The All-Encompassing Vitamin D Thread

[Long Dark Blues]

Raw butter is your best bet if you're looking to add more vitamin D to your diet. It has to be raw though, pasteurization destroys the naturally-occurring vitamins A and D that are present in raw milk. Vitamins A and D from raw butter are the most easily-uptaken forms you'll find in foods.

 

[XTrainer]

Frankly, I'm skeptical of the whole idea of Vitamin D from food. The amount you can get from food I've looked into absolutely pales in comparison to sun exposure. Personally, I believe food can, at best, support "near adequate" Vitamin D production from sun exposure.

(This is also why I think Vitamin D supplements are important, especially for people who live in places with long winters and/pr don't get much sun exposure.)

 

[DEVILsSON]

I noticed that my susception to colds/overtraining is closely related to my vit D supplementation. I take anywhere from 1,000 to 6,000 IU a day.

 

[Henry Swanson]

My dentist claims that he can tell I'm deficient in Vitamin D due to the recession of my gums.

 

[GhostDog]

I signed up for the Grassroots health Vitamin D test kit for $40. I'll post my results once I complete the test. I'm currently taking 5000 IU's a day.

 

[Henry Swanson]

So I bought a couple of bottles of the dry tabs yesterday at the health food store(they didn't carry any gel caps).

But I did find these online for you western canucks.

NOW Vitamin D 1,000 iu *Only Available in Western Region*

Ordered 6 bottles of that stuff.

I noticed the other day after reading this thread that besides the odd day on the weekend when it isn't raining, I barely see any sunlight at all. When I head into work in the morning, it's still dark out. No windows in my office, when I leave at 5:30 or so at night, there's barely any sun out.

 

[Loomy]

So I bought a couple of bottles of the dry tabs yesterday at the health food store(they didn't carry any gel caps).

But I did find these online for you western canucks.

NOW Vitamin D 1,000 iu *Only Available in Western Region*

Ordered 6 bottles of that stuff.

I noticed the other day after reading this thread that besides the odd day on the weekend when it isn't raining, I barely see any sunlight at all. When I head into work in the morning, it's still dark out. No windows in my office, when I leave at 5:30 or so at night, there's barely any sun out.

Now Foods, Vitamin D-3, Highest Potency, 5,000 IU, 120 Softgels - iHerb.com

$12 USD shipped to Canada

 

[XTrainer]

I don't know about Costco, but Sam's club now stocks a 2000 I.U. gel cap in a 400 count bottle, for dirt cheap. That's what I use now.

 

[Henry Swanson]

I don't know about Costco, but Sam's club now stocks a 2000 I.U. gel cap in a 400 count bottle, for dirt cheap. That's what I use now.

Yeah I was debating on checking costco, but it would mean getting my uncle to go with me because I don't have a membership.

I recall seeing them having a Vit D gelcap in stock. The bottle was clear though, does excessive light exposure have any affect on this stuff? I know it's probably splitting hairs but you never know these days.

 

[Cooz]

I can confirm that Costco has 2000 IU d-3 gel caps. Don't know about price though, but it has to be good...it's costco!

 

[anaconda]

I have a stupid question. If I'm getting plenty of sun is there any point/need in supplementing my vit d?

 

[XTrainer]

By definition, "plenty" would mean you're getting enough, so it's kind of hard to answer your question any other way than "no" when you put it that way.

By what standard have you determined that you get "plenty" of sun exposure?

 

[anaconda]

By definition, "plenty" would mean you're getting enough, so it's kind of hard to answer your question any other way than "no" when you put it that way.

By what standard have you determined that you get "plenty" of sun exposure?

like at least a couple of hours a day of quality sun

 

[Henry Swanson]

So has anyone here encountered any side effects taking such high doses?

I've been taking 2000IU's daily but feeling a tad lethargic as well.

 

[Zalach]

I've been taking 4,000 a day for 3 months now and feel great...

haven't gotten sick either... what usually starts out as allergies and a missed night's sleep catches up with me and gives me a head cold. Sleeping for 48 hours cures it. It always happens every Oct and Feb without fail. This year though I haven't even had an inkling of getting sick, heck, haven't even felt bad.

 

[XTrainer]

like at least a couple of hours a day of quality sun

Definitely a good question, hard to say. From what I've read, anywhere from 10-30 minutes is all it takes for your body to produce 10,000 I.U.'s of Vit D. But there's so many variables, such as season, location (latitude), cloud cover, and how much skin you have exposed. Also, it stands to reason (and I think I saw this on MDA), that a very white person of Northern European ancestry (using myself as an example) is going to need less sun exposure than someone with equatorial ancestry. I haven't seen any sources that deal with these issues in great depth.

The next obvious question is how much Vitamin D does your body really need, whether from diet, supplements, or sun? I don't have a good answer for that either. I've seen widely varying numbers. Since it is so hard to tell how much your body is producing on its own, it's hard to say how relevant of a question that really is.

What I DO know is that a lot of the research has shown that supplemental D is in fact very effective at raising D levels in the body, and 2000 I.U. is at the low end of effective supplementation. That much seems to be sufficient for me (haven't gotten sick in years, not feeling lethargic or anything), but I haven't had my D levels tested, so I can't know for sure.

Hope that helps.

 

[Monger]

So has anyone here encountered any side effects taking such high doses?

I've been taking 2000IU's daily but feeling a tad lethargic as well.

Vit D just gets stored in excess so I'd say it's nothing more than coincidence if you feel lethargic. Hell, doctors will prescribe 50,000IU + in one dose for deficient people. And I could be wrong because it's been awhile but it seems to me like the human body synthesizes like 20,000 IU with an hour or so of full body sun exposure. I don't think OD'ing is an issue.

 

[Monger]

But there's so many variables, such as season, location (latitude), cloud cover, and how much skin you have exposed.

I think that's the big one. If you've only got your hands and face exposed, I don't think I'd expect much in 2 hours. What would that be, maybe 5% of your body exposed? But I don't know. I mean, if you could synthesize 20,000 IU in an hour, 5% would still be 1,000IU so a couple of hours could net you what a lot of guys are supplementing with in this thread.

Personally, I just think that vit D is so ridiculously cheap and so many people have been found to benefit from it that if you have to question whether you get enough sun light or not, just supplement.

 

[Henry Swanson]

Personally, I just think that vit D is so ridiculously cheap and so many people have been found to benefit from it that if you have to question whether you get enough sun light or not, just supplement.

Agreed. This stuff is damn cheap, even the gel caps are cheap. My neighbour actually brought this up the other day with me, she's been taking 3000-5000 iu's of vitamin D every day for the past 22 years.

 

[XTrainer]

I think that's the big one. If you've only got your hands and face exposed, I don't think I'd expect much in 2 hours. What would that be, maybe 5% of your body exposed? But I don't know. I mean, if you could synthesize 20,000 IU in an hour, 5% would still be 1,000IU so a couple of hours could net you what a lot of guys are supplementing with in this thread.

Right, I've thought about that as well. But, it seems "X" I.U.'s of vitamin D from supplements do more to increase measured D levels than "X" I.U.'s synthesized from sunlight. I have no idea what mechanism that can work through, but I don't see how 2000-5000 I.U.'s via supplements could actually be useful any other way. Yet, most of the research says 2000-5000 I.U.'s is indeed useful as far as raising measured D levels. Embedded in this observation might actually be a decent counterpoint to the observation I made about D from food above...maybe our bodies somehow "waste" a lot of the D synthesized from sunlight, but not so much from supplements/food. Pure speculation on my part.


Personally, I just think that vit D is so ridiculously cheap and so many people have been found to benefit from it that if you have to question whether you get enough sun light or not, just supplement.

Agreed.

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