Vitamin D

An article caught my eye in one of the pharmacy journal. 
"Millions of dollars wasted on Vitamin D supplements"

In the study, the authors said that the high levels of spending on vitamin D supplements were "concerning" given that the vitamin could be obtained from alternative sources such as sunlight and food." 

My argument:

- Only a small amount gets absorbed from food, the form in food is Vitamin D2, not D3. Vitamin D2 is NOT an active form. 

- In summer, about 21% of Queenslanders are still Vitamin D deficient and they spent over 7 hours in the sun, according to a study. 

- Once the skin absorbs the vitamin D, it still needs to be transported into the liver and kidney before it becomes the active form. Have they considered the patients kidney and liver status?

- And what about the Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) in Vitamin D? SNPs in layman's term is gene mutation. We all have certain SNPs. Sometimes it works to our advantage, but sometimes not. If patient has the particular SNPs, they're not efficient in converting the Vitamin D from the sun. I don't think the authors have taken that into consideration. 

Vitamin D

Do you know that Vitamin D is technically not really a vitamin?

Vitamin D is a hormone, which is produced by our body after absorbing the sunlight. You do get some from our food, but it is scarce. Once ingested from the diet or produced in the skin, the liver and kidneys then convert it to the active form. 

Is Vitamin D that important? It’s only needed for the bones, right?

Literally, vitamin D receptors are found in almost EVERY tissue type! Just to name a few, it is located in our bones, pancreas, kidneys, brain, intestines, spinal cord, thyroid glands, adrenal glands and reproductive organs. This means that they are very important and essential for the normal functioning of our body.

Studies have now shown that vitamin D deficiency is associated with many chronic conditions, such as, cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, cancer and autoimmune diseases.

Since we are in the middle of winter, it is important to ensure that we have sufficient vitamin D in our bodies. The cells of our immune system have a substantial number of vitamin D receptors, so together with vitamin D, it helps maintain a strong, healthy and balanced immune system.

How much to take?

It depends on your vitamin D status. Vitamin D level is easily measured by a lab test ordered by the doctor. The most common daily dose is between 1000iu to 5000iu. Although, sometimes specialist like the endocrinologist may kick start their patient with a dose as high as 100,000iu for a short period of time! The best time to take vitamin D is with a main meal as it is a fat-soluble vitamin.