Vitamin D is the big news in the last few years

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is much more important than we thought even 3 years ago.  We now know that our Daily Vitamin D Needs are much higher than official government Minimum Daily Dose.  Vitamin D Deficiency causes many serious problems, including poor absorption of Calcium from diet and supplements causing Osteoporosis.  Other very serious complications of Vitamin D Deficiency affect nerves, muscles, the heart, the immune system and other parts of the body. 

Foods high in Vitamin D are rare.  The Vitamin D in Milk is nowhere near enough.  Most people in North America are low in Vitamin D.  We believe the Sunshine Myth because only recently have we learned the true Optimal Levels for Vitamin D.

Unless you Test for Vitamin D Level, you really do not know whether you are actually getting enough Vitamin D.  Vitamin D Supplements have only become widely available in proper doses in the last 3 years.  We still have the problem that “Calcium + D” supplements do not have enough Vitamin D to cover our full needs.

The Chemistry of Vitamin D is still being discovered.  We now know that Vitamin D3 lasts much longer than D2.  This explains why D2 supplements must be given in much higher doses and more often to get the same result.

Vitamin D is actually a pre-hormone.  The activated form has many more critical functions than we knew until recently.  The amount we need in our blood is much higher than we thought only 3 years ago.  And it is harder to get enough than we thought.

Jay Ginther, MD                                              

2008 / Revised November 2010

Categorised in: Bone Health, Nutrition