4 ms·

A lot of people in the first world are heavily deficient in vitamin D, and deficiency is linked to a whole host of health issues and vulnerabilities. It's dirt

by cheald 3y ago

A lot of people in the first world are heavily deficient in vitamin D, and deficiency is linked to a whole host of health issues and vulnerabilities. It's dirt cheap and essentially completely safe below toxicity levels (which are quite difficult to hit - I take 10,000 IU daily, and even with that my bloodwork shows me in the lower quartile of the normal range). Its metabolite is a steroidal hormone, so it's pretty obvious why it would be beneficial for anti-inflammatory purposes, but it also modulates some key cardiovascular gene expression, too.

globular-toast 3y ago
That seems like far too much, especially if you ever go outside. In the UK doctors recommend no more than 1,000 IU/day during the winter months. Any more than that is only if you are actually deficient. It seems really hard to get clear answers on it, though. People taking 10x the recommended dose of something seems strange. It makes me think it's being stored somewhere that isn't your blood. It's fat-soluble after all. Why on earth would you take so much anyway?
- pigeonhole123 3y ago
  He is actually deficient, and 10k IU is not that unusual.
  - globular-toast 3y ago
    When I was deficient I took 20k IU per week for 6 weeks and was back to normal levels at the end. Taking 10k IU a day indefinitely seems insane. The numbers are just so wildly different.
    - pigeonhole123 3y ago
      Good thing he's measuring his levels and keeping an eye on them.
- cheald 3y ago
  I get bloodwork done twice annually, so I have a very accurate idea of what my levels are. The dosage is the recommendation from my doctor based on my bloodwork. The goal isn't just staving off seasonal affective disorder, but actually trying to get me roughly into the middle of the ideal range because of its myriad health benefits.
- OJFord 3y ago
  > In the UK doctors recommend no more than 1,000 IU/day during the winter months. You're mixing two pieces of advice: 1) everyone 'should consider' taking 400IU daily over winter (under-4s year-round); 2) infants should not take more than 1,000IU daily (adults: 4,000IU) https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-d/ https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-... Of course, 4,000 daily is still only 28,000 weekly, not 50k, but GP is doing it on the basis of blood work & physician review; the NHS website certainly isn't intended to contradict that, it's generic advice in lieu of it.
- chrisco255 3y ago
  Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, so of course it is being stored in fatty tissues in the body. Where else would it be stored? Your blood stream is not a storage mechanism but a transportation mechanism. Daily Recommend Values for basic nutrients aren't the same as medicinal dosages. Nobody ever gets Daily Recommended Values for all the essential nutrients anyways, and many of them are regularly exceeded by a single multivitamin or dish. They're also somewhat arbitrarily defined. Like the food pyramid, you should take them with a grain of salt.
  - globular-toast 3y ago
    So what if the vitamin D is being accumulated in fat and the blood can only carry so much regardless of how much is accumulated in fat? Seems dangerous to keep taking more and more at a really high dose doesn't it?
    - cheald 3y ago
      Toxicity is defined by serum levels, and is at around 100 ng/mL. My last labs put me at 39 ng/mL, and I've been taking vitamin D for years. Under 30 is considered insufficient, under 20 is deficient. I mean, yeah, sure, don't chug bottles of the stuff without measuring for years on end, but you have to take a lot to hit toxicity levels. And periodic bloodwork to keep an eye on numerous metrics is a generally good idea anyhow.
- NavinF 3y ago
  > People taking 10x the recommended dose of something seems strange Not really. If your blood work shows shows you're low, you'll get a prescription for a very high dose. 100x is normal for some vitamins

by cheald 3y ago

globular-toast 3y ago

That seems like far too much, especially if you ever go outside. In the UK doctors recommend no more than 1,000 IU/day during the winter months. Any more than that is only if you are actually deficient. It seems really hard to get clear answers on it, though. People taking 10x the recommended dose of something seems strange. It makes me think it's being stored somewhere that isn't your blood. It's fat-soluble after all. Why on earth would you take so much anyway?

pigeonhole123 3y ago
He is actually deficient, and 10k IU is not that unusual.
- globular-toast 3y ago
  When I was deficient I took 20k IU per week for 6 weeks and was back to normal levels at the end. Taking 10k IU a day indefinitely seems insane. The numbers are just so wildly different.
  - pigeonhole123 3y ago
    Good thing he's measuring his levels and keeping an eye on them.
cheald 3y ago
I get bloodwork done twice annually, so I have a very accurate idea of what my levels are. The dosage is the recommendation from my doctor based on my bloodwork. The goal isn't just staving off seasonal affective disorder, but actually trying to get me roughly into the middle of the ideal range because of its myriad health benefits.
OJFord 3y ago
> In the UK doctors recommend no more than 1,000 IU/day during the winter months. You're mixing two pieces of advice: 1) everyone 'should consider' taking 400IU daily over winter (under-4s year-round); 2) infants should not take more than 1,000IU daily (adults: 4,000IU) https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-d/ https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-... Of course, 4,000 daily is still only 28,000 weekly, not 50k, but GP is doing it on the basis of blood work & physician review; the NHS website certainly isn't intended to contradict that, it's generic advice in lieu of it.
chrisco255 3y ago
Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, so of course it is being stored in fatty tissues in the body. Where else would it be stored? Your blood stream is not a storage mechanism but a transportation mechanism. Daily Recommend Values for basic nutrients aren't the same as medicinal dosages. Nobody ever gets Daily Recommended Values for all the essential nutrients anyways, and many of them are regularly exceeded by a single multivitamin or dish. They're also somewhat arbitrarily defined. Like the food pyramid, you should take them with a grain of salt.
- globular-toast 3y ago
  So what if the vitamin D is being accumulated in fat and the blood can only carry so much regardless of how much is accumulated in fat? Seems dangerous to keep taking more and more at a really high dose doesn't it?
  - cheald 3y ago
    Toxicity is defined by serum levels, and is at around 100 ng/mL. My last labs put me at 39 ng/mL, and I've been taking vitamin D for years. Under 30 is considered insufficient, under 20 is deficient. I mean, yeah, sure, don't chug bottles of the stuff without measuring for years on end, but you have to take a lot to hit toxicity levels. And periodic bloodwork to keep an eye on numerous metrics is a generally good idea anyhow.
NavinF 3y ago
> People taking 10x the recommended dose of something seems strange Not really. If your blood work shows shows you're low, you'll get a prescription for a very high dose. 100x is normal for some vitamins