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Vitamin D supplements have been all the rage in the past few years. But today, I’m giving you a not so popular, but important perspective that will hopefully help you make an informed decision for your health.
Many years ago, researchers found that those with chronic illness and higher mortality rates from many diseases also statistically had lower Vitamin D levels. So the assumption was made in the medical community (pretty early on) that supplementing with Vitamin D would have a beneficial effect.
But, an article released by some of the most published researchers on this topic suggest that the actual sun exposure and the lifestyle habits of those who spend time outdoors provides the correlation to good health, not Vitamin D. Another important point that researchers are making is that Vitamin D deficiency is likely the result of chronic disease, not the cause.
In todays episode, I’m going into why taking vitamin D might not all it’s cracked up to be, the harm it could cause, and what you can do instead.
*I’m not a medical professional and this is not medical advice. Consult with your doctor before making any changes to your diet or supplement intake.
In this Episode, I Cover:
- The importance of sufficient sun exposure for your overall health
- How to make an informed decision whether you should continue to take Vitamin D or explore other options
- My personal journey with Hashimoto’s and why I think Vitamin D didn’t help me heal
- Options for enhancing your bodies ability to naturally create Vitamin D
- Shop for toxin free mineral sunscreen on the Toxin Free Shopping Guide
3 Things You Should Know Before Taking Vitamin D Supplements
1. Ranges and Testing Methods
The vast majority of doctors and all the labs that run the testing say the best way to figure out if someone has vitamin D deficiency is to test their 25-OH, which is the most accurate way to measure the amount of vitamin D in your blood.
What they don’t usually test for is the 125-OH. To get a full picture of what your body is doing, you need to know your ratio between your 125-OH and 25-OH. I don’t think just measuring the 25-OH gives you what you need to know about your vitamin D levels.
The ratios are almost always off for people with autoimmune conditions, Crohn’s disease, and inflammation. Getting both tests can tell you a lot about what’s going on in your body.
2. Vitamin D is a Hormone
It’s also an immune suppressant. So what happens is people take a bunch of Vitamin D and start to feel better. It’s because the vitamin D is acting as an immune suppressant in your body. Your immune system isn’t reacting to whatever chronic illness.
It’s similar to taking birth control. You’re suppressing your hormones and all of a sudden, your PMS and acne is gone and you feel better. It’s not because you solved the problem. It’s because you put a band-aid on it.
If you continue to turn your immune system off by taking high doses of vitamin D, you’re just masking the original issue.
3. There are consequences to taking isolated forms of vitamins.
I’m actually not a pro-supplement person. I’m a big advocate for food as supplements and medicine. If we get our nutrients in throughout the day, we don’t need to be supplementing with vitamins.
I think you should have all of your bloodwork done and strategically use supplements. The holistic community tends to throw supplements at everything.
When you change just one piece, you can throw other things out of balance. I don’t recommend taking vitamins just because it sounds like a healthy thing to do.
When you take vitamin D as a supplement, it increases your uptake of calcium in your body. That then depletes and decrease your potassium.
Just taking one thing can throw everything off.
If you do choose to take vitamins and supplements, here are my recommendations.
Other Ways to Boost Vitamin D Without Supplements
Get in the sun! Spending 15-30 minutes a day in the sun (especially morning sunshine) is essential to making vitamin D.
When I was trying to heal my Hashimoto’s, I increased my intake of magnesium. I took magnesium glycinate every night and I also had a lotion form of magnesium chloride that I put on my body at night. Adding magnesium totally resolved by 25-OH and 125-OH ratio problem.
Giving your liver a little love can help your vitamin D levels, too. I love castor oil packs to help with liver detox. Focusing on your liver health can help your body better convert vitamin D.
Look for vitamin D-rich foods, like salmon, eggs, and cod-liver oil.
Are Vitamin D Supplements Right For You?
Only you and your doctor get to decide that. For me, I choose to get my vitamin D from being outside every morning. Just a few minutes in the sun gives me enough vitamin D for the day.
Interested in learning more about living holistically? Join my signature quarterly course, Toxin Free in 3.
Resources:
Related Episodes:
- Episode 16: The Truth About Sun Exposure and Sunscreen: Finding the Middle Ground
- Episode 73: 5 Things I Did to Heal My Hashimoto’s Naturally
- Episode 119: The Mineral Sunscreen Ingredient That’s Causing Your Sun Care to Be Less Clean Than You Think
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