Happy Monday everyone! I hope you didn’t melt too much as this weekend was HOTTTT! Even though we are in summer, and even those of us who live in California, there is a very high vitamin D deficiency. Why is that? Well, that’s what I would like to talk about this week. More than 90% of people with darker skin pigments (Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians) living in the United States now suffer from Vitamin D insufficiency, while 75% of the white population is deficient.
Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin that is stored in the liver and fatty tissues. This means that increased body fat has the ability to absorb Vitamin D and keep it from being used within our body. Vitamin D is somewhat different than other vitamins because our body makes most of our Vitamin D on its own, rather than solely relying on food sources.
The way that our bodies make Vitamin D is to convert sunshine into chemicals that are used by the body. The cholesterol in our skin converts “previtamin D” and makes it into usable vitamin D3 which is sometimes also called provitamin D (3). Previtamin Ds first travels through the kidneys and liver in the blood stream, and then is converted into a biologically active and usable substance called calcitriol.
Vitamin D actually becomes a hormone within our body, particularly a secosteroid hormone. What we know as Vitamin D is really a precursor to a steroid hormone. It impacts not only our skeletal structure, but also our blood pressure, immunity, mood, brain function, and ability to protect ourselves from cancer.
Vitamin D3 is believed to convert up to 500 times faster than D2 and has been estimated to be 4X more effective in humans than D2 is.
First, let’s talk about the sun source. It is actually the BEST way to absorb vitamin D. First off, when you put sunblock on, it blocks the vitamin D. (That was in a previous newsletter if you missed it). So, I won’t go into that portion. Also if you are of a darker skin tone, you need more vitamin D that the rest of us like skinned nationalities. Because it takes a longer period of time to penetrate your skin (melanin).
Vitamin D is absorbed in the small intestine, and requires adequate bile salts from the gallbladder to be absorbed. (Hence my topic last week about the importance of gallbladder function!)
Low hydrochloric acid in your stomach causes binding of vitamin D in the small intestine rendering it unusable.
How do you know if you have low hydrochloric acid?
Classic signs are:
Burping
Belching
acid reflux
not digesting food well
bloating
Skin rashes
if you take zantac or any antacid you are low in HCL
hypothyroidism
developing food allergies
certain lab work blood markers
Probiotics help promote the full absorption of all nutrients, but especially vitamin D. If you have gut infections, like bacteria, parasites, yeast, ect. that will also affect the ability to absorb vitamin D. So you could be in the sun for a healthy amount, eat all the rich vitamin D foods, but still have low levels. This is because your gut health is poor.
Magnesium is needed to fully influence vitamin D. It also has a role in vitamin D’s effect on the immune system.
Magnesium works synergistically with vitamin D and calcium by stimulating calcitonin. This helps preserve bone structure and draws calcium out of the blood and soft tissues back into the bones.
Do you notice that during the summer months no one is sick as often? That’s because of vitamin D!
In the research healthy vitamin D levels are WAY more superior than any flu vaccine at preventing colds and flu.
What are some other vitamin D blockers??
Cortisol: This is the stress hormone
Caffeine- Don’t take vitamin D supplements with coffee
Gallbladder issues- Again the GALLBLADDER is huge! It decreases absorption of fat soluble vitamins (ADEK)
Infections block vitamin D function
low essential fatty acids ( Omegas). Those who eat a meal containing fat, absorbed up to 32 percent more of the vitamin D supplement than those who had a fat free meal. Again fats, fats, fats as you’ve heard me preach many times.
Vitamin A protects against vitamin D toxicity and introduced the possibility the vitamins A, D, and K2 may be cooperative factors that should all be consumed in proper balance.
That is why if you are a current patient of mine, I always give you Vitamin D3 with K2. Just taking normal vitamin D3 won’t get you the absorption that you need.
Also low levels of vitamin D can lead to low dopamine levels. This equals depression and reward seeking behavior.
Genetically, you can also have what’s called a VDR mutation. Which doesn’t allow you to convert vitamin D efficiently. If you haven’t gotten your genetics looked at it’s worth it! 23andme.com
What is the optimal range???
The optimal (FUNCTIONAL) range that I like for vitamin D is 70-90. I like in the middle of that range. This is NOT a range that your medical doctor will look at. Their ranges are much lower, and only notify you when you are extremely depleted.
If you have low levels in your blood work, here is the support you need to boost it up:
Vitamin D3/K2
Vitamin A emulsion
Gallbladder support
Magnesium lactate or glycinate
essential fatty acids (omegas)
Gut reconditioning protocol
Here are some symptoms of low vitamin D:
achy bones/joints
head sweating/excessive sweating
stress fractures
decreased endurance
Osteoporosis
Heart disease
High blood pressure
Cancer
Autoimmune diseases
Depression
Insomnia
Arthritis
Diabetes
Asthma
Multiple Sclerosis
Chronic pain
Psoriasis
Fibromyalgia
Autism
So, this is HUGE to make sure it’s in the proper range. You will overall feel so much better when your vitamin D level is in check. But if you aren’t getting your levels up through supplementation or sunlight, then look into the other areas I mentioned.
Of course I always recommend doing a whole body cleanse! Join the group starting August 1! A video will be coming soon on the importance of the cleanse and how it works.