Vitamin D:
An Absolute Requirement for Healthy Living
Everyone should have his or her vitamin D level checked at least once a year (infants through the elderly). Below are conditions that have been associated with vitamin D levels:
< 10 ng/mL
< 15 ng/mL
< 20 ng/mL
Severely deficient
Risk of rickets
75% greater risk of colon cancer
< 30 ng/mL
Deficient
Increased calcium loss from bones, osteoporosis Poor wound healing
Increased muscle pain
Increased joint and back pain
Greater risk of depression
Increased diabetes
Increased schizophrenia
Increased migraines
Increased autoimmune disease (lupus, scleroderma, thyroiditis) Increased allergies
Increased preeclampsia
Increased inflammation
30–50 ng/mL
< 34 ng/mL
< 36 ng/mL
< 40 ng/mL
Suboptimal levels
Twice the risk of heart attack
Increased high blood pressure
Three times the risk of multiple sclerosis
50–80 ng/mL
50 ng/mL
80–100 ng/mL
Optimal levels
50% reduction in breast cancer, decreased risk of all solid cancers Slowing of cancer growth in patients with cancer
> 100 ng/mL
Increased risk of toxic symptoms (hypercalcemia)
Natural Production of Vitamin D
Your skin makes vitamin D when it is exposed to a pinking dose of sunlight. How much vitamin D you make depends on your age, how much skin is uncovered, and your skin tone. Without sunblock and with arms and legs exposed, your skin will make 10,000 to 15,000 units of vitamin D in one pinking sun exposure, on average. (Sunblock with an SPF of more than 15 blocks 100% of vitamin D production in the skin.) Also, the darker your skin, the more sun you need to make enough vitamin D.
Depending on where you live (latitude), you may only get enough radiation from the sun for vitamin D production between May and October. Unfortunately, this is the case for all of New England! Thus most of us need a supplement from October through April.
Vitamin D Supplementation Doses
Normal dosing of vitamin D depends on your blood levels and your medical history. Treatment doses for blood level ranges I frequently recommend for my clients are as follows:
<10 ng/mL – 10,000-15,000 units per day
10–30 ng/mL – 10,000 units per day
30–40 ng/mL – 5,000-8,000 units per day
40–50 ng/mL – 2,000-5,000 units per day
We each have unique physiology. Some of us can metabolize and retain Vitamin D quite well while others require very large doses to maintain even baseline healthy levels. Make sure you check your levels after 2-3 months of supplementing with a given IU level per day.
If you are taking a vitamin D supplement, adequate calcium, Vitamin A, and magnesium intake are also required. It is also important to ensure sufficient Vitamin K for bone and cardiovascular health and healing. Please don’t hesitate to ask if you have questions about the most effective or reliable tests for gauging your sufficiency in these key nutrients or what forms of these nutrients are most bio-available.
Despite common belief, it is difficult to get too much vitamin D, but I do find it’s important to ramp up your dosage incrementally. Most people can take up to 10,000 units per day for 6 months and not have any adverse effects. However, individuals with sarcoid, tuberculosis, Lyme disease, hyperparathyroidism, lymphoma, and kidney disease have to be supplemented carefully because of an increased risk of their blood calcium level becoming temporarily too high.
Rechecking Your Vitamin D Level
It is recommended that you recheck your vitamin D level within 2-3 months after starting supplementation, depending on your medical and health condition. Other potentially useful lab tests for calcium, RBC magnesium, and parathyroid hormone level (PTH) may be done during the recheck if calcium levels or metabolism or use is a medical concern.
With appreciation to some information adapted from 2009 guidelines from The Institute of Functional Medicine, Purpose LLC
