How many people have died of a vitamin D3 deficiency in the last 20 years?
If you are deficient in Vitamin D3, you may reduce chronic inflammation just by taking this five cent supplement and getting a bit of sun. A new study finds evidence that low levels of Vitamin D are not just linked, but cause the dreaded chronic inflammation which is so tied to aging that researchers talk about inflammaging in medical papers. The term captures the diabolic systemic effects of inflammation that accelerate aging, dementia and heart disease and a whole alphabet of other conditions. But don’t wait for your CDC, NHS, or AHPRA-approved-doctor to tell you. The global anti-inflammatory drugs market was worth USD 94 billion a few years ago. Imagine what it would do to that market if everyone sorted out their vitamin D levels?
Since Covid exacerbates inflammation, and people who are obese find it very hard to get their vitamin D blood levels up, it fits that aging, inflammation, obesity and low vitamin D3 make for a bad combination with SARS-2. And if inflammation causes some cases of Long Covid, then it seems to me that vitamin D3 may help with that too.
As I said in my big Vitamin D summary, Vitamin D influences over 200 genes. Vitamin D levels also correlate with lower rates of cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, heart disease, dental caries, preeclampsia, autoimmune disease, depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders.
Combine it with Vitamin K2 as well to make sure the calcium ends up in your bones, not your arteries. (Though, people on blood thinners like warfarin need to get medical advice).
Down on Vitamin D? It could be the cause of chronic inflammation
The study examined the genetic data of 294 ,970 participants in the UK Biobank, using Mendelian randomization to show the association between vitamin D and C-reactive protein levels, an indicator of inflammation.
“This study examined vitamin D and C-reactive proteins and found a one-way relationship between low levels of vitamin D and high levels of C-reactive protein, expressed as inflammation.
“Boosting vitamin D in people with deficiencies may reduce chronic inflammation, helping them avoid a number of related diseases.”
Supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council and published in the International Journal of Epidemiology the study also raises the possibility that having adequate vitamin D concentrations may mitigate complications arising from obesity and reduce the risk or severity of chronic illnesses with an inflammatory component, such as CVDs, diabetes, and autoimmune diseases.
From the study itself (below) we get some idea of just how intricately tied D3 levels are to our immune system and all those inflammatory cytokines. To make life difficult, medical papers are always acronym-hell, and blood levels of vitamin D3 are referred to as “serum 25(OH)D”. And interleukins, which are the master messengers of the immune system are listed as IL-x. These molecules rapidly spread out and activate different white blood cells. There are 15 different interleukins in the human body, and at least 5 are affected by vitamin D.
Having sufficient Vitamin D might even neutralize some of the downsides of obesity or reduce the damage caused by CVD (cardiovascular disease), diabetes, allergies, etc. There’s no end to the sunshine good news, except that there is an obvious way to benefit millions of people, but our governments won’t do it.
Vitamin D is a pro-hormone. Its anti-inflammatory property captured by our analysis could be mediated through its hormonal effect on vitamin D receptor-expressing immune cells, such as monocytes, B cells, T cells and antigen-presenting cells.4 Indeed, cell experiments have shown that active vitamin D can inhibit the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-12, and promote the production of IL-10, an anti-inflammatory cytokine.4,5 Further, the anti-inflammatory effect also raises the possibility that having adequate vitamin D concentrations may mitigate complications arising from obesity and reduce the risk or severity of chronic illnesses with an inflammatory component, such as CVDs, diabetes, autoimmune diseases and neurodegenerative conditions, among others.1 If the related effects are indeed true, given the high prevalence of serum 25(OH)D levels of <50 nmol/L across the world (≤40% in some European countries),36,39–42 population-wide correction of low vitamin D status (e.g. by food fortification) could potentially be a cost-effective measure to reduce the burden of chronic disease. In fact, in linear MR analyses higher 25(OH)D concentrations have been associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes43 and multiple sclerosis (a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system),44 with recent non-linear MR analyses providing evidence that correction of vitamin D deficiency can decrease the risk for CVDs15 and all-cause mortality.16
A recent study came out suggesting Vitamin D wasn’t any use to prevent broken bones, (see also Stop taking Vitamin D already!) but if researchers combine participants with high and low serum levels into one group, the results will be blurred to nothing — because people who are not deficient won’t benefit. I note neither story includes any mention of Vitamin K either (it almost looks designed to fail?).
In this experiment done at the University of SA, people were separated into high low and medium groups and the effect was clearly seen in the lowest group of <25nmol/L (which is a very low 10ng/ml level). [Convert your level here].
Having a severely low Vitamin D level sends the CRP levels through the roof
CRP or C-Reactive Protein is the standard marker of levels of inflammation. (Ask your doc, it’s a common blood test).
Click to enlarge. The biggest changes in CRP (a marker of inflammation) were found in the people with the lowest Vitamin D3. Grey bars are the 95% confidence interval.
What makes the study a bit unusual is that it uses Mendelian randomization. It’s a technique to randomize things in medical experiments when it’s otherwise impossible or unethical to do a proper Randomized Controlled Trial (which is most of the time). It’s especially useful when we are trying to figure out which factor is the cause and which is effect, something that is notoriously difficult to do in the 30-variable-nightmare that is biology.
Mendelian Randomisation is a way to retrospectively randomize things — assuming that the genes were “randomly” assigned at birth and that the researchers don’t pick the wrong gene to study. (See the three assumptions listed under “Definition“.) Assuming the study was well done, it looks like a Vitamin D deficiency causes inflammation rather than inflammation causing a Vitamin D deficiency. It may not be the last word, but since Vitamin D is associated with a reduction in the holy grail of medical research — all-cause mortality — it’s probably better not to wait for the RCT which will never be done.
…
REFERENCE
(2022) Vitamin D deficiency and C-reactive protein: a bidirectional Mendelian randomization study,
It is remarkable and alarming that there is such widespread ignorance of Vitamin D, or should it be called Hormone D deficiency, even among the medical profession.
It seems, according to studies posted here by Jo, that many people who had bad or lethal outcomes of covid were Vitamin D deficient
Correcting deficiencies would probably have been much more effective than covid vaccination and much safer and cheaper.
Surprisingly, even in sunny countries such as Australia and Israel (where studies have been made) many people are Vitamin D deficient.
As far as I’m aware, not a single government or medical authority obedient to government has ever mentioned correction of vitamin D deficiency in relation to covid.
In Kennedy Jr’s book he mentioned that knowledge of the efficacy of Vitamin D in deficient persons was suppressed in relation to covid.
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Possibly not so surprising when the majority of the population are urban, spending almost all of their time indoors and fully clothed – particularly in the colder seasons.
Those who work outdoors often have what we refer to as the “farmer”s tan. Brown on the face, where the shirt is open at the neck, and the arms below the elbows. All the rest is pasty-white, except on the rare beach-holiday, when it’s more likely to be lobster-red. I’ve been one of those.
My personal challenge is to wear shorts for most of the winter.
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Very similar to those who work in construction, (large projects, not domestic), the OH&S team enforce the sleeves down, full length clothing and hard hat with glasses for every occasion. With the mandate on gloves on for all tasks, even the hands never see daylight.
The tanlines from those jobs is something to behold. Just the face, sans eyes, has any colour. And that is after working a three or four week spell in the north of WA.
I wonder if the OH&S team will mandate vitamin D levels to be measured along with the random drug and alcohol tests. Now that would be beneficial and provide some useful background data.
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Every morning our radio station gives the expected UV levels with the slip, slap, slop message for between 10 and 4.
I had interesting tan lines: My feet had white where the straps on my flip flops go. I spend time watering the yard and having solar panels and a bore I like to do it with the sun out. But hey! I’m retired.
I still take 5,000 IUs over winter.
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For many years my GP has prescribed 50,000 IU of Vitamin D once every month for me.
I also take a 1,000 IU and a Zinc tablet every week, plus several other supplements including Coenzyme Q10.
40
Possibly not so surprising when the majority of the population are urban, spending almost all of their time indoors and fully clothed – particularly in the colder seasons.
Thanks heavens, then, for ‘global warming’.
70
The suppression of info re Vit D3 was combined with the demonisation of other treatments such as HCQ and Ivermectin with the sole purpose of boosting the obscene profits of the pharmaceutical companies.
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Have noted the number of “studies” coming out demonising VitD. they pop up on my phone all the time, recently. I do not think it is a coincidence so I totally agree with you Muzza.
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I agree. There was a very strong PR campaign to demonize EVERY available, cheat treatment that COULD be used in C19 cases.
I stress “COULD” because those PR campaigns started immediately after the hypotheses were formulated and thus PREVENTED any studies to evaluate such hypotheses, and to establish how, when, what posology and in which cases to apply the proposed treatments.
A real outrageous, obscene crime against humanity.
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David – sunny countries like Australia are paranoid about melanoma and so everybody covers up and the exposed areas are smeared with UVB blocking sunscreens. I’m not up on melanoma research but my understanding is that it’s the UVA that causes the majority of DNA alteration responsible. UVB is required for the synthesis of Vit D. The suggestion is non-burning sun exposure at midday.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26547141/
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Note that the standard government guidelines for recommended blood serum levels of Vitamin D are to prevent rickets and osteomalacia.
These levels prevent those diseases but are still too low to confer many of the other benefits of Vitamin D.
So you can be “not deficient” according to those guidelines but still deficient in terms of being able to get the other beneficial effects.
New serum levels need to be established and a new oral dosing regime.
Of course, this would not be of benefit to Big Pharma.
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Re “benefiting Big Pharma” see Pfizzer’s latest – posted at Sunday Open #77
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Very good point. Important to define what is “normal”, so that we can de accurate when talking about “vitamin D defficiency”.
Of course, there is not an “average patient”, as the adepts of evidence-based medicine would like to have: each person is different from all the others. As in many other cases, we should not try to set a standard concentration as a reference for all the people, but instead search for the signals, symptoms, whatever, which indicate that one person is lacking the right amount thereof. The blood concentration is a very rough approach.
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I read somewhere that the half-life of D3 (the stuff you take) is about 24h. The half-life of 25OH-D, the stuff after the liver works on it is weeks-months. The assumption in large doses at long intervals of >1 month is that the kidney can get enough for conversion to 1,25OH-D (active molecule). However, some immune cells take up D3 and convert intracellularly to 1,25OH-D. Evidence for this is that the negative studies on supplementation in the elderly all concern spaced mega doses, while the few daily studies are positive.
https://ucsd.tv/shows/Design-Components-of-Interventions-Studies-of-Vitamin-D-29081
Note that the negative study from South Africa only used 800 IU/day. Even this was beneficial in those deficient. However, Fauci thought he needed 6000/day. It is possible that 2000/day, the amount that reduced pre-eclampsia and preterm births in a North Carolina study, would have shown larger effects. See Vitamin D AND pregnancy on googlescholar. It is interesting that there are a whole slew of reviews around 2015. This pattern indicates that there are people writing grant applications. The data from these will be published in the next few years – that is the timeline for this kind of study. Here again, the temptation to deal with compliance issues by one or two megadoses may produce negative studies.
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Video by Dr John Campbell about Vitamin D and another extremely common deficiency unless you eat fermented foods, Vitamin K2.
https://youtu.be/LfZpLllgd5Q
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Related to this is that oestrogen has anti-inflammatory properties. Might be another reason why peri- and post-menopausal women get more aches and pains.
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Apparently GPs in Australia are being told that they order too many vitamin D tests. They are telling patients to pay for the test themselves.
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Here is a related article from 2020.
The suggestion is just to supplement without testing.
“Testing for vitamin D rises again – at a cost of more than $100 m”
https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/testing-for-vitamin-d-rises-again-at-a-cost-of-mor
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They say this is the financially preferable option, citing cost of supplementation at $2.25 a month. That is far cheaper than testing, they argue, which they say costs $30.05.
Having finally got Vit D tested at end of week in Outpatients Ward, about to have 2nd Seniors Flu and will be asking GP for Vit D as part of Blood Test and happy to pay extra $30.05 cost
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They give us free experimental vaccines in drive by convenience clinics but there are no shopping centre car parks with Vitamin D pop up centres.
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At one point Their ABC (taxpayer funded far Left media network) even asked an honest question (rare for them).
17th Aug 2020
Norman Swan:
“Australian Vitamin D researchers believe there are enough layers of evidence to suggest supplementation in COVID-19 should be given a go.”
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/healthreport/is-there-a-link-between-vitamin-d-and-coronavirus/12566324
But don’t worry, Norman Swan reported recently:
“No evidence for general Vitamin D supplementation”
1 Aug 2022
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/healthreport/no-rationale-to-supplement-vitamin-d/13997608
So, that settles it, they said it on Their ABC….
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Quick, buy extra Vitamin D3 pills before thrush starts.
It is interesting that there has been enough increase in testing for Vitamin D levels to have the Government notice.
It would seem that more people are reading JoanneNova than watching the ABC.
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“before thrush starts”
I assume you meant “before the rush starts”!
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Thrush song has been called a “musical microcosm of notes sounded simultaneously and judged the highest summit in the evolution of animal music so far known to us”.
Listen to the Thrush, miss the rush!
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Maybe Graeme No.3 is onto something and D3 DOES eliminate thrush. Some ladies would like to know that. 🙂
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Might be Welsh, they say ‘oop throad’ and the pub, ‘ Bird in ‘thand’.
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Not sure about the numbers, probably more people WATCH ABC, but more people believe what they read at JoNova.
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DM
I saw this
““No evidence for general Vitamin D supplementation” ”
up on the internet version of this last weekend version “The Weekend Australian” as a headline
It was behind the Murdoch wall
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Once again, big pharma could care less about our health, we are just there for them to milk us.
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” …. couldn’t care less”. Not “…could care less”.
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“Once again, big pharma could care less about our health, we are just there for them to milk us.”
At about $20 for 200 tablets or about 10 cents per tablet BigPharma doesn’t seem to be pricing VitD out of reach
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I don’t believe the consumer grade oral Vitamin D supplements are made by Big Pharma companies.
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I don’t believe the consumer grade oral Vitamin D supplements are made by Big Pharma companies.
It would seem that they do.
““Increasingly, Big Pharma and Big Herba are indistinguishable,” claims Parramore. “The very same mega-companies with gigantic chemical labs that make drugs are cooking up vitamin and herbal supplements labeled with sunny terms like ‘natural’ and ‘wholesome.’ Pfizer, Unilever, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline and other big pharmaceutical firms make or sell supplements.” While she does acknowledge there are a few small companies still in the mix, Parramore says they represent a tiny amount of the total sales in the $23 billion-a-year supplement business.
Many of these pharma companies have made the foray into supplements because it plays to their strengths while being far, far cheaper than drug development.”
https://pharma.elsevier.com/pharma-rd/link-big-pharma-supplement-industry/
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Of the brands commonly available of oral Vitamin D, I can see none that are obviously associated with Big Pharma.
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Big Pharma would rather you got the Big Jab than have you swallow a few Vit D3 tablets.
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Not the ones I take.
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We’ve been taking 1000iu D3 for 2.5 years. GP concerned that we might be over doing it given our healthy, outdoors lifestyle. Bloods came back within normal limits! No respiratory illnesses, going to add K2. Yes, it’s popping pills but we need GPs to prescribe more self-care (diet, exercise etc) than prescription pharmaceuticals.
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Are you Ladypirates daughter by any chance.
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What did the Doctor say to the pirate?
Say Arrrrrh!
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G’day G,
When I started taking vitamin D3 I tested it with a daily intake of 1000 IU per day and my starting blood level was an estimated 20 ng/ml (50 nmol/Litre). My doc said I was in the normal range. I was concerned about overdosing.
Subsequent reading showed that 10,000 IU/day was considered a maximum, so I stretched my intake to 6,000 IU/day.
At about the same time I read report on the Indonesian study which found that there were fewer people dying if their blood levels were above 30 ng/ml so I set myself a target of at least 40 ng/ml (100nmol/L).
Further reading showed that 10,000IU/day is safe and there is no reliably known upper limit for vitamin D intake, and that an optimum blood level is about 80ng/ml (200nmol/Litre), which is my current target. To achieve that I’ve recently increased my intake to 12,000 IU per day to allow for winter things and the opening up from our restrictions and possible increased exposure.
(I’m also on the K2, iron, zinc and quercetin. )
Generally I also prefer not taking pills, but found I couldn’t reach the levels I reckon I need without them. I can’t even get enough sun to generate vitamin D naturally, as I’m covered up at the appropriate time of day. And I consider the pills are helping me somewhat as I’m about 15 years beyond my my original expected expiry date.
Cheers
Dave B
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As a sports and exercise doctor, I have been disgusted by the approach of “public health” officials during Covid.
My general approach to medicine is basic- exercise more, eat better and lose weight.
These basic principles lead generally to lower risk of inflammatory disease, and healthy levels of Vitamin D, C-reactive protein, blood glucose, etc. Also keeps Big Pharma out of the picture.
Those prone to cynicism may postulate that our public health approach to Covid (stay inside, eat takeaway, go to the bottle shop, take your jabs) is directed at maximising profits of pharmaceutical companies rather than achieving optimum health outcomes.
Always amazed how life’s basics are dismissed by our “leaders”.
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The cynical Dr in me says that every measure implemented (those not in the pandemic plans each western nation had in place) has been to prolong the “pandemic” and enrich the shareholders and their bought officials.
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Doctor T, is there a link between D3 and insulin resistance?
Keto advocates bang on about insulin resistance and I think they are onto something.
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There is good evidence that Vitamin D has direct effects on insulin action on target cells, possibly related to Ca homeostasis and partly due to direct effects on insulin sensitivity.
The additional effects on cytokines are likely to be part of the picture.
The overall effects of Vitamin D on insulin resistance are like to be confounded by co-existance of factors such as obesity, low physical activity levels, and dietary factors in both insulin resistance and Vitamin D deficiency.
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For those interested in Vitamin D supplementation, you should make up your own minds with a knowledgeable medical professional as to appropriate dose.
However, note that in Australia, as far as I know, all over the counter Vit D is a 1000IU dose. There may be a regulation, law or industry guidelines about this, I don’t know.
However, you can buy 5000IU capsules online, including from Australian suppliers on Ebay.
It is not impossible to overdose on Vitamin D but it would seem to be difficult.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30611908/
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Have been purchasing through iHerb Australia for a number of years
NOW Foods, Vitamin D-3, 125 mcg (5,000 IU), 240 Softgels NOW Foods, Vitamin D-3, 125 mcg (5,000 IU), 240 Softgels
https://au.iherb.com/pr/now-foods-vitamin-d-3-125-mcg-5-000-iu-240-softgels/22335
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“However, you can buy 5000IU capsules online, including from Australian suppliers on Ebay”
I wonder why the Vit D unit conversion calculator in the introduction gave measurements in nanograms per gram and nanomoles per litre but not in International Units per Litre which seems to be the most common. There are
25 micrograms (25,000 nanograms) of the vitamin in 1000IU
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Ian, as far as I know serum Vitamin D is reported in pathology labs in the two units I gave above.
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Yes, it is but in the wider community and in the comments here, IU seems wideiy used as many are not familiar with reference ranges, nanograms and nanomoles and you yourself use IU in #20.1.1
NB I noticed I made a significant blunder in 10.2 e=when, instead of writing IU I wrote IU/litre which is totally wrong. `My apologies for that.
00
When finally got Vit D was reported as 200 nmol/L
00
Ian,
The vitamin D we take orally, goes through two processes, one in the kidneys and one in the liver, before it becomes available for use in the blood. It’s the final form from that processing that is measured and reported, hence the change in unit in the reports.
It’s my understanding that that processing takes about 14 days, which is why I take my intake daily to maintain a constant (hopefully?) level.
Cheers
Dave B
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For known deficients, a big initial dose has been recommended. When actual illness is not of concern, I find statements to take up to 5,000.
I did 5,000 for two years; now just under 4,000.
Agree with this: “ you should make up your own minds with a knowledgeable medical professional as to appropriate dose.”
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Buying supplements off the shelf in Aus is expensive. Follow OOs advice below.
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IU’s for vitamin D were defined before the actual molecule was discovered. One IU was the dose required to prevent rickets in a baby mouse weighing 10 grams (if I remember rightly). In dosing steroid hormones in humans and lab animals, the general rule is the same amount on the basis of body weight. For substances that are metabolized enzymatically, the rat dose can be estimated at 5-10 times the human dose due to faster metabolism (greater surface area to volume ratio).
Thus, a baby weighing 2kg would need 200 IU. The doctor recommends 400 for my grandchildren, but has not increased the dose as they grew.
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Hi Jo,
Slightly off topic, but interesting, very relevant and just published is this:-
https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/public-health/2022/08/the-suppression-of-useful-covid-19-treatments/
which included this link:-
https://www.drphilipmorris.com/repurposed-drugs-to-treat-covid-19-ivermectin/
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New Health Department recommendations (sarcasm)
The department of health now recommends a healthy diet, exercise, getting enough sleep, drinking plenty of water, getting sunshine and supplementing with vitamins if necessary (eg Vitamin D) to strengthen your immune system. Also, that having your immune system react to colds and flus ultimately strengthens it. Colds and flus can also be fought just by treating the symptoms. Just kidding, no they don’t.
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I am 77 years old & was obscenely healthy until 2 weeks after the AZ Covid vaccine.
13 months ago I collapsed from as near to dammit from a Blood pressure spike to 233 caused by blood clotting. 13 months later still trying to regain full use of the left hand side of my body. MRI showed no bleeding on brain! Recovery had been slow as Statins, Cartia and BP pills are a toxic.
I dumped the statins & cartia 6 months ago & halved the BP dose. Went for a check up 3weeks ago & doctor told me I was progressing very well & I should continue doing what ever it was to help myself. Blood test showed no increase in Cholesterol.
I have my own BP monitor & blood pressure has remained at levels below 140.
I did not tell him of my decision to cut prescribed poisons.
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Whatever you do, don’t go down the rabbit hole of the whole history of cholesterol and statins, in particular. Maybe you have, but if not, it’s a long sordid history of scientific malfeasance, political interference, pressure group influence and big pharma ….nce. ( I ran out of ..nce words)
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It was about four weeks after my first and only jab that I had the same experience, BP around 120. I called an ambulance and spent a few hrs in ER but there was nothing they did. Fortunately I had no lasting effects.
NOT ADVICE but natto kinase is an effective blood thiner. Quite potent so if your research tells you to try it don’t overdo it.
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Oh dear. Should read “BP around 220”.
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I bet you had another experience like mine.
Neither the hospital, my GP or the Vascular Surgeon would even discuss what the cause was!!
Pretty obvious to me though. It all happened 2 weeks after the first of my biannual doctors checkup & blood tests which showed nothing untoward with BP or cholesterol. Part of the doctors appointment was for the Covid-19 vaccine. So everything were wrong in 2 weeks.
GP was lying to me by putting me on statins to reinforce that it was a cholesterol problem.
I dumped the statins 6/7 months ago & there’s no change in cholesterol readings!!
Nobody will discuss the cause because they’re forbidden to by government/ Big Pharma!!
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That’s what I try and tell my wife who has low Vit D and rarely goes outside. Prefers to sit inside in the darkness with the heater on when its a glorious winter day outside.
A 12 year old boy next door is completely addicted to gaming so never goes outside, and doesn’t eat, almost literally, and never wears shoes or a shirt, skinny as a rake and is sick very frequently. He recently finished 2 weeks off school from sickness and this week is sick yet again. I’m no doctor but I suggest lack of food (vitamins) and sunshine (vitamin D) ? Also hes double vaccinated so his immune system is possibly not doing its job ? Just anecdotal observation.
Get outside and get that sun. Doesn’t take long in the Aussie sun.
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Winter sun has no benefit in the south. The length of your shadow indicates if the sun is high enough to benefit. Iirc if longer than twice your height there’s no benefit.
20
Handy rule of thumb.
10
Where’s the south ? Southern hemisphere or Tasmania ? Interesting though, Ive never heard that before. I was told by my skin cancer inspector Australians only need 15 minutes of sun for Vit D supply. Per day I think he said or was it week ?
I stay fairly tanned during the winter months, my dirt covers on my boots show a rather too sharp line between leg tan, and ankle lily white, the farmers tattoo. None the less, my wife will be delighted with the news. She loathes my nagging to go outside.
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Down on Vitamin D? It could be the cause of chronic inflammation
by University of South Australia
Inflammation is an essential part of the body’s healing process. But when it persists, it can contribute to a wide range of complex diseases including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and autoimmune diseases.
Now, world-first genetic research from the University of South Australia shows a direct link between low levels of vitamin D and high levels of inflammation, providing an important biomarker to identify people at higher risk of or severity of chronic illnesses with an inflammatory component.
The study examined the genetic data of 294 ,970 participants in the UK Biobank, using Mendelian randomization to show the association between vitamin D and C-reactive protein levels, an indicator of inflammation.
Lead researcher, UniSA’s Dr. Ang Zhou, says the findings suggest that boosting vitamin D in people with a deficiency may reduce chronic inflammation.
“Inflammation is your body’s way of protecting your tissues if you’ve been injured or have an infection,” Dr. Zhou says.
“High levels of C-reactive protein are generated by the liver in response to inflammation, so when your body is experiencing chronic inflammation, it also shows higher levels of C-reactive protein.
“This study examined vitamin D and C-reactive proteins and found a one-way relationship between low levels of vitamin D and high levels of C-reactive protein, expressed as inflammation.
“Boosting vitamin D in people with deficiencies may reduce chronic inflammation, helping them avoid a number of related diseases.”
Supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council and published in the International Journal of Epidemiology the study also raises the possibility that having adequate vitamin D concentrations may mitigate complications arising from obesity and reduce the risk or severity of chronic illnesses with an inflammatory component, such as CVDs, diabetes, and autoimmune diseases.
Senior investigator and Director of UniSA’s Australian Centre for Precision Health, Professor Elina Hyppönen, says these results are important and provide an explanation for some of the controversies in reported associations with vitamin D.
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In the US the Left blamed “racism” (of course!) for poorer covid outcomes for African Americans. The fact is that African Americans living in temperate or polar latitudes are often Vitamin D sufficient if they fail to supplement is simply due to tropical adapted skin colouration.
If anything is racist, it is the failure of the Left to acknowledge this physiological adaption and ensure Vitamin D supplementation is promoted among African Americans.
Reference:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16549493/
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That should read “deficient”.
30
There’s a bunch of different biological phases in the processing of Vitamin D.
Statistically speaking, paler skinned people (adapted to long Winters) are more capable of storing larger quantities of Vitamin D in its inactive form, thereby to use it later. However, darker skinned people are adapted to spending more time in the sun and therefore have typically not developed the ability to store this chemical … instead, their bodies readily convert it to the active hormone and then dispose of it, which makes sense if you expect that more will always be available.
Therefore the concept of “optimal” is kind of meaningless unless it is optimal for a particular environment. Darker skinned people will never reach the same levels of Vitamin D storage that pale skinned people can achieve, because they are not adapted for this purpose. Darker skinned people require a continuous, steady supply of Vitamin D, either from sun or from supplements.
20
I have been a martial arts instructor for 35 years.
Lots of trying to help clients and students with joint pain rehabilitation.
After years of ballistic use of my joints, at age 67 I am facing issues with joint inflammation.
Lots of playing with supplements over the years like glucosamine, MSM, chondroitin, potassium, and like many things there is often a new fad.
Some moderate success with glucosamine by itself.
Have been taking D3 recently and have not noticed attributive improvement.
I have not found supplement and diet stuff particularly useful.
For what it’s worth I’ll state my most successful methods for helping my clients and keeping myself working.
Posture.
They don’t make kids sit up straight in school. Focus on how you stand, sit, and walk.
Work at carrying your head over you spine, not your navel.
Just walking regularly can change your life.
Weight train. (Aerobics isn’t really a thing.)
Twice a week for 20 minutes will work. It should be free weight multi joint movements, standing not sitting or lying down.
Your belt is not a demarcation line.
You can’t train muscle you can only train movement.
Exercise and be barefoot as often as possible.
(Tip, stand barefoot with feet parallel and shoulder width and lift your toes while keeping the rest of your weight equally grounded in your feet. You will feel your arches lift and strengthen. Shoes and arch supports, ALL the time, ruin feet, backs, hips, and knees.)
What would your hands be like if your wore mittens all the time?
Using back and joint support appliances will keep the joint weak.
Buy yourself a thing called an Airex Balance Pad.
Now.
It is my magic trade secret for knee rehab.
Balancing on one foot is left/right brain balancing and likely helps keep your mind sharp.
I have my students do it at the beginning and end of each session.
IF YOU REMAIN ACTIVE, PAIN AND INFLAMATION WIL COME AND GO AND FUNCTION WILL FLUCUATE.
IF YOUR ARE INACTIVE, PAIN AND DISABILTY WILL BECIME THE TERMINAL STATUS QUO.
Perhaps, staving off dementia too …
what was I saying?
🙂
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Am I the only one feeling suspicious that the ABC is currently pushing stories about the risks of too much vitamin D? Admittedly, they do say in the article itself that vitamin D doesn’t help “if you’re not already vitamin D deficient.” But how many people will read that compared to those who just read the headline.
And another stories about a man being hospitalised due to Vitamin D toxicity.
I don’t see any references to the fact that many people are in fact deficient, and have heard talk about the government complaining about doctors ordering too many vitamin D blood tests. I’m not feeling like the health system has the best interests of the general public in mind.
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The guy was taking 150,000 IU per day of D, plus 20 other supplements.
Nothing like talking about an extreme case of stupidity to “prove” Vitamin D supplemention is bad…
That’s like 150 standard 1000 IU pills per day.
Even so, according to the reference in my other post 50,000 IU per day appears safe, but this was three times more plus with unknown interactions with twenty other supplements.
Obviously the far Left Their ABC can be trusted to follow the official Government and Big Pharma narrative.
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OT. The FBI just raided Trump’s home.
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Very dark times for the United States.
This is what happens when you upset the Deep State.
If Trump doesn’t run for and win the next Presidential election, the US and the West in general are finished.
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Mark Finchem, an Arizonan politician, on twitter – ‘The FBI just united the entire world behind President Trump”
[Can you take this to the unthreaded, as important as it is, people will look for it on that thread. – Jo]
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I am surprised that no attention has been paid to the daily consumption of eggs as a natural suplement. Not only do they contain vitamin D but a host of essential nutrients and other vitamins. https://www.egginfo.co.uk/egg-nutrition-and-health/egg-nutrition-information/vitamins-and-minerals
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Apparently two Australian eggs have 82% of daily recommended Vit D.
https://www.australianeggs.org.au/nutrition/vitamin-d
But perhaps that is too low for all the beneficial effects of Vit D bearing in mind the recommended dose is to prevent rickets and osteomalacia and that dose is quite low.
10
1 Egg = 37 IU of vitamin D
1 day at the beach = 10,000 IU.
RDA to stop rickets is 600IU.
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A biased source, but they have different numbers on the RDI compared to two eggs.
https://www.australianeggs.org.au/nutrition/vitamin-d
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Rather than making us click and read (I started to) could you tell us the relevant part of that link? I didn’t see it. Sorry. No time to chase quotes, please supply them …
10
With a serve of two eggs providing 82% of your daily recommended intake of vitamin D, eggs contain one of the highest quantities of vitamin D of any food.
Third paragraph, near the top of the article.
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Most of our vitamin D comes from sunlight not food.
Same — as it happens — for chickens:
Results: The study shows that the vitamin D3 content of egg yolk was three- to fourfold higher in the groups that were exposed to sunlight (outdoor and indoor/outdoor groups) compared with the indoor group (P < 0.001). Egg yolk from the outdoor group revealed the highest vitamin D3 content, which averaged 14.3 μg/100 g dry matter (DM), followed by that from the indoor/outdoor group (11.3 μg/100 g DM). Yolk from indoor eggs contained only 3.8 μg vitamin D/100 g DM. The 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D3) content of egg yolk was also influenced by sunlight exposure, although less pronounced than the vitamin D content (P < 0.05). In contrast, free-range eggs randomly acquired from supermarkets had relatively low vitamin D contents. PS: The RDA varies from country to country, so they really need some IU or mcg in that story.
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Don’t forget good old milk as well. Although you only get about 120 IU Vitamin D in a glass of milk. Most of which is added by some producers in some countries. (not sure about Aussie milk, needs more research, perhaps read the carton?)
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Eat butter.
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I didn’t follow all posts here at the moment, but woudn’t you consider to talk about ocean fish products as best source of D3 ?
10
I am surprised that no attention has been paid to the daily consumption of eggs as a natural suplement. Not only do they contain vitamin D but a host of essential nutrients and other vitamins. https://www.egginfo.co.uk/egg-nutrition-and-health/egg-nutrition-information/vitamins-and-minerals
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Also Farmerphil – you’ve posted the same comment twice. Don’t expect your comment to be displayed automatically- there is a ” Jo” lag.
00
Your summary was in April 2020. I contacted my “doc”, a P.A., and her advice was don’t go over 5,000 units without testing, otherwise go for it. That’s 28 months.
You, I, and others have repeatedly mentioned this.
It is still an issue!?
I’m shocked.
30
***BREAKING NEWS***
Extreme Green Matt Kean won the Deputy Leadership of Liberals in NSW.
[Can you repost this on the unthreaded, it’s Off topic here. Commiserations and all. – Jo]
30
And with this. NSW Liberals have lost the next election
NSW treasurer elected deputy Liberal leader
NSW Treasurer Matt Kean has been elected unopposed as the new deputy leader of the state’s Liberal party.
Government whip and member for Wollondilly Nathaniel Smith addressed the media from state parliament moments ago to announce Kean’s election to the position.
“I’m happy to announce there was only one candidate who stood for election,” he said.
“Our new deputy leader of the parliamentary Liberal party, who was elected unopposed, is the honorable Matthew Kean, member for Hornsby and Treasurer of NSW and Minister for Energy.”
Why Dominic Perrottet has just signed his own political death warrant as he chooses deputy loathed by his OWN Liberal Party: ‘So far left, woke and green’
. Matt Kean, 40, has been elected unopposed as deputy liberal leader in NSW
. Premier Perrottet made sure by telling challenger David Elliott to stand down
. Mr Kean is a climate champion and will appeal to the centre ground
. But there are fears the right-wing Liberal base will be turned off by him
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While Kean is anywhere in the NSW Liberal Party leadership, it is a bad or worse as voting for the Greens.
30
On Friday, August 5, comedian and HBO’s Real Time talk show host Bill Maher slammed USA’s fat acceptance movement. Later, the TV personality took to his Twitter account and referred to the issue as a “disturbing trend.”
A “fat acceptance movement” – apparently there is such a thing.
30
My MIL died of osteoporosis: Broke her hip and eventually had a clot on the brain from inactivity.
D3 and K2 reversed this condition in Mrs H. Never supplement Ca without it.
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[…] Handy tip: Vitamin D deficiency causes chronic inflammation (which means aging, dementia, bad stuff) […]
00
Is there any quantity relation between D3 and K2 ?
How much K2 I have to take when I use 5000 ie of D3, asked the other way around ?
Any idea ?
Thx !
00
ie = IU, sorry
00
This one tablet I take too because I don’t know better.
10000 IU daily may be near overdosing causing maybe bad outcome….
10
Answer for Graeme No.3
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Krishna Gans
over 2 years at 2 x 5000 iU per day – Vit D came in at 200 nmol/L
Have reduced to 5000 iU per day and will see what Vit D levels are
00
G’day OO,
I’ll be interested to see the result, but what made you change your intake? My expectation is that you’d need 10,000 or something close, to maintain that level?
Cheers
Dave B
00
I take 3 or 4,000 IU of D3 daily and one tablet of K2.
Also, I know a chap who has been taking 10,000 IU of D3 for 10 years (what else I don’t know). I wish I was as healthy as him.
30
d3 + k2
You are also almost certainly Iodine deficient, an essential mineral. Test by getting some, painting a 4cm x 4cm square – inner wrist a good place – and see how longs it lasts. If you gave sufficient, it should be visible for 24 hours. The less time, the more deficient you are. Papers link iodine deficiency to a number of cancers, including breast cancer, which is now an epidemic in the UK.
Industrial agriculture has massively hit iodine levels in soil, so we are all getting far less than we used to.
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I am at risk to Covid and I think that the fact I am on heavy vitamin D because of my cancer meds that I take. I think that helped me avoid Covid.
20
Best wishes Lawrence. There are a lot of things you can do to improve your odds. See the anti-viral posts here and look for Melatonin, Iota Carageenan, Iodine, Mouthwashes, B6, Vitamin A.
Also zinc. K2. B12. Quercetin.
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There is some evidence/suggestions that vitamin D3 (at amounts not stated)
can produce hypercalcemia (excess calcium in blood) when taken with
hypertension medications, particularly diuretics.
Taking vitamin K2 may counter this.
10
K2 is the trigger to deposit the Ca in the bones not the arteries.
30
Also worth noting that studies for decades have found vitamin D3 is beneficial for the prevention of respiratory infection … e.g. https://www.bmj.com/content/356/bmj.i6583
Not a bad idea in an era of COVID and higher flu rates due to immunity slumber during the lockdown periods.
For arthritis (left hip), my cure has been a daily combination of fish oil, magnesium and glucosamine sulfate (not just glucosamine). Dirt cheap and worth a try.
01
I take Vitamin D daily (injection, not tablets) to help control my lymphoma. It is far better than any artificial medication. There is currently too much reliance on artificially produced medicines, and not enough on the basics.
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