Medical research has convincingly shown that optimal Vitamin D levels would decrease deaths from breast and colon cancer by a whopping 75%.
OK, so I’m off topic. But I’m an old hospice nurse, and that’s 3 out of four people who were going to die of these horrible diseases who DON’T HAVE TO!! And about 70% of the people who were going to suffer from these cancers DON’T EVER HAVE TO HAVE THEM! And the same for Type 1 Diabetes and Multiple Sclerosis (MS). I’m talking you and your loved ones here.
We could see these decreased numbers a reality throughout the population within five years if we can get word out. And in a much shorter time we could see a significant decrease in the incidence and severity of influenza, high blood pressure, chronic pain, and even falls in the elderly, all related to optimal vitamin D levels.
Far fewer people would suffer from these, and of those who do, far fewer would die.
The Optimal Level
The only trick is that it’s not about how much vitamin D goes in your mouth, but what the levels of Vitamin D are in your body. And the only way to know that is to do a blood test and measure it. With that information, you can adjust your dosage of vitamin D to get your level into the optimal range.
The level you’re wanting is between 40-60 ng/ml (100-150 nmol/L) serum hydroxyvitamin D. And a simple blood test will tell you where you are at in relationship to those numbers.
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, which means the body stores it for long periods of time. And any time you’re dealing with a fat-soluble vitamin, people start worrying about taking too much.
The good news here is that there’s a huge cushion between an optimal level and a toxic level of vitamin D. Researchers have done studies to learn the toxicity level of vitamin D, and have not found toxicity occurring at serum levels less than 200 ng/ml (600 nmol/L).
Scientists agree that, even without blood testing, pretty much anybody can safely take 2000 IU’s/day. The only problem here is that 2000 IU’s/day won’t put many people into the optimal zone – they’ll still be low.
A Simple Plan
To get started on getting your vitamin D level into the optimal range, follow these easy steps.
Step 1. Test
I encourage you to join the open arm study sponsored by D*action at http://www.joindaction.org. (The study is open to people throughout the world, except for those in the state of New York in the USA. Sorry, New Yorkers, it has something to do with your state’s public health laws about sending blood spot tests out of state through the mail.) It costs $40 to join, and that pays for a home blood-spot Vitamin D test, which is probably the least expensive way to test, as there is no fee for an office visit. They will have you retest twice a year, and each test will cost $40. Your information will be used to study the impact of an optimal vitamin D level on the population.
If you choose not to join the study, you can arrange to be tested with your health care provider.
Step 2. Supplement
When you get the results of the test, supplement as needed with Vitamin D3 in order to adjust your serum level to the optimal 40-60 ng/ml or 100-150 nmol/L. Although it varies from person to person, as a rule of thumb approximately 1000 IU/day will raise your serum level 10ng/ml (25 nmol/L). So if you test at 20 ng/ml, you will want to take 4000 IU/day.
It’s OK to aim for the upper levels of the range, both because of the enormous cushion between a high level and a toxic level and because of the devastating risks of running low.
If you miss a dose, you can take make it up the next day, or even take several days’ doses all at once. For example, my doctor has me on 50,000 IU’s once a week, and because Vitamin D is fat soluble, that works as well for me as taking a smaller dose daily.
Step 3. Retest
Once you start a new dose of Vitamin D, it takes about 3 months for the new serum D level to stabilize, so wait that long after changing a dose to retest your level. Then test to see if you need to adjust your dose, using the same rule of thumb of 1000 IU/day for each 10 ng/ml (25 nmol/L) adjustment you need to make.
If you’re too high, reduce your dose by this rule of thumb, and if you’re too low, increase your dose by this rule of thumb.
When you’ve reached your optimal level, maintain your levels by testing twice a year: in March and in September. In the Northern Hemisphere, March will usually be your low point for your vitamin D levels, and you want to be sure not to fall below the optimal range at this low point. September will typically be your highest level. For those living in the Southern Hemisphere, these months will be reversed, with your low point in September.
Is This For Everybody?
This information applies to people of all ages. The only people who should not do this are some of those who suffer from granulomatious diseases, TB, and sarcoidosis. If you have any of these diseases, consult your health care provider first.
Are There Any Warnings?
It is recommended that you get your calcium level checked after a few months to make sure you don’t have too much calcium in your system related to the increased vitamin D. See your health care provider for this.
The only other issue concerns vitamin A. Vitamins A and D both are absorbed by the same receptors. And too much vitamin A will block vitamin D’s access to these receptors. It is recommended that you take less than 6000 IU of vitamin A/day. (Other sources recommend taking a dose of vitamin A less than or equal to your dose of vitamin D.) And avoid taking a large dose like this at the same time of day you take your dose of vitamin D.
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Blessings!
Gail Ruth
ADDENDUM March 11, 2010: When you have your vitamin D levels tested at your physician’s office, make sure that the test used measures 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (or 25 OH vitamin D). There is a test that measures 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D, but this is the wrong test. This latter test may show that the 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D is normal or high, when the person is in fact deficient in vitamin D3.
You may want to avoid Qwest Labs when testing. They have had significant problems with erroneously high vitamin D test results. LabCorps is considered to be a reliable source for Vitamin D testing.
ADDENDUM June 22, 2010: If you’re looking for actual health benefits, you’ll want to test your levels at least every 6 months. I can’t tell you how many people have read this post and told me they’ve started taking Vitamin D, but when I ask if they’ve tested their levels, they’ve admitted they haven’t. Everybody is different. Some people might need only 2000 IU’s to get to optimal levels. Others need to take 50,000 IU’s three times a week.
As a side note, the optimal ranges quoted here are conservative figures that are meant to help the most people without raising concern anywhere in the medical community. I encourage you to aim for the high side of the range. Many physicians who are up-to-speed on the Vitamin D research recommend (especially for people struggling with cancer or other disease) a level of around 100 ng/ml – which is still well below potentially toxic levels.
Sources of information:
http://www.GrassRootsHealth.net/
Vitamin D Prevents Cancer: Is It True? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ-qekFoi-o (30 minutes)
Possible 75% Cancer Mortality Reduction with Vitamin D http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FMlQeH8RFA (6 minutes)
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Vitamin D – Tonic.com http://www.tonic.com/article/everything-you-need-to-know-about-vitamin-d-frank-lipman/
