Vitamin D

How many ppl tried Vitamin D for mental / gut issues? I'm curious. Let me give you some facts:

1. Vitamin D toxicity does not occur with amounts below 10,000 IU / day. Any people that have been claimed this amount being "toxic" are hypersensitive to vitamin D, a well documented phenomonen.

2. Vitamin D is now recommended at 4,000 IU / day, which is what humans use PER DAY. Yes, 4,000 IU / day.

3. Chronic Vitamin D insufficiency (not frank deficiency) has been shown to excarbate or cause several autoimmune diseases

4. Low Vitamin D increases the severity of mycobacterial infections, as the body's macrophages aren't capable of properly fighting the infection

5. Certain studies, through careful analysis, have shown that up to 100% of people with Crohn's are infected with Mycobacterium Paratuberculosis.

Thus, concludingly, my theory is that has a strong dampening effect on bowel inflammation and a strong antibiotic effect on the strongest infective link to Crohn's. My question is, has anyone here tried HIGH DOSES of like 5,000 IU / day for months? Links to Crohn's also include Vit D receptor polymorphisms, basically which could mean that even 4,000 IU / day might not have a strong enough effect to provide the above described results.

Anyway, I'm convinced that 4,000 IU / day is safe indefinitely, except for maybe june - august, when the cause for toxicity might be at least somewhat reasonable (despite research showing that 4,000 IU continously is safe).

What's your thoughts?


According to one Vit. D expert who has studied it for years, people shouldn't take more the 2000 IU's per day unless under the care of a doc. He thinks 1000 IU's is the right dosage level, if in fact you need to supplement at all. He believes, and I do too, that if you get adaquete sunshine in the summer, you shouldn't need to supplement hardly at all. Of course there are lots of variables to consider - skin tone, latitude, health conditions, diet, etc. but if you are reasonably healthy and can get adaquete sun exposure in the summer, I think supplementation is not very important. Also, I am skeptical that increasing one's Vit. D levels, especially when needed, somehow can fuel an illness. A similar notion was discussed on this board a while back, how taking extra B vitamins would feed an existing yeast problem. The theory, I suppose had some basis to it, but I just don't believe in the sum total of things that it actually exacerbated a yeast problem. I feel similarly about Vit. D.


Apparently certain types of bacteria,
such as those that cause Lyme disease,
process 25D into 1,25D. If those with
such an infection consume vitamin D,
they may be feeding the bacteria and
making their symptoms or infection
worse. It's what I experienced.


That's interesting what you say. Do you have any sources so I can research it? I'm having trouble locating data.

marshallprotocol.com has
tons about vitamin D's
action in certain infections

in some people, low
vitamin D (25D) is an
indication not that
they need more, but
rather that the vitamin
is being consumed at
a rapid pace by an
infection


Most likely there will soon be spring sale on lamps with "natural sunlight" - a good source of vitamin D. I hear of many people who are surpised at how much better they feel with such a lamp - pain, tiredness etc


This is a good source of info.Takes about 45 minutes w/sound.
http://www.insinc.com/onlinetv/directms13oct2005/softvnetplayer.htm


There should be more research done on vitamin D I am thinking. I say this because I am starting to read more and more about its affect on the immune system. My doctor gave me a script for 50,000 units to take once daily. I couldnt believe it. He did this because he did a blood test after my bone scan and decided I needed it due to the result of the low levels I had. I was kind of surprised because I spend an adequate degree of time outdoors when I am able to esp in the summer. I was warned by another doctor not to take this much . I would like to know what the best source of vitamin D is as far as safety and absorbability.(other than cod liver oil). The negative thing about taking an overdose of D, is that the side effects can be irreversable which is why it is so critical to know you are taking the right amount and the right kind. I am trying to find a doctor that will administer the proper testing for vitamin D other than the one that mainstream docs give.


I believe labs are able to test levels of all three steps in the synthesis. When you absorb sunlight, your body converts it to Cholecalciferol, aka the real vitamin D. Then it goes to the liver where it becomes 25(OH)D... I can't remember the full name. Then, it goes to the kidneys where it becomes 1,25(OH)D or something like that. Well anyway, like I said, I think all three can be tested. However, testing the last step in that process is not useful because one can still be somewhat deficient and still have 1,25(OH)D levels that are high. The intermediate step is a good indicator though.

The form I've read about in studies is Vitamin D3, not D2. I don't know what form cod oil has in it, but because of the high vitamin A, it's not likely you can get high ENOUGH supplemental D from codi oil.

Regarding your other doctor who says that 50,000 IU is too much... he probably has no idea what's been going on in the past 5 years. Honestly, everything is way different than it used to be. Like I said, most researchers (actually ALL who KNOW about the topic) recommend 4,000 IU per day, which is 10 times the amount recommended in the RDA and twice the amount previously thought to give toxicity. However, toxicity hasn't even been found below 10,000 IU / day for years! So imagine... you taking 50,000 IU isn't all that much. In fact, your doc is probably right on the dot with giving you that shot, especially in these sunlight deficient winter days. Vitamin D is an extremely good vitamin for the body. Technically, it's not even a vitamin, its a hormone, but that's for another discussion.

Where do you live? Are you light skinned? Do you wear sunblock? Lotion reduces vitamin D production by 97% - 99%! High latitudes, say around Chicago, will allow no vitamin D production for 8 months out of the year.

Also, a few more things to remember is that a full body exposed to sunlight on a summer day (obviously not the ENTIRE DAY) in a lower latitude makes about 25,000 IU of vitamin D. In other words, if your whole body was exposed to sun for like 2 days, you'd have 50,000 IU. By late winter, any vitamin D that you absorbed from the summer is gone.I'm sure which side effects are irreversible upon taking too much D. All cases of toxicity, including a case of a man taking like 500,000 IU / day for years, were completely reversible. Hypercalcemia is the most common effect of toxicity, and this is rarely fatal.