[WireNut]

If vitamin D works like testosterone than I'm picking some up. The last time I was prescribed testosterone cream it was about $225.00 a month if I recall correctly. That was a couple years ago.

[RDavidson]

No matter how good your diet is, you'll probably be vitamin/mineral deficient. For many reasons (soil depletion, toxic environment, farming methods, GMOs, etc.), your food is not as nutritious as it once was. In addition, you body's ability to assimilate all of the nutrients you need is probably not functioning at capacity for lots of reasons (lifestyle, junk food, poor digestion, insufficient intestinal bacteria, etc.). If you understand those two points, then nutritional supplementation should be understood as an essential component of your daily dietary regime.

Yeah. That's true. My definition of "balanced" diet includes primarily organic produce and meats, only moderate processed foods, and little to no junk food. Perhaps I was using "balanced" where "healthy" should've been the underlying premise. If you eat along these lines, you shouldn't NEED to intake too much more than a good multi-vitamin and probably some Omega 3's. Yes, this may be too broad of a generality, and some may still need to take additional vitamins, such as D.
If you're an active person, like me, something you may not be getting enough of is potassium. In fact, most people don't hit close to the daily recommended intake, which is quite a bit. Zinc and magnesium also work somewhat in conjunction with potassium. Not to derail the thread, but I didn't realize the importance of potassium until somewhat recently. I was on a super low carb diet for a long time (about 3-4 months), just to give it a try. What I found was that doing this was too depletive of minerals (often found in somewhat carb heavy foods). My take away from that experience is to not put myself through such a restrictive diet for more than 4-6 weeks max.
This is a good general article regarding potassium.
http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/vitamins-minerals/potassium-why-its-essential-for-your-body.html

[Photon46]

If vitamin D works like testosterone than I'm picking some up. The last time I was prescribed testosterone cream it was about $225.00 a month if I recall correctly. That was a couple years ago.

When one says vitamin D is like testosterone or cortisol, it is meant in the sense that the hormone in question is manufactured in one area of the body and it is utilized in another. The precursor of vitamin D is manufactured in the skin, picks up more hydrogen and oxygen in the liver and kidneys to become vitamin D and then it's absorbed by receptors in the intestines, heart, blood vessels, prostate, muscles, endocrine glands, etc.

[wushuliu]

Well it's been almost a month and I'm happy to say that increasing my Vitamin D has been the biggest benefit to my overall well being of any supplement I've ever taken. I'm more alert, my memory is improved, physical stamina has increased, my mood is more balanced than it's ever been. My D levels must have been downright abysmal.

For my whole life I've been pretty much the 'don't talk to me before 10, can't think straight until noon' type. I chalked it up to being an 'artist' type and a little bit of a night owl. That's changed drastically. This whole week and last I've woken up between 5:30 to 6:30 for my new job averaging 5 to 6 hours of sleep (not helped by a pinched nerve I've had recently) and I've made it through the days totally sharp, productive, and a little tired but not exhausted. This is big for me. This is HUGE. Before a month ago I can guarantee you I would be fried by day two, eyes burning from exhaustion, moody, and trying not to nod off at work. For me to be functioning at this level with such continuous lack of sleep is nothing short of a minor miracle. It's so different that even my thought processes are different. It's a little scary actually because you know yourself so well that when all of a sudden you're not reacting the way you almost always have in the past there's a bit of a 'whoa'. It's a little trippy.

It staggers me to think that so much of my life my could have been improved earlier in terms of well being, hell even relationships, by this one thing. Well, better late than never.

I certainly would not expect other people to have the same reaction because I'm me and you're you, but the more I learn about D's role in our health the more I'm convinced it's a crucial element to optimal living, especially for those who are prone to greater deficiency due to skin color and/or age.

Now all I can think about is how my primary phys. looked at my tests a few years ago and shrugged 'your D is a little low, but otherwise you're fine'....He's not a bad guy, but I have a mind to write him a letter encouraging to pay more attention to the research and increase the recommended dosage.

[rajacat]

What's your daily dosage of D? I've started taking Vit. D3 1000 (5000 mg) daily and have had similar but less pronounced results.
Up here in the Northwest it starts getting dark 4- 4:30 this time of year .

[wushuliu]

What's your daily dosage of D? I've started taking Vit. D3 1000 (5000 mg) daily and have had similar but less pronounced results.
Up here in the Northwest it starts getting dark 4- 4:30 this time of year .

I started with 10,000IU for 2 weeks then upped to 30,000. My next paycheck I'll order a test kit to see my level after which I'll maintain or adjust lower accordingly. 1000IU is too low (unless your levels are already at 50-70ng/ml, which is doubtful). 5000IU is a good and safe daily dosage that can be taken indefinitely. It's important to get tested at some point though so you can adjust as necessary.

[wushuliu]

If you eat along these lines, you shouldn't NEED to intake too much more than a good multi-vitamin and probably some Omega 3's. Yes, this may be too broad of a generality, and some may still need to take additional vitamins, such as D.

Keep in mind that you cannot source Vitamin D in any reasonable quantity from food: it's either the sun or supplements, no other options. So it's not 'some' who need to increase their D levels but 'most'.

[Devil Doc]

You really need to be careful with fat soluble vitamins like A, D or E. Your body doesn't just piss out the excess like water soluble ones. They get stored in your fatty tissues. You could make yourself sick if you're not careful. I personally think your better off just eating right.

Doc

[Early B.]

I started with 10,000IU for 2 weeks then upped to 30,000. My next paycheck I'll order a test kit to see my level after which I'll maintain or adjust lower accordingly. 1000IU is too low (unless your levels are already at 50-70ng/ml, which is doubtful). 5000IU is a good and safe daily dosage that can be taken indefinitely. It's important to get tested at some point though so you can adjust as necessary.

I've been taking 15,000IU daily for about three weeks. Not sure if I should increase the dosage for a while to see what happens.

[wushuliu]

You really need to be careful with fat soluble vitamins like D or E. Your body doesn't just piss out the excess like water soluble ones. They get stored in your fatty tissues. You could make yourself sick if you're not careful. I personally think your better off just eating right.

Doc

There is no evidence of Vitamin D making you sick. You would have to take huge doses for long periods before hypercalcemia manifests. Again, this is related to calcium imbalance not Vitamin D itself. In fact no one is exactly sure just how huge the 'over' dosage is. Right now the number that's thrown around is 40,000IU per day for, well, no one knows for sure; several months, maybe more? A recent study had pregnant women take a whopping 100,000IUs per day during the course of their pregnancy with no ill effects.

The 'just eat right' mantra won't suffice in this context. Again you cannot get Vitamin D in any sufficient quantity from food. Not possible unless you want to drink cod liver oil from a garden hose while eating several pounds of salmon every single day. It's Sun or supplements, period.

Like I said the research is large and escalating over the past 8 years. This same pressure pushed the IOM to increase the RDA in 2010. Canada increased theirs even more than the U.S. But it's not enough and the science is getting hard to ignore.  I can post links to studies all day long but that kind of defeats the purpose of the internet.

[wushuliu]

I've been taking 15,000IU daily for about three weeks. Not sure if I should increase the dosage for a while to see what happens.

The only caution I've come across when it comes to the higher dosages is that since calcium buildup is the concern, to reduce or eliminate any calcium supplementation. I'm only using the higher dosage to get 'caught up' until I get tested. Even though the amount appears arbitrary from what I've read I am using the 40-50,000IU/day for 'several months' some espouse as the danger zone. So 30k is tops for me. Bear in mind weight plays a factor as I understand it so at 260lbs I opted to take more. I would imagine 15k for someone who weighs much less to be plenty.

But this is all guesswork until the test is taken. Getting levels checked is key. If it weren't for holiday bills I'd have done it already. So I may have to wait until early January.

Finally the D toxicity is not lethal or anywhere close. It would be physically impossible to take a lethal dose orally. You are far more likely to have an overdose of, say, potassium than Vitamin D.

[Early B.]

The only caution I've come across when it comes to the higher dosages is that since calcium buildup is the concern, to reduce or eliminate any calcium supplementation. I'm only using the higher dosage to get 'caught up' until I get tested. Even though the amount appears arbitrary from what I've read I am using the 40-50,000IU/day for 'several months' some espouse as the danger zone. So 30k is tops for me. Bear in mind weight plays a factor as I understand it so at 260lbs I opted to take more. I would imagine 15k for someone who weighs much less to be plenty.

But this is all guesswork until the test is taken. Getting levels checked is key. If it weren't for holiday bills I'd have done it already. So I may have to wait until early January.

Finally the D toxicity is not lethal or anywhere close. It would be physically impossible to take a lethal dose orally. You are far more likely to have an overdose of, say, potassium than Vitamin D.

Thanks. That's good to know. You got me beat by 100 lbs., so maybe I'll stay safe and increase the dosage to 25,000IU for the next 45-60 days.

Eventually, I want to get all of my vitamin and mineral levels tested, plus my testosterone level. Yeah, those tests are expensive. I suppose we should establish better priorities and spend less money on audio gear and more money on keeping our bodies in top condition, huh? 

[RDavidson]

You could try magnesium supplementation to balance out calcium levels. I take Natural Calm. It is EXCELLENT. The primary reason I take it is because I am an active person, so mineral supplementation is very helpful. Not to mention, magnesium is not truly abundant in any foods. Check it out:
https://naturalvitality.com/natural-calm/

[wushuliu]

I suppose we should establish better priorities and spend less money on audio gear and more money on keeping our bodies in top condition, huh? 

Know what, I just bought some gear last night. Very inexpensive, sure, but still close to the cost of a test. I didn't even think about that when I hit 'buy now'. You're absolutely right. Priorities!

[wushuliu]

You could try magnesium supplementation to balance out calcium levels. I take Natural Calm. It is EXCELLENT. The primary reason I take it is because I am an active person, so mineral supplementation is very helpful. Not to mention, magnesium is not truly abundant in any foods. Check it out:
https://naturalvitality.com/natural-calm/

Yes, we've got some Natural Calm here at the pad. My gf loves it. You are correct about magnesium to balance the calcium so I bought magnesium glycinate for better absorption. It also doesn't have the laxative qualities of the Natural Calm from my experience so far.

[Early B.]

Yes, we've got some Natural Calm here at the pad. My gf loves it.

My wife loves the stuff, too. The best way, though, to get a good boost of magnesium is an Epsom salt bath. It gets absorbed directly through the skin.

 

[wushuliu]

My wife loves the stuff, too. The best way, though, to get a good boost of magnesium is an Epsom salt bath. It gets absorbed directly through the skin.

Ah. Good to know... that's an easy sell.

[Devil Doc]

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/about-vitamin-d/am-i-getting-too-much-vitamin-d/

Doc

[wushuliu]

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/about-vitamin-d/am-i-getting-too-much-vitamin-d/

Doc

None of that counters what I've already stated.

[Devil Doc]

I'm not in the countering business. Just a former health worker.

Doc