What’s the Deal with Vitamin D?
There’s a vitamin out there that unfortunately slips under the radar and is missed by many doctors, and therefore, many patients. That vitamin is vitamin D. As holistic physicians, we do our best to find the root cause and make connections between our patients’ symptoms. Too many times have we heard from patients that their previous doctor found it irrelevant to test vitamin D, and sometimes would refuse to do so even upon patient request. After many years and hundreds of patients later, we find it almost a necessity to assess laboratory values of vitamin D. It turns out that one of the biggest deficiencies we continue to find in our patient’s blood analysis is…guess what? Vitamin D.
One of the challenges in assessing this VITAL VITAmin is understanding why reference ranges differ from lab to lab and doctor to doctor. On average, we tend to see that lab reference ranges are 30-100. Using this as an example, the doctor who ordered this can get a vitamin D level back at 31 and say to the patient that it is good enough and within “normal range.” Now, I’m assuming we all see where the issue lies in this. I’d say, “not so fast!” In a functional medicine view, this number is severely suboptimal, but unfortunately too many patients are being undiagnosed or mistreated for their health issues…sometimes purely based on this one finding. Though we realize each patient is an individual, we generally look for optimal vitamin D levels to be at 50-70.
Gone are the days of thinking that vitamin D is only good for your bone health. While there is some truth to this, optimal vitamin D function results in a multitude of health benefits. Therefore, a deficiency in vitamin D may be the reason for one or many of your health issues and symptoms! This amazing vitamin is responsible for activating hundreds of your DNA genes! These are then subsequently responsible for reducing your risk of cancer, inflammatory reactions, depression, immune system challenges, cognitive diseases and so much more! In fact, when your vitamin D levels are suboptimal, you can pretty much guarantee at least a double risk for decreased brain function in some way, shape or form.
So, why and how do we become so deficient? Two main reasons are that we are always enclosed and our food has become deficient in our essential nutrients, therefore, we become deficient. What I mean be “enclosed” is that we don’t get enough UV rays from the sun. However, especially in the summer months of peak sun exposure, we have the opportunity to make 10,000 to 20,000 units of vitamin D. The media typically implies we must choose an SPF high enough to protect us, but interestingly, we block 99% of vitamin D production in the skin with 15 SPF or higher. These UV rays that we should be getting (in moderation) stimulate a chemical in our body called cholesterol, which then turns into vitamin D. Unfortunately, in all of our efforts to lower cholesterol, we are in return lowering vitamin D as well.
How much is enough? It is very difficult to get too much vitamin D. People can take high doses of vitamin D for several months without showing adverse reactions!
As with any supplementation therapy, it is recommended that you take a high quality, physician-recommended supplement. This will guarantee increased efficacy. Studies show that one of the best and most bioidentical forms of vitamin D to take is a high quality vitamin D3, which comes from the conversion of cholesterol derivatives.
Tip: vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin. Take it while eating some healthy fats (avocado, olive oil, nuts, etc.).
The information provided is based on clinical experience and clinical research studies. Please do not self-diagnose. If you suspect vitamin D or any deficiency, please ask your doctor to check vitamin D levels and provide you with the correct protocol.
Written by Dr. Jason Wibbenmeyer