"Very low" Vitamin D levels?

[delta_9]

No, he's not. All things in moderation. The amount of sunlight that it takes to produce a sufficient amount of vitamin D is not very dangerous at all.

"Sufficient" and "optimum" are two very different things. Yes, you are correct that 10-15 minutes a day in the sun is enough to prevent rickets, however the amount of vitamin D necessary to reach "optimum" levels is much higher than the RDA and supplementation is always a good idea.(As I said earlier, when it comes to supplementation with vitamins, D is the only one which is pretty much unanimously agreed upon). To sit in the sun long enough to get those "optimum" levels would be a bad idea.

Granted, I don't know how much vitamin D the skin is able to produce per x amount of minutes(of course the amount of exposed skin is a big factor), so it is of course different per person, but I would say at least 2000 IU per day is recommended. 75µg K2 would also help greatly. With proper vitamin D3/K2 intake, calcium deficiency is pretty much non existent.


EDIT - I noticed a few people saying they took 50,000 IU per day? This is not good. Toxicity starts to show at around 10,000 IU and larger doses have resulted in serious disturbances in calcium and phosphorus metabolism. Remember, vitamin D is a fat soluble nutrient, so no more than 5,000 IU a day just to be safe.

 

[Draigan]

20-30min of sunlight a day

bs its more than that im sure.

 

[Busty St Clare]

I do not have a good diet and havnt eaten breakfast in at least 10 years due to not waking up early.

Do you stay up all night and sleep away the days? That going to decrease your exposure to sunlight. If you have just come out of the winter then it is really common to have low vit D levels. 30 minutes is the recommended daily exposure time, but it does depend on your climate. In those regions with extreme hot climates it is best not to get your 30 minutes between 12pm-3pm which is the peak UV times.

 

[panic in paradise]

delta, i have a script for 50k IU's; to be taken once a week not daily, heheh.

 

[delta_9]

Hey don't laugh at me, my D levels are quite optimum. I saw to that some time ago.
You however, are taking an unnecessarily large(and likely, unsafe dose...barring some medical conditions of course).

Excess intake of exogenous vit D does indeed causes a much greater increase in 25-OH D3 levels, however the effeciency of 25-hydroxylase decreases as the intake of the vitamin increases, so taking more dosen't mean you're getting more. Best to take moderate amounts of D3(As I said, 2000-4000 IU is fine), with a good K2 supplement. I don't know why no one has mentioned this, it IS important for these nutrients to synergize.

Toxicity seems to be related to calcium deposition in soft tissues, as well as increased oxidation of membranes. As such, hypercalcium, hyperphosphatemia, azotemia, and other symptoms have been reported when intake of high levels of exogenous vit D is prolongued.

 

[TakeItAll]

Because of the variability in sunlight through the seasons and also the colour of various people's skins the daily amount of sunlight needed is calculated as follows:

Know how long it takes for your skin to turn faintly pink in sunlight of that intensity and then divide that time by 4.
Expose 20% of your skin to sunlight for that long every day.

20% of your skin's surface is approximately the same as exposing your head and neck, T-Shirt arms down and knees downward.

So for people at high and low latitudes the amount of time you need to be out in the sun varies a lot especially since during winter months you tend to be wearing more clothing.

The good news is that Vitamin D has some very long half-life that I can't recall so you can kind of stock up through summer and use it up over winter. Two problems are firstly that lots of people go and get more than enough and expose themselves to the risks of skin cancer and secondly lots of people just don't leave the house enough to stock up over winter.

You can get Vit D from dietary sources as all the talk of supplements here obviously attests. The 50,000 IU doses are usually reserved for people with very low levels that aren't responding to lower dose supplements which is fairly common. If your doctor is giving them I would say the chances of toxicity are very low given that it is quite safe to have a blood level up to 150 of Vit D.

 

[Gormur]

Supplement a good oil-based Vitamin D3 at 4000-5000 IU every day

This. I take borage oil and flax oil. Eggs, fish and milk are also a good source of vitamin D - altho note that most commercial (pasteurized) milk is fortified with vitamin D, unlike raw milk.. so i'd only recommend raw milk (which naturally contains all the nutrients), and only if you drink milk of course

Also, people get sunlight even when they seem to not realize it.. For example even when outside in the pitch dark you're still getting sun exposure from the reflection of the sun on the moon (i'm no rocket-scientist, so correct me if i'm wrong). Of course when it's cloudy you get less exposure

The main issue is that most people don't spend enough time outdoors and don't eat well

 

[addictivepersona]

altho note that most commercial (pasteurized) milk is fortified with vitamin D, unlike raw milk.. so i'd only recommend raw milk (which naturally contains all the nutrients), and only if you drink milk of course

IF the milk is not skim. Skim milk (aka "low/no fat milk") has had the fat taken out, and the fat soluble vitamins went with it. That's why milk has to be fortified. No clue if/why they fortify whole milk.

 

[Gormur]

IF the milk is not skim. Skim milk (aka "low/no fat milk") has had the fat taken out, and the fat soluble vitamins went with it. That's why milk has to be fortified. No clue if/why they fortify whole milk.

The heat from pasteurization reduces enzymes and bacteria in the milk needed for proper digestion. Whether all nutrients are destroyed, i don't know. At the very least what remained would be difficult/impossible to oxidize. That's why dairy farmers themselves drink raw milk

 

[qwe]

don't think it's been mentioned,

low vit D can lead to depression.

http://www.google.com/search?q=vita...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Also, people get sunlight even when they seem to not realize it.. For example even when outside in the pitch dark you're still getting sun exposure from the reflection of the sun on the moon (i'm no rocket-scientist, so correct me if i'm wrong). Of course when it's cloudy you get less exposure

you're sorta wrong. you're right, but the *amount* of sunlight is insignificant compared to daytime (450,000x less to be exact )

 

[addictivepersona]

The heat from pasteurization reduces enzymes and bacteria in the milk needed for proper digestion. Whether all nutrients are destroyed, i don't know. At the very least what remained would be difficult/impossible to oxidize. That's why dairy farmers themselves drink raw milk

Was not aware of this. I don't drink the stuff, so I'm not too knowledgeable on it unfortunately.

don't think it's been mentioned,

low vit D can lead to depression.

http://www.google.com/search?q=vita...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

This explains a lot. I started supplementing Vitamin D and saw a noticeable improvement in my mood a week or two later that went away shortly after stopping supplementation. I also noticed my "ADD-like tendencies" dropped drastically when I was supplementing Vitamin D. Was probably coincidence but just throwin' that out there if anyone has ever heard of it.

 

[wizekrak]

bs its more than that im sure.

Its not. You only need 15-20 minutes of sunlight on your face a day to get the required level of activated vitamin D.

The caveat here is that depending on your latitude and the season the sun may not be strong enough to activate the vitamin D stored in your body. In the upper latitudes of north America probably northern USA and all of Canada, you can't rely on the sun for vitamin D from September to April. That's the theory behind seasonal affective disorder.

Milk and dairy products are good sources of Vit D.

 

[Gormur]

that's why it's good to have a light

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_therapy