The All-Encompassing Vitamin D Thread

This has been a good thread to read and thanks again Vedic for raising the topic. I'm thinking about following Josh's idea of taking 4,000 units per day and seeing if I notice any changes. I've actually gotten my first cold in 3 years at the moment and I also experienced depression for the 1st time in my life within the past 4/5 months. I'm generally feeling better now but the depression came from nowhere, didn't see it coming. Do you guys think that part of what happened to me could have been to do with a Vit D deficiency? , or am I putting too much emphasis on this issue. Of course, I know that taking a Vit D supplement won't help with serotonin production but the Vit D would likely help me fight colds and similar now and in future.

*wishes he lived in a sunnier place than England*
 
noise666 said:
So - question, how long does it take for the deficiency to show?
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Great question, Noise. From what I've read, numbers on the half-life vary from 30 days to 8 weeks. Makes sense in regards to seasonal Affective Disorder, since that's about the time after summer we start staying indoors are get less direct sunlight. I think a lot of factors come into play, though, such as age and nutrition.

noise666 said:
I'll be having a physical done in the beginning of 09 with fresh blood work and what not. I'll see if I can get my vitamin D levels checked as well :- ) I'll keep you all posted on the results.
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That'll be very cool to see, with your being the resident level-headed Sherdog Vegan. :icon_chee

Asherc said:
is there a particular brand of vitamin D supplements that are better than others?
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From Animal Pharm:

The brands that I've tried (I'll be posting later as well) are:
--NOW Vitamin D 400, 1000, 2000 and 5000 IU daily
--Carlson's Solar D Gems 4000 IU (though a patient told me they're on backorder)
--Costco's Nature's something dry tablet (I didn't like it)
--Nature's Blend 2000 IU dry tablets (at most drug stores)

Ones I haven't tried but are likely to be reputable:
--Vitacost.com NSI brand 4000 IU capsules
--Liquid drops (highly concentrated) -- Anna at againstthegrain (blog) likes this


Dr. Davis prefers capsules because he finds that often tablets don't yield consistent blood results.

I'm using the Health Balance (Costco) small 1000IU dry tabs right now.

IronMaidenfan#1 said:
Do you guys think that part of what happened to me could have been to do with a Vit D deficiency?
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Totally possible, but it's more than likely a combination of S.A.D, vit D deficiency, possible overtraining, adrenal fatigue, work/personal stress versus just one thing. In my experience, though, sunlight is a HUGE factor. I've been fortunate enough to be able to take some form of tropical vacation every winter for the past couple of years. Sitting on a beach soaking up the sun for a week seems to have a long carry-over effect into summer (or at least spring) for me.

I've battled depression in the past also, and one of the major factors that's kept it at bay has been light---either sunlight, or a high-lux artifical light used in the morning. I have yet to pull it out of the closet, but then again, I'm supplementing with more vit D this year than ever before. Coincidence? Who knows. In hindsight, it would have been nice to have my 25OHD levels pre-depression, during, after, and now.
 
Wow, I didn't even realize they had 5,000 IU vitamin d. It fuckin sucks, at my drug store (CVS) our shelves only have 400 IU w/ out being stacked with calcium (that is 1,000 IU) and our ordering warehouse is only able to get up to 1000 IU over-the-counter. We do have 50,000 IU RX only but that is out of reach and way too high a dose.
 
Wow, great thread.

MikeMartial - Didn't you do a thread on this last year about this time? I remember saying to myself after "I really need to take advantage of that free tanning I have."
 
I read on Dr. William Davis' blog (a big Vit D advocate) that Vit D tablets have pretty much no effect (test have shown that they don't raise your blood level) and that one should only take gel caps.

I want to switch to gel caps, but they are hard to come by.

Here's a link where he talks about in an online artice => Heart Disease - Vitamin D: Explosive new player in heart health

I'm having trouble finding where he said this on his blog (The Heart Scan Blog)

I've recently increased by Vit D intake to 4000IU + the 400IU I get from my daily multi.
 
GhostDog said:
I read on Dr. William Davis' blog (a big Vit D advocate) that Vit D tablets have pretty much no effect (test have shown that they don't raise your blood level) and that one should only take gel caps.

I want to switch to gel caps, but they are hard to come by.

Here's a link where he talks about in an online artice => Heart Disease - Vitamin D: Explosive new player in heart health

I'm having trouble finding where he said this on his blog (The Heart Scan Blog)

I've recently increased by Vit D intake to 4000IU + the 400IU I get from my daily multi.
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Really? Sort of on an impulse, when I was in Rite Aid today, I picked up some 1000 I.U. nature made soft gels. And I had a lot of other options to choose from.
 
XTrainer said:
Really? Sort of on an impulse, when I was in Rite Aid today, I picked up some 1000 I.U. nature made soft gels. And I had a lot of other options to choose from.
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Do they have calcium in them too? If not, you mind giving me the UPC# so I can try to see if I can order them to my store?
 
XTrainer said:
Really? Sort of on an impulse, when I was in Rite Aid today, I picked up some 1000 I.U. nature made soft gels. And I had a lot of other options to choose from.
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I haven't been able to find any at Costco, or Shoppers Drug Mart up here in Toronto. I still have to check some of the local health food stores that I frequent.

If any knows of any stores in Toronto that carry the gel caps, let me know.
 
joshetc said:
Do they have calcium in them too? If not, you mind giving me the UPC# so I can try to see if I can order them to my store?
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The ones I bought do not. Coincidentally, however, I happen to have some Nature Made Cal+D softgels (that are new in packaging/I don't take calcium). I got them for free:

Nature Made Vitamins, Nutritional Information, Health and Wellness Topics and Herbal Supplements

Actually, if you look, you can also get FREE D soft gels at this website. I took advantage of their free supplements offer awhile back when I was going to start taking calcium+D...by the time they arrived at my door a few days later, I had changed my mind lol.
 
Yeh I am against calcium supplementation. There is like 50 mg in my multi and from milk is all I take. In a way I wish milk didnt have it either.
 
GhostDog: Keep an eye out for NOW Foods vitamin D gel caps.
 
This is pretty interesting. I am going to pick up some Vitamin D at Costco next time I am there. During this time of year I basically never see the sun, I get to work in the dark, and leave for the gym after work in the dark. This is also the only time of the year I ever get sick, usually once with a bad cold or flu bug.
 
MikeMartial said:
Totally possible, but it's more than likely a combination of S.A.D, vit D deficiency, possible overtraining, adrenal fatigue, work/personal stress versus just one thing. In my experience, though, sunlight is a HUGE factor. I've been fortunate enough to be able to take some form of tropical vacation every winter for the past couple of years. Sitting on a beach soaking up the sun for a week seems to have a long carry-over effect into summer (or at least spring) for me.

I've battled depression in the past also, and one of the major factors that's kept it at bay has been light---either sunlight, or a high-lux artifical light used in the morning. I have yet to pull it out of the closet, but then again, I'm supplementing with more vit D this year than ever before. Coincidence? Who knows. In hindsight, it would have been nice to have my 25OHD levels pre-depression, during, after, and now.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input Mike. I've just put in an order now. I'm going to go with 4000UI each day and see what happens. If I perceive any obvious changes then I'll come back to this thread.
 
Thought this was interesting...

I've never been a dedicated FitDay user, but I had some spare time today and decided to log everything I ate in detail (as much as possible, I estimated to the best of my ability with things like meat serving sizes; I think I got pretty close).

Anyway, at this point, most my nutrient levels are "in the green," (at lest 100% RDA, for whatever that's worth), and I still have 1 meal left to go. Note that these numbers do not include any of my supplements. The nutrients that are not over 100% at the moment are:

Vitamin E: 78%-Somewhat surprised by this, considering how much fruit/veggies I ate.
Potassium: 89%-This will be over 100% by bed.
Thiamin: 98%-Same.
Vitamin D: 25%!?!?!?!

Wow, I had no idea I was doing that poorly in the "D" department. Like I said earlier in this thread, I have very little sun exposure during Michigan winters as well. When I go outside, I don't leave any skin exposed.

This came during a day when I have so far consumed 2,600 calories (non-workout day), a 39/37/23 FAT/PRO/CHO macronutrient breakdown (that will shift more toward fat/protein with my last meal), ate fruit and/or veggies with every meal, and ate a wide variety of food. In other words, what would normally be considered a pretty solid diet.

So, yeah, definitely starting 2x1000 I.U. D softgels a day.
 
XTrainer said:
Thought this was interesting...

I've never been a dedicated FitDay user, but I had some spare time today and decided to log everything I ate in detail (as much as possible, I estimated to the best of my ability with things like meat serving sizes; I think I got pretty close).

Anyway, at this point, most my nutrient levels are "in the green," (at lest 100% RDA, for whatever that's worth), and I still have 1 meal left to go. Note that these numbers do not include any of my supplements. The nutrients that are not over 100% at the moment are:

Vitamin E: 78%-Somewhat surprised by this, considering how much fruit/veggies I ate.
Potassium: 89%-This will be over 100% by bed.
Thiamin: 98%-Same.
Vitamin D: 25%!?!?!?!

Wow, I had no idea I was doing that poorly in the "D" department. Like I said earlier in this thread, I have very little sun exposure during Michigan winters as well. When I go outside, I don't leave any skin exposed.

This came during a day when I have so far consumed 2,600 calories (non-workout day), a 39/37/23 FAT/PRO/CHO macronutrient breakdown (that will shift more toward fat/protein with my last meal), ate fruit and/or veggies with every meal, and ate a wide variety of food. In other words, what would normally be considered a pretty solid diet.

So, yeah, definitely starting 2x1000 I.U. D softgels a day.
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Wow dude, so your post inspired me to log into Fit Day myself for the first time in months. To my surprise, I got ZERO vitamin D. I was pretty shocked actually. I put so much into adding up and planning in my head the macro ratios of PRO/CHO/FAT I get, but pretty much never think about vitamins and such. I take a multi every day as well as separate Vitamin D, but still....I was pretty surprised. Everything else (vitamins) was good, but yeah, Vitamin D was zilch for the day (from food).
 
Wow.. I went ahead and tried the whole fit day thing for kicks and I did get enough vitamin d. I guess I kind of cheated cause I drank like 40oz of milk.

What really surprised me though was my caloric breakdown. 43% fat, 39% carbs, and 18% protein. I consumed over 3300 cal and 153g protein..
 
I supplement it with calcium, but I need a lot more. Like most things to do with health it's hard to find here.
 
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