I recently started researching the nutrition topic (a little more than the casual "Avocados are good for you because the good fat" kind of stuff) and came across many contradicting opinions, so I got confused as nutrition used to be "this guy says this, the other guy says the opposite, coffee is good, coffee is bad, carnivore good carnivore bad, oil good, oil bad" and what not. Then I found Plant Chompers and then your channel and I was so relieved, that there is actual research on these topics, actual answers, an actual scientific consensus, also of course stuff that is currently unclear, but at least I can come to your channel, with the good feeling I am not hearing "just my favorites guy opinion". Thanks for your work, much appreciated.
Really appreciated this. My husband and I eat a mostly vegan diet, so we supplement, but I don't want to overdo it. I'm sure you have no shortage of episode ideas, but I would dearly love a deep dive into supplements for mental health. I take algae oil, vitamin D, and methyl folate all on the recommendations of psychiatrists I've seen over the years. My husband takes the algae oil because of a family history of dementia. Every time I see a video on fish oil, it's addressing heart health rather than mood disorders or dementia
As a person who suffers from really bad Seasonal Affective Disorder, my doctor put me on 12,000 IU/day. It's been great for me, only the shortest days of the year really bother me now. I do get tested every once in a while (I think yearly) just to see how I'm doing with that dose. Great information on vitamin D3 :)
My blood levels wouldn't move at all when I had 2000 or 4000 IU daily. I was stuck at around 30. My doc prescribed me I think 20k weekly and it didn't change anything much either. Once I went higher, ie 6000/8000/10000 IU daily i got to around 50-55 and stay in this area ever since. I have drastically better immune system than pretty much everyone. Same with my wife, her immune system improved day/night since she got her plasma levels to ~50.
I all the fat soluable vitamins play a role. A E D K. If your getting too much of one or not enough of another, it can effect the levels of other fat soluable vitamins.
Thanks again for an excellent summary. I am a primary are physician in Toronto Canada. I have had an interest in nutrition/preventative medicine for years. Great that you go through and list references. Will you put out a video on calcium? Thanks for everything.
I'd like to know your opinion on Vit D and prostate cancer. My oncologist had me start taking Vit D (4000iu) after radiation and it seemed to help lessen my PSA number to zero. His advice was to keep taking it. As he said, "Did it work ?" "IDK, did it hurt?, No." Further research seems to suggest that males in northern latitudes should make sure they get enough Vit D. to lessen Prostate cancer odds.
Thanks for the video and additional comment. Very timely for me as I am also undergoing treatment for prostate cancer. Currently receiving radiation therapy +ADT. It is a the ADT that begs for calcium / Vitamin D supplement to ward off osteoporosis. My Mayo oncologist recommended 1000mg Calcium and 800iu vitamin D supplement. Hopefully this info helps someone else.
What are your thoughts on targeting “optimal level” of serum vitamin D rather than just staying above deficiency? Are you convinced of any of the purported benefits?
Awesome information as always with Nutrition Made Simple. Can you please do a video about Vitamin A, retinoids, topical retinoic acid, including the side effects and'/or toxicity
retinol increases risk of fibrosis. safer to produce vitamin A using carotene, lycopene, -xanthin, body can stop at a tolerable limit to prevent toxicity
Not sure if I have an absorption issue, but I had some serious side effects of low Vitamin D and I have to take 5000 IU a day to manage those symptoms, this was something that I settled on with my doctor after a few years of trial and error. It helped me tremendously, but I totally agree that you shouldn't just take Vitamin D just to take it, especially high doses.
Love the channel, and I am sorry to bother you with yet another egg question. The past year I have been tackling my weight and overall health and it's been going great. Lost ten kilos of fat and gained two kilos of muscle over the past year. Next to your channel and others, I enrolled in a special obesity programme at my local hospital. It's all lead by trained dieticians, psychologists, and physiologists. Very legit. All of the information I got there was confirmed by my other sources. One weird bit of advice they gave: limit egg intake to roughly six per week. I had some issue with this because most advice I found, including on this channel, was a lot more nuanced. The programme concluded this week and I had asked whether they could revisit and give further information on the six eggs thing. In conclusion they gave two big reasons to limit egg intake: environmental impact is the first, which is fair but of no importance to me. The second is apparently a link between high egg intake and risk of diabetes. This seems utterly bizarre to me. Can you shed some light on this? Is this perhaps a case of a study looking at egg intake of all kinds (such as mayonnaise and pastries)? I am having a very hard time making sense of this supposed correlation, but on the other hand it was literally said to me at the hospital.
How does winter time in northern states or Canada affect natural sunlight production. Ive read that sunlight exposure is useless in winter months since the sun is lower the atmosphere blocks more of the UVB light we need to make Vitamin D. Any insights on this?
I can't explain it precisely /as English isn't my L1 language/. To make it simple: your shadow must be shorter than 4/5 of your height. For example: I'm 160 cm high, so my body starts to produce vitamin D3 when my shadow is shorter that 128 cm and the production continues as long as my shadow is shorter than 128 cm.
It's well documented. Many populations living in the higher latitudes are recommended to supplement in the winter months due to it. Here in the UK I always start taking around 1000iu a day during the winter months due to the shorter days and lower level of light. Stop in spring once the days get longer again and light levels return.
Thank you -- this was fascinating, and I'm looking forward to the other vids you announced, especially about magnesium. Regarding Vit D, I have classic hayfever (confirmed by an allergy test) and after the annual sneezes during hay season morphed into allergic asthma, my GP put me on antihistamines. I took them for about two months every year for years, but ever since I got my Vit D levels close to 100 ng/ml through supplementation, my hayfever symptoms have vanished. Completely. I haven't needed my allergy meds for three summers now. Sadly, I don't know for sure what my levels were like before that, but I strongly suspect they would have been at the very low end of normal at best.
Care on cod liver oil. It is particularly high in Vitamin A, which could antagonize Vitamin D and potentially lead to chronic hypervitaminosis A over time.
Very thorough as usual. I supplement with Vitamin D along with Magnesium as I suffer from A-fib and it seems to reduce my heart incidents (but that's purely anecdotal) and also Zinc due to the fact I exercise a lot (namely resistance training) and perspire enormously. I was told that Zinc is a mineral that is not easily replaced through nutrition and is vital to muscle hypertrophy.
When I started tracking D3 it was at 18 ng/mL. Went up to 26 with AG1, switched to powder form from amazon bulk supplements and up the dosage got 56 on the follow up test, went nutty with the dosage and got 152 ng/mL on the last test. I also take the 600 mcg k2 from fermented natto on amazon. Both really cheap products.
I don’t think I heard you mention Vitamin D3 and the prevention of autoimmune disorders. I believe the VITAL trial supported that…What is your thinking about the quality of that trial and your ideas about D3’s possible role in the prevention of autoimmune disorders @Nutrition Made Simple? Thank you! 😊
I went to a new pcp, and after a quick checkup she ordered a blood test and gave me a prescription for 50,000IU vitamin D/day. I said shouldn’t we wait to see the result of my blood test, and she said no. She automatically puts all of her patients over 50 on that amount because they are always deficient. I asked my pharmacist if that amount was commonly prescribed, and she said no, but it’s becoming more common after some new research came out. You can’t buy that amount over the counter, it has to be a prescription. I bought it (very cheap), but didn’t take it. I found another M.D. That was about 5 years ago. I told my new doctor the story, and he declined to comment. I’m now taking 3,000 IU D3+K2. Blood level fine. I am 76. I live near L.A., so plenty of sun.
Great video Gil. What can be interesting is how certain genetic variants, such as VDR can greatly influence how much vitamin D is needed to maintain levels. I have more than one VDR variant, and need to supplement 10k IU a day during the Seattle winters. Of course, I do this with great care and regularly monitor 25-hydroxyvitamin d. I'm likely an edge case of an edge case.
I've been taking a supplement as I had the symptoms and then it was confirmed that I had a severe deficiency in a blood test. Symptoms were gone within a day or two of starting to supplement. Also, vitamin D deficiency seems to play a role in low testosterone in men, that might be a good topic to research and make a video on, next. PS: one deficiency symptom that people often overlook, is a weaker immune system - you feel like you're constantly a little sick and tired, like a low-grade flu or fever that won't go away and just gets a bit worse and a bit better endlessly.
At our research facility, hormone D is one of the first tests we take in cancer patients. Usually, it's way beneath ideal levels and we supplement. I read through the connected journal articles, many I'd read before, and there are very few quality studies on D. 😥 Personally, I was taking 2,000IU +K2/daily and my DEXA, calcium coronary scans, and D levels were great (80ng/dl) till I hit menopause at 53, then went down to the 40s so I'm now at 5,000IU with K2/daily to maintain 80. I take mine primarily for immune support and think everyone should get regular blood tests and scans to determine their own health - we're all different and no one size fits all. With my n=1, I've not yet had Covid 19, but I also wear an N95 when in public indoors spaces which is probably why I'm still Novid. Would really like if more rigorous studies were performed on hormone D.
Doctor, I'm 71 and have silent Crohn's and would like my blood levels of D to be around 50 for this reason, but to achieve this I need to take at least 8,000 a day. If I take 2000 or 3000 I could barely get it up to 40. If my levels remain at 45-50 when taking 8000, can 8000 still be toxic regardless of normal blood levels or is toxicity determined by blood levels?
Little point of feedback on 14:08. Metabolism is a bit short, as absorption issues like after surgery aren't a part of metabolism. The more encompassing term here is often called ADME (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion). At least that's how pharmacokinetics divide up how the body deals with (foreign) substances. Great stuff as always!
I agree broadly with the conclusions of this talk, very informative . A few observations which are important to know regarding vitd. 1.The blood test measures bound plus free vitd 2. Free vitd is the precursor for active 1- 25 vit d. . Bound vitd is inactive . 3. Normal Levels of vitd binding protein is different in different races, highest in white Caucasians , then Asians and lowest in blacks . If clinicians are unaware of this, they can wrongly diagnose vit D deficiency in black patients. 4. Vit D binding protein is a negative acute phase reactant ( it goes down when people are unwell) so it will be low when people are admitted to hospital with infections, cancers etc. this gave rise to the observation that people with low vitD are more prone to infections and cancers. Giving vitd supplements unsurprisingly did not make any difference in reducing the rate of infections or cancers. 5. Vitd deficiency does not cause osteoporosis- it causes low level of calcium deposition in the bones ( a separate condition called osteomalacia) . Therefore, giving vitd does not reduce risk of fractures. However, patient s need to be vitamin D replete for osteoporosis medications to work, so it is given along with medications such as alendronate . Taking vitd alone will prevent osteomalacia but will not treat osteoporosis .
Been taking 5000 D3 for at least 15 years daily and I got tested for the first time ever this last may and my results were exactly in the middle of the range. Probably get tested after a year or so of supplementing is a safe bet.
Depending on your latitude your skin cannot produce sufficent vitamin d in winter. Espcially if dark skinned and in cold weather since you cover up more
You can still synthesize UVB in the skin, just use a tanning bed. Most beds or upright booths use bulbs that emit only UVA and UVB (95%/5%) which is similar to the sun (98%/2% + -). Five minutes, twice a week is enough to raise blood levels substantially and before anyone says they don't want UVA well, UVA exposure is healthy too since it triggers nitric oxide release which dilates blood vessels thus help lower blood pressure.
People who are over weight normally have low D3 blood levels.. because the D3 stays in the Fat tissues, And is not absorbed into the bones! People with low Thyroid hormone levels will have low D3 levels.. (( this includes those who have low MINERAL levels )) Those people who live in Southern Hemisphere OR close to the EQUATOR DO not necessarily have Higher D3 levels..! Great Video.. Tnx..,
Thanks for all of this detail. I was diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency and was recommended supplements (cod liver oil) which didn't help so I was then recommended to take a D3 (400IU) supplement that made no difference. I was then recommended to take 800IU D3 also with no improvement. Each time I took the supplements and had a test 2 months later. Then I thought I'd try sunshine and sure enough my D3 levels went to mid line. My take away? For me at least, the sun is my only option.
I think sunshine gives up to 500mcg = 20000IU. To correct my low level I did both sunbathing and supplemented with 400mcg - for one month. Now I'm taking 80mcg during winter time (live in Denmark so almost no D is produced in the skin from October to April). Btw Danish health guidelines was recently changed to advicing everyone to supplement D during those months (although only 5mcg 😅 )
I'm a prediabetic, despite being very active, eating a very healthy diet, and having very low body fat levels (the condition has a genetic component). I get vitamin D tested in my blood once a year. I was found to be low even with 1000 IU in supplementation, in sunny Calgary. Currently taking 2000 IU in supplementation. It's a fat soluble vitamin, and so it could be that I'm not absorbing the supplement very well if I don't eat oils when I take it. Coworker based in Big Spring, TX, had tested low even working in the sun as a tradesperson. Most of his body is covered with FRs and hard hat. Many SoCal and southern state residents, should really be applying sunscreen more often.
Amazing video, thank you! I have a few questions left: -Does our daily consumption of our body increase when we are dealing with things like an infection? If so, are there numbers available? -How high is the absorbtion efficiency of supplements in general? Especially if you take a high dose of 10,000 IU once per week, does it all get absorbed? Id also be interested in this regarding B12, because from memory we need 4µg B12 daily, but supplements (with daily recommendation) are like 400µ or more, while food contains miniscule amounts in the single digits µg. About the D3 blood levels, ive read that B12 for example also has very shaky blood levels, where if you measure B12 directly in the blood it could be ok despite you already having symptoms of a severe b12 deficiency, because the actual storage in the liver is empty. Maybe something similiar with D3 going on here?
Because your vitamin D level, and the immunity that it supports, goes down without UVB sun exposure. Keeping your vitamin D level the same in winter as during summer eliminates the "flu season" effect of winter.
This was very informative! I'm vitamin D deficient and now I have a better grasp of what I can do to regulate my intake. I'm actually taking a vegan D3 gummy every day and a prescription from my Dr once a week. I try to get some sun but I have bad allergies so I don't like being outside too much.
Please share an educational video on diet four emphasis, for example, I have heard there are a high carbohydrate diet increases co2 production and increases oxygen demand
My levels were 154,I got them down to 104 about 6 months ago, going to get tested and shall hope to be no higher than 85,I’ve been using calipiterol ointment for psoriasis for years plus was taking 4000 daily and sunning myself.
You refer to the RDA several times during the video, but never get into why the RDA is set at these levels or what the respective dose is supposed to achieve. On social media I often hear the argument that RDA was set to prevent a deficiency, but optimal levels for health may require bigger doses. Blood levels of 50-60 mcg/dl are mentioned, sometimes referring to African tribes near the equator who get a lot of sun exposure daily. Can you give any insight about how and why RDA dosage is established?
When they say darker skin people need more vitamin D, what is truth behind that? Is it because they melanin makes it harder for the sun penetrate and that's why they need "5x more exposure"? Also is this bypassed by taking a supplement? Thanks for the content
So to understand then, it's not that dark skin people need more vitamin D, it's that they needed more sun exposure to synthesize the same amount vitamin d due to melanin blocking absorption of the sunlight. So taking a supplement bypasses that limit. Therefore everyone's oral supplementation of vitamin d should he roughly the same
I have come across reviews of studies of vitamin d and dementia protection. For people with genetic predisposition and without. I'll go dig them up but would love to hear what you've found on that.
This was such a great video! Would you mind talking about the supplements themselves, not being tested for efficacy/safety, etc. I don’t take VIT D for this reason.
No! Most smoked salmon is farm raised which contain 75% less vitamin D3 per serving than wild caught and 200 grams (7 ounces) per week ( 1ounce daily) is nothing. Also, where are you located in the world because any latitude above 33 degrees, the suns UVB does not penetrate earths atmosphere between October and March. Take a supplement and use a tanning bed between October and March unless you live near the equator.
Sunshine is much more potent than any fatty fish you could eat. Half an hour full body exposure x1 yields 500mcg vit D which amounts to approx 5kg herring (i've read somewhere). Unfortunately comparing sunbathing and supplementing was left out of the video.
The sun needs to be close to overhead to allow Vit D production so in nothern latitudes it might be very difficult during the winter months to get the right conditions
I've been taking 20,000 IU Vitamin D3 with Vitamin K2 weekly from autumn to early spring for years now and I'm getting ill way less. Maybe a cold every two years (usually if I'm around A LOT of VERY sick people). Haven't had Covid19 yet, even though I tried to get it in the dark ages of 2020/2021. It also improved my general mood in winter.
@@Jupiter_Crash I did a comprehensive blood panel a couple years back in spring and Vitamin D levels were on the upper end of the recommended range given by the lab. I don't really care about that though. The first couple years I started taking Vitamin D I ran self-experiments with different dosages up to 4k IU per day (the upper limit of what was for sure to be considered safe for my weight, according to my research at the time) and tried taking it daily, twice weekly and weekly. Dosages higher than 2.5k per day had no additional positive effects, as in general mood and resilience against infections. I didn't notice any difference between taking 2.5k daily or 20k weekly, so I decided to be lazy and take 20k IU weekly. Usually I take Vitamin D from September until April or May. I do take into account though how much time I've spent outside in the sun or if the weather is especially dreary, which it often is where I live. Vitamin D is fat soluble and as such the body can store reserves for about 2 months. Even if it is slightly preferable to take it daily I'd rather take it weekly for convenience and because the higher dosages are significantly cheaper.
![Does Vitamin D Supplementation actually improve Bone Health? [Study 329-333 Analysis]](/img/n.gif)
Thank you so much for this and ALSO thank you for not taking money from supplement companies or anyone else!
I’m always impressed by your no spin presentations. It’s all about the data. Please keep up the good work!
This channel is a treasure!
Love these 30 min rundown about different supplements. More please!
I recently started researching the nutrition topic (a little more than the casual "Avocados are good for you because the good fat" kind of stuff) and came across many contradicting opinions, so I got confused as nutrition used to be "this guy says this, the other guy says the opposite, coffee is good, coffee is bad, carnivore good carnivore bad, oil good, oil bad" and what not. Then I found Plant Chompers and then your channel and I was so relieved, that there is actual research on these topics, actual answers, an actual scientific consensus, also of course stuff that is currently unclear, but at least I can come to your channel, with the good feeling I am not hearing "just my favorites guy opinion". Thanks for your work, much appreciated.
Thanks for a nerdy discussion. The right amount of detail for me. The translation to an actionable diet and supplement strategy is very useful.
Great video, thanks Gil. I found your channel and really like how you seem very objective, based on data
This was fantastic. Cleared up all the doubts I had. Thanks so much Dr Gil. You are such a great teacher.
Really appreciated this. My husband and I eat a mostly vegan diet, so we supplement, but I don't want to overdo it.
I'm sure you have no shortage of episode ideas, but I would dearly love a deep dive into supplements for mental health. I take algae oil, vitamin D, and methyl folate all on the recommendations of psychiatrists I've seen over the years. My husband takes the algae oil because of a family history of dementia. Every time I see a video on fish oil, it's addressing heart health rather than mood disorders or dementia
Fantastic overview of Vitamin D with clear guidance and no spin.
As a person who suffers from really bad Seasonal Affective Disorder, my doctor put me on 12,000 IU/day. It's been great for me, only the shortest days of the year really bother me now. I do get tested every once in a while (I think yearly) just to see how I'm doing with that dose. Great information on vitamin D3 :)
No Eric berg was harmed in this video 😂😂😅😅
Dr. Berg touts 10K IU per day. I think if Dr. Carvalho knew that, he would voice his concerns.
@@Fair-to-Middling You mean chiropractor Berg.
17:15 "maximum tolerable intake value per day" = 4000IU (total i.e. sun+ foods)... Berg is just too over 9k! 😅
I wonder where the study Gil mentioned of calcification occurring at 25,000iu a day is.
Whos that
Thanks for the summary of current data! And thanks for not selling products!
My blood levels wouldn't move at all when I had 2000 or 4000 IU daily. I was stuck at around 30. My doc prescribed me I think 20k weekly and it didn't change anything much either.
Once I went higher, ie 6000/8000/10000 IU daily i got to around 50-55 and stay in this area ever since. I have drastically better immune system than pretty much everyone. Same with my wife, her immune system improved day/night since she got her plasma levels to ~50.
I all the fat soluable vitamins play a role. A E D K. If your getting too much of one or not enough of another, it can effect the levels of other fat soluable vitamins.
Same experience, i need around 10 K daily.
Thanks again for an excellent summary. I am a primary are physician in Toronto Canada. I have had an interest in nutrition/preventative medicine for years. Great that you go through and list references. Will you put out a video on calcium? Thanks for everything.
Thank you so much! This is extraordinarily helpful - the story is confusing without this analysis.
Thank you so much for this info. So nice to have unbiased data.
I'd like to know your opinion on Vit D and prostate cancer. My oncologist had me start taking Vit D (4000iu) after radiation and it seemed to help lessen my PSA number to zero. His advice was to keep taking it. As he said, "Did it work ?" "IDK, did it hurt?, No." Further research seems to suggest that males in northern latitudes should make sure they get enough Vit D. to lessen Prostate cancer odds.
Thanks for the video and additional comment. Very timely for me as I am also undergoing treatment for prostate cancer. Currently receiving radiation therapy +ADT. It is a the ADT that begs for calcium / Vitamin D supplement to ward off osteoporosis. My Mayo oncologist recommended 1000mg Calcium and 800iu vitamin D supplement. Hopefully this info helps someone else.
Loved this one Gil. Came at the right time for me. Can't wait for upcoming videos.
this video literally came in the perfect moment in my life, love you
What are your thoughts on targeting “optimal level” of serum vitamin D rather than just staying above deficiency? Are you convinced of any of the purported benefits?
Great question !
Thank you for your clarity. This is such great information.
Great presentation. Thank you so much.
Viva Gil--outro ótimo vídeo informativo. Muito obrigado!
Awesome information as always with Nutrition Made Simple. Can you please do a video about Vitamin A, retinoids, topical retinoic acid, including the side effects and'/or toxicity
retinol increases risk of fibrosis. safer to produce vitamin A using carotene, lycopene, -xanthin, body can stop at a tolerable limit to prevent toxicity
45% of people can't convert betacarotene. @@respectkindness-oj6xz
I love these videos. I wonder if we have enough trials on collagen now to have a video on that.
Best channel. Thank you.
Nice video. I think you should do magnesium next.
Not sure if I have an absorption issue, but I had some serious side effects of low Vitamin D and I have to take 5000 IU a day to manage those symptoms, this was something that I settled on with my doctor after a few years of trial and error. It helped me tremendously, but I totally agree that you shouldn't just take Vitamin D just to take it, especially high doses.
Love the channel, and I am sorry to bother you with yet another egg question. The past year I have been tackling my weight and overall health and it's been going great. Lost ten kilos of fat and gained two kilos of muscle over the past year.
Next to your channel and others, I enrolled in a special obesity programme at my local hospital. It's all lead by trained dieticians, psychologists, and physiologists. Very legit. All of the information I got there was confirmed by my other sources.
One weird bit of advice they gave: limit egg intake to roughly six per week. I had some issue with this because most advice I found, including on this channel, was a lot more nuanced.
The programme concluded this week and I had asked whether they could revisit and give further information on the six eggs thing. In conclusion they gave two big reasons to limit egg intake: environmental impact is the first, which is fair but of no importance to me. The second is apparently a link between high egg intake and risk of diabetes. This seems utterly bizarre to me.
Can you shed some light on this? Is this perhaps a case of a study looking at egg intake of all kinds (such as mayonnaise and pastries)? I am having a very hard time making sense of this supposed correlation, but on the other hand it was literally said to me at the hospital.
How does winter time in northern states or Canada affect natural sunlight production. Ive read that sunlight exposure is useless in winter months since the sun is lower the atmosphere blocks more of the UVB light we need to make Vitamin D. Any insights on this?
I can't explain it precisely /as English isn't my L1 language/. To make it simple: your shadow must be shorter than 4/5 of your height. For example: I'm 160 cm high, so my body starts to produce vitamin D3 when my shadow is shorter that 128 cm and the production continues as long as my shadow is shorter than 128 cm.
It's well documented. Many populations living in the higher latitudes are recommended to supplement in the winter months due to it. Here in the UK I always start taking around 1000iu a day during the winter months due to the shorter days and lower level of light. Stop in spring once the days get longer again and light levels return.
Considering he says even windows make sunlight useless that is probably the case
Thank you! Very informative and practical.
Thank you -- this was fascinating, and I'm looking forward to the other vids you announced, especially about magnesium. Regarding Vit D, I have classic hayfever (confirmed by an allergy test) and after the annual sneezes during hay season morphed into allergic asthma, my GP put me on antihistamines. I took them for about two months every year for years, but ever since I got my Vit D levels close to 100 ng/ml through supplementation, my hayfever symptoms have vanished. Completely. I haven't needed my allergy meds for three summers now. Sadly, I don't know for sure what my levels were like before that, but I strongly suspect they would have been at the very low end of normal at best.
Care on cod liver oil. It is particularly high in Vitamin A, which could antagonize Vitamin D and potentially lead to chronic hypervitaminosis A over time.
And it's difficult to get toxic levels of vitamin A down fast
But cod liver oil seems the best.
"The internet never ceases to amaze us"! Doesn't it just!
Excellent info Gil as always
Keep'em coming
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Do you have one of iron? Especially for non meat eaters
Great vid and great timing, I've been looking into taking Vitamin D at the moment as I've barely seen the sun in a few weeks in the UK.
Very thorough as usual. I supplement with Vitamin D along with Magnesium as I suffer from A-fib and it seems to reduce my heart incidents (but that's purely anecdotal) and also Zinc due to the fact I exercise a lot (namely resistance training) and perspire enormously. I was told that Zinc is a mineral that is not easily replaced through nutrition and is vital to muscle hypertrophy.
When I started tracking D3 it was at 18 ng/mL. Went up to 26 with AG1, switched to powder form from amazon bulk supplements and up the dosage got 56 on the follow up test, went nutty with the dosage and got 152 ng/mL on the last test. I also take the 600 mcg k2 from fermented natto on amazon. Both really cheap products.
Thank you for the informative video.
6:32 Great information, thank you for sharing the differences between the types of vitamin D!
As always Thank you!
I don’t think I heard you mention Vitamin D3 and the prevention of autoimmune disorders. I believe the VITAL trial supported that…What is your thinking about the quality of that trial and your ideas about D3’s possible role in the prevention of autoimmune disorders @Nutrition Made Simple? Thank you! 😊
I went to a new pcp, and after a quick checkup she ordered a blood test and gave me a prescription for 50,000IU vitamin D/day. I said shouldn’t we wait to see the result of my blood test, and she said no. She automatically puts all of her patients over 50 on that amount because they are always deficient. I asked my pharmacist if that amount was commonly prescribed, and she said no, but it’s becoming more common after some new research came out. You can’t buy that amount over the counter, it has to be a prescription. I bought it (very cheap), but didn’t take it. I found another M.D.
That was about 5 years ago. I told my new doctor the story, and he declined to comment. I’m now taking 3,000 IU D3+K2. Blood level fine. I am 76. I live near L.A., so plenty of sun.
Are there co-factors that make D3 bio-available once absorbed?
Great video Gil. What can be interesting is how certain genetic variants, such as VDR can greatly influence how much vitamin D is needed to maintain levels. I have more than one VDR variant, and need to supplement 10k IU a day during the Seattle winters. Of course, I do this with great care and regularly monitor 25-hydroxyvitamin d. I'm likely an edge case of an edge case.
My experience (also with VDR issues) has been similar.
Interesting. Good information. Thank you!
I've been taking a supplement as I had the symptoms and then it was confirmed that I had a severe deficiency in a blood test.
Symptoms were gone within a day or two of starting to supplement.
Also, vitamin D deficiency seems to play a role in low testosterone in men, that might be a good topic to research and make a video on, next.
PS: one deficiency symptom that people often overlook, is a weaker immune system - you feel like you're constantly a little sick and tired, like a low-grade flu or fever that won't go away and just gets a bit worse and a bit better endlessly.
Low sunlight exposure can lead to low T and low vit D.
Thank you for your work.
At our research facility, hormone D is one of the first tests we take in cancer patients. Usually, it's way beneath ideal levels and we supplement.
I read through the connected journal articles, many I'd read before, and there are very few quality studies on D. 😥
Personally, I was taking 2,000IU +K2/daily and my DEXA, calcium coronary scans, and D levels were great (80ng/dl) till I hit menopause at 53, then went down to the 40s so I'm now at 5,000IU with K2/daily to maintain 80.
I take mine primarily for immune support and think everyone should get regular blood tests and scans to determine their own health - we're all different and no one size fits all.
With my n=1, I've not yet had Covid 19, but I also wear an N95 when in public indoors spaces which is probably why I'm still Novid.
Would really like if more rigorous studies were performed on hormone D.
‘Hormone D’… i love it!
Best studios that mankind evolved successfully naked in the sun…Mother Nature makes no mistakes
Looking forward to your presentation on K2 supplementation.
Will you make a video about the pollination in water where fish live?
Just saw an outdoor ad for vitamin D testing. Right on time.
Doctor, I'm 71 and have silent Crohn's and would like my blood levels of D to be around 50 for this reason, but to achieve this I need to take at least 8,000 a day. If I take 2000 or 3000 I could barely get it up to 40. If my levels remain at 45-50 when taking 8000, can 8000 still be toxic regardless of normal blood levels or is toxicity determined by blood levels?
Little point of feedback on 14:08.
Metabolism is a bit short, as absorption issues like after surgery aren't a part of metabolism. The more encompassing term here is often called ADME (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion). At least that's how pharmacokinetics divide up how the body deals with (foreign) substances.
Great stuff as always!
I agree broadly with the conclusions of this talk, very informative . A few observations which are important to know regarding vitd. 1.The blood test measures bound plus free vitd 2. Free vitd is the precursor for active 1- 25 vit d. . Bound vitd is inactive .
3. Normal Levels of vitd binding protein is different in different races, highest in white Caucasians , then Asians and lowest in blacks . If clinicians are unaware of this, they can wrongly diagnose vit D deficiency in black patients.
4. Vit D binding protein is a negative acute phase reactant ( it goes down when people are unwell) so it will be low when people are admitted to hospital with infections, cancers etc. this gave rise to the observation that people with low vitD are more prone to infections and cancers. Giving vitd supplements unsurprisingly did not make any difference in reducing the rate of infections or cancers.
5. Vitd deficiency does not cause osteoporosis- it causes low level of calcium deposition in the bones ( a separate condition called osteomalacia) . Therefore, giving vitd does not reduce risk of fractures. However, patient s need to be vitamin D replete for osteoporosis medications to work, so it is given along with medications such as alendronate . Taking vitd alone will prevent osteomalacia but will not treat osteoporosis .
Been taking 5000 D3 for at least 15 years daily and I got tested for the first time ever this last may and my results were exactly in the middle of the range. Probably get tested after a year or so of supplementing is a safe bet.
Brilliant info, thank you
Depending on your latitude your skin cannot produce sufficent vitamin d in winter. Espcially if dark skinned and in cold weather since you cover up more
Came to the comments to say the same thing. New Englanders cant rely on sunlight exposure
@@ashleyfarias449So eat it in your food then.
@ I’m in London. It’s a dark overcast most of the winter! Got myself a red lamp and SAD lamp to deal with mood 😀
You can still synthesize UVB in the skin, just use a tanning bed. Most beds or upright booths use bulbs that emit only UVA and UVB (95%/5%) which is similar to the sun (98%/2% + -).
Five minutes, twice a week is enough to raise blood levels substantially and before anyone says they don't want UVA well, UVA exposure is healthy too since it triggers nitric oxide release which dilates blood vessels thus help lower blood pressure.
Excellent video. Do you have any opinion on vitamin D and other vitamin supplements that are marketed as being ‘food rich’ ‘plus real food’ etc?
Thx. I hope we will know what is the optimum for vitamin D et not only the min and max ….
People who are over weight normally have low D3 blood levels.. because the D3 stays in the Fat tissues, And is not absorbed into the bones!
People with low Thyroid hormone levels will have low D3 levels.. (( this includes those who have low MINERAL levels ))
Those people who live in Southern Hemisphere OR close to the EQUATOR DO not necessarily have Higher D3 levels..!
Great Video.. Tnx..,
Excellent as always! 😊
Thanks for all of this detail.
I was diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency and was recommended supplements (cod liver oil) which didn't help so I was then recommended to take a D3 (400IU) supplement that made no difference. I was then recommended to take 800IU D3 also with no improvement. Each time I took the supplements and had a test 2 months later.
Then I thought I'd try sunshine and sure enough my D3 levels went to mid line.
My take away? For me at least, the sun is my only option.
I think sunshine gives up to 500mcg = 20000IU.
To correct my low level I did both sunbathing and supplemented with 400mcg - for one month. Now I'm taking 80mcg during winter time (live in Denmark so almost no D is produced in the skin from October to April).
Btw Danish health guidelines was recently changed to advicing everyone to supplement D during those months (although only 5mcg 😅 )
This was awesome. Would love to see similar for omega 3.
Great eye opening information for me
Interesting, thanks!
Gil the legend
He really is!
I'm a prediabetic, despite being very active, eating a very healthy diet, and having very low body fat levels (the condition has a genetic component). I get vitamin D tested in my blood once a year. I was found to be low even with 1000 IU in supplementation, in sunny Calgary. Currently taking 2000 IU in supplementation. It's a fat soluble vitamin, and so it could be that I'm not absorbing the supplement very well if I don't eat oils when I take it. Coworker based in Big Spring, TX, had tested low even working in the sun as a tradesperson. Most of his body is covered with FRs and hard hat. Many SoCal and southern state residents, should really be applying sunscreen more often.
Fire retardant is horrendously unhealthy. I was working at a refinery and wore lightweight cotton clothing underneath. Just saying
Amazing video, thank you!
I have a few questions left:
-Does our daily consumption of our body increase when we are dealing with things like an infection? If so, are there numbers available?
-How high is the absorbtion efficiency of supplements in general? Especially if you take a high dose of 10,000 IU once per week, does it all get absorbed? Id also be interested in this regarding B12, because from memory we need 4µg B12 daily, but supplements (with daily recommendation) are like 400µ or more, while food contains miniscule amounts in the single digits µg.
About the D3 blood levels, ive read that B12 for example also has very shaky blood levels, where if you measure B12 directly in the blood it could be ok despite you already having symptoms of a severe b12 deficiency, because the actual storage in the liver is empty. Maybe something similiar with D3 going on here?
Lol! Just a few ? s? Ha ha
I take 2500IU per day and my serum 25-HYDROXY, D3 is 60 ng/mL. Which is smack dab in the middle of the recommended range.
I'll stick with that regime.
Why is it that when I take 10,000 or more IU in the winter I don’t get sick. But less than that I do?
Because your vitamin D level, and the immunity that it supports, goes down without UVB sun exposure. Keeping your vitamin D level the same in winter as during summer eliminates the "flu season" effect of winter.
Thank you for the free info!!
please enlight us about iodine supplements. This is a very confusing and seriously more dangerous area.
Super informative. I just stopped hair,nails,skin vitamins i swear I'm getting hair thinning/loss from too much biotin.
This was very informative! I'm vitamin D deficient and now I have a better grasp of what I can do to regulate my intake. I'm actually taking a vegan D3 gummy every day and a prescription from my Dr once a week. I try to get some sun but I have bad allergies so I don't like being outside too much.
Please share an educational video on diet four emphasis, for example, I have heard there are a high carbohydrate diet increases co2 production and increases oxygen demand
Thank you Gil! Please talk about melatonin, both in the blood and mitochondrial.
My levels were 154,I got them down to 104 about 6 months ago, going to get tested and shall hope to be no higher than 85,I’ve been using calipiterol ointment for psoriasis for years plus was taking 4000 daily and sunning myself.
You refer to the RDA several times during the video, but never get into why the RDA is set at these levels or what the respective dose is supposed to achieve. On social media I often hear the argument that RDA was set to prevent a deficiency, but optimal levels for health may require bigger doses. Blood levels of 50-60 mcg/dl are mentioned, sometimes referring to African tribes near the equator who get a lot of sun exposure daily. Can you give any insight about how and why RDA dosage is established?
hi, we´ll do a followup video with a deep-dive into the RDA and evidence for/against. thanks!
Great information
What you think about creatin?
Green leafy vegetables contain lots of vitamin K1. Is vitamin K2 produced from vitamin K1 by the microbiome? By the liver?
When they say darker skin people need more vitamin D, what is truth behind that? Is it because they melanin makes it harder for the sun penetrate and that's why they need "5x more exposure"? Also is this bypassed by taking a supplement? Thanks for the content
Yes, it's because of melanin in the skin. Yes, supplementation is the main way to solve that. Though getting more sun exposure would work too.
So to understand then, it's not that dark skin people need more vitamin D, it's that they needed more sun exposure to synthesize the same amount vitamin d due to melanin blocking absorption of the sunlight. So taking a supplement bypasses that limit. Therefore everyone's oral supplementation of vitamin d should he roughly the same
I take 10,000 every day, and I have for about 2 years. My blood levels were around 8, and now it’s around 60.
I would keep an eye on it if your levels not going up to far on that dose 👍🏻
Great. Just check your blood routinely just to make sure it’s not above the recommend range. Check your blood calcium level aswell
The best nutrition channel Hands down !! Non bias, scientific and educative
I was a bit under 30, but wanted to reach 50.
Not much changed year by year until I increased to 6000 iu/d
Now I maintain (hopefully) with 4000
I have come across reviews of studies of vitamin d and dementia protection. For people with genetic predisposition and without. I'll go dig them up but would love to hear what you've found on that.
This was such a great video! Would you mind talking about the supplements themselves, not being tested for efficacy/safety, etc. I don’t take VIT D for this reason.
Thank you doctor Carvalho!
What is your take on probiotics? Supplements and dietary changes. Does it actually matter or help?
Thorough. Thanks
Love that little joke at 19:25. You got me!
Thank you
Can you or have you done a show on creatine?
Hey Doc. Thanks very much for the info. Is 200 grams a week of smoked salmon plus intermittent sunshine enough for D3?
No! Most smoked salmon is farm raised which contain 75% less vitamin D3 per serving than wild caught and 200 grams (7 ounces) per week ( 1ounce daily) is nothing. Also, where are you located in the world because any latitude above 33 degrees, the suns UVB does not penetrate earths atmosphere between October and March. Take a supplement and use a tanning bed between October and March unless you live near the equator.
Sunshine is much more potent than any fatty fish you could eat. Half an hour full body exposure x1 yields 500mcg vit D which amounts to approx 5kg herring (i've read somewhere). Unfortunately comparing sunbathing and supplementing was left out of the video.
The sun needs to be close to overhead to allow Vit D production so in nothern latitudes it might be very difficult during the winter months to get the right conditions
Where is the article information for prediabetes/diabetes and vitamin D?
The vitamin D here isn't as cheap as yours is, especially the type that comes in oil droplets, so I'm happy to hear that the tablet kind is fine too.
I've been taking 20,000 IU Vitamin D3 with Vitamin K2 weekly from autumn to early spring for years now and I'm getting ill way less. Maybe a cold every two years (usually if I'm around A LOT of VERY sick people). Haven't had Covid19 yet, even though I tried to get it in the dark ages of 2020/2021. It also improved my general mood in winter.
Are you saying 'weekly' as in 20K once a week, or do you take it daily to add up to 20K?
And what’s your Vitamin D level in your blood test?
D3 has a 24 hour half life so it has to be taken daily.
@@Fair-to-MiddlingI take 20k IU every weekend, so once per week. 20k IU per day would definitively be dangerous in the long run.
@@Jupiter_Crash I did a comprehensive blood panel a couple years back in spring and Vitamin D levels were on the upper end of the recommended range given by the lab.
I don't really care about that though. The first couple years I started taking Vitamin D I ran self-experiments with different dosages up to 4k IU per day (the upper limit of what was for sure to be considered safe for my weight, according to my research at the time) and tried taking it daily, twice weekly and weekly. Dosages higher than 2.5k per day had no additional positive effects, as in general mood and resilience against infections. I didn't notice any difference between taking 2.5k daily or 20k weekly, so I decided to be lazy and take 20k IU weekly. Usually I take Vitamin D from September until April or May. I do take into account though how much time I've spent outside in the sun or if the weather is especially dreary, which it often is where I live.
Vitamin D is fat soluble and as such the body can store reserves for about 2 months. Even if it is slightly preferable to take it daily I'd rather take it weekly for convenience and because the higher dosages are significantly cheaper.