of the 5,083 patients in the study there was only 1 case of breast cancer diagnosed after 1 year of raising vitamin D levels to >60ng/ml and above.
So what do I recommend?
1. Get your levels tested first
2. Supplement with vitamin D3. If you work outside you may only need to supplement from September to March but for the rest of us year round would be best.
3. You could lay buck naked in the sun 20 minutes a day if your life offers this, mine unfortunately doesn’t. So I don’t really recommend this.
4. There are many companies providing excellent sources to supplement with. I am partial to 3rd party tested, top pharmaceutical grade supplants.
5. Companies I personally like: Nutri-West (my fav brand and trust them 100%), Nordic Naturals, Standard Process, and Orthomolecular. But there are many more. Just ask me and I can look them up for you to be sure you are getting quality and not full of other junk/fillers.
Research collected by: Dr. Dan Murphy
Written by: Dr. Ashley Carnes