Its good to hear some encouraging stories about how higher levels of vitamin D help with so many symptoms. Those of you that are taking a short course , remember that you need vitamin D regularly , if you stop after 3 months say , then your blood level will more than likely just drop to its previous state . Unless you carry on with supplementation, or make a deliberate effort to go outside , in Sunshine , between 10 and 3 in the summer. In winter you will need to take other steps, either supplements , or sunbed. With sunbed, make sure that the light emitted contains UVB , and is not simply a cosmetic sunbed which has solely UVA light. Never , ever burn , in sunlight or under a sunbed. The recommendation is that you receive a half MED , that is Minimal Erythemal Dose two or three times a week , on at least 40% of your skin surface. A MED is that dose which would make your skin slightly red the following morning. So the recommended exposure is just half that, i.e. no apparent effect. There will of course be an effect, that will be , that you will make several thousand units of vitamin D in your skin. Depending upon your skin type and colour and sensitivity. Everybody is different.
The medical profession , is very slowly catching up with the latest knowledge about Vit D and its effects. In the USA they recently tripled the RDA to 600. In Italy the RDA is 1000 , in Norway , it is 800 IU. These numbers are solely those amounts predicated on bone health. Higher levels are needed for all the other beneficial effects that Vit D brings.
The marker for your vitamin D status is blood level of 25 hyrdoxy D3, that is the test you doctor does. i.e. it is the storage form , kept in your blood, until your body needs it. When required your cells use that stored vitamin D and converts it to 1,25 dihydroxy D3, which is then used in your cells to read genes. The storage form, 25 hydroxy , is not however the whole story. When you make or ingest some Vit D , some diffuses throughout your whole body and is used directly by cells , this native vitamin D has important effects as well. native vitamin D has a half life in the body of about 24 hrs, the storage form 25 ( D3 ) has a half life of 1 or 2 months. One of the most important effects of native vitamin D is that it transfers in Milk, to your baby. Storage form does not. That is why, if you are breast feeding you either must be taking large daily doses of vitamin D , or you should be giving baby drops, as per gov. advice. Luckily formula milk contains enough vit D for baby, the recommended amount is 400IU per litre. Mothers milk in many many cases has just 25 IU per litre. That is not to say one method is best , just that baby needs vit D , one way or another. Ideally mothers milk should contain all nutrients. To achive this a daily dose of 6000 IU , given to a b/f mother will deliver milk with 400 IU per litre. Look at the research of Prof. Hollis and Prof Wagner , over at the medical university of S. Carolina.
This is one of the best arguments for the levels that we are evolutionarily designed for. Those mothers achived blood levels up in the hundred or so. Their milk became normal, i.e. that found in people living an ancestral lifestyle, outdoors, in a lot of sunshine etc. Our levels here in this country are lets say 30 -60 , commonly , depending upon your lifestyle. Obviously some may have much higher levels.
That is why it is important to check your level, if you have symptoms , or suspect even, that you are low. Some doctors will poo-poo it , and not give a test , others will. However , you can get a private test , just by sending off to or calling the NHS Vit D lab in Sandwell, West Midlands. It costs £ 28 , and is well worth it. Here is the website. <a class="break-all" href="//www.vitamindtest.org.uk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.vitamindtest.org.uk</a> . It is a finger prick of blood onto blotting paper. Your result will be e-mailed to you within a week. !
Bear in mind that they will class a result of 50 , as sufficient , which is not the case. You need more than that for maximum beneficial effect. Many medical bodies worldwide now accept that at least 75 is required. Most vitamin D researchers think that 100 to 150 , is the level to aim at. Our natural evolutionary level was/is 120 -140. That level is to be found in todays outdoor workers, lifeguards etc , and other people today living an "old fashioned" lifestyle , outside, farming etc. Westerners tend to keep covered up, we also live at a much higher latitude, 50+degrees here in the UK. That means much less UVB is present in sunlight. All other primates evolved and still live at 33 degrees or less. We evolved there too.
Whew ,
Hope that is of interest to some of you. !!
BTBH