Why vitamin D or a lack of it may be contributing to or causing your health problems

I’m sure by now everyone has heard about vitamin D and how important it is to our overall health! If you haven’t, get out from under that rock for a bit so I can bring you up to speed. Most people, I hope, even supplement it on a daily basis (or should). Vitamin D is actually not a vitamin at all, but rather a prohormone, as it can be made in our bodies when we are exposed to light. This is where our problems arise. We get very little sunlight on our tissues on a regular basis nowadays. Many of us live at a latitude that predisposes us to below-average sun exposure on our skin (where all the vitamin D magic begins), or slather on sunscreen to protect against the sun’s damaging effects (such as producing vitamin D). D to keep us healthy) that stops our conversion of vitamin D.

It turns out that about 40% of the world’s population is deficient in vitamin D and more than 70% of Americans have deficient or insufficient levels of vitamin D. The sunlight that we are exposed to daily is our main source of vitamin D and, Since we get so little from our diet, if we don’t get that exposure on our skin, you can imagine how important supplementation now becomes. A vitamin D deficiency (a serum vitamin D 25-OH level less than 20 ng/dl) is associated with many chronic diseases, cancers, poor bone health, autoimmune diseases, neurocognitive problems such as depression, mood stability, and chronic disease. Alzheimer’s. You can begin to see the importance of having adequate levels for our bodies to function efficiently and without disease. We have a vitamin D receptor in almost every cell in our body and it is responsible for regulating more than 3,000 of our genes. So, you can understand the seriousness of the situation. Unless you plan to sunbathe in the summer and take sunbathing vacations in the winter, your vitamin D requirements may need attention. I always tell my patients to know their vitamin D level. Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin (OK, prohormone) that needs to be monitored. As with any fat-soluble vitamin, toxicity can be an issue (although vitamin D has a very broad safety level).

Where do we start? With a simple, inexpensive blood draw, which is not routinely done with the normal CBC or CMP, but can be easily added in consultation with your doctor. The test is serum vitamin D 25-OH, and it’s one of the most important numbers to know.

I had a patient who suffered from crippling agoraphobia (she felt it was unsafe to leave her house). What stood out the most from her blood test results was that her vitamin D 25-OH level was in the single digits of 7 ng/dl. Very shortly after taking vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) supplements, she had no anxiety, depression, or mood swings, and her words were, “She felt like her again!”

Vitamin D is one of the supplements I tell each of my patients to take regularly for their health. How much can you ask? The dose depends on your blood serum levels. If your vitamin D levels are low or insufficient, work with a doctor to help monitor it and establish the proper dosage. That said, a very safe dose that you can start supplementing with right away (until you can get your blood levels under control) is a summer dose of 5,000 IU and a winter dose of 7 to 10,000 IU of vitamin D3. Everyone should supplement with some amount of vitamin D for best health. If you need to monitor your levels or customize your dose, give us a call and we’ll work with you.