Why Vitamin D Isn’t Enough
Although vitamin D is undoubtedly a miracle nutrient, current recommendations for supplementing may be misguided. Because of this your health may be at risk.
In the past couple of years, vitamin D has grown in popularity very quickly and for good reason. Since 1922 47,000 peer reviewed articles have proved vitamin D’s effectiveness at protecting us from:
- Cancer (colon, breast, skin and prostate)
- Heart Disease
- Diabetes
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Bone Disease
However, there are important things about vitamin D supplementing that most people don’t know that may actually be hurting them.
Fact:
1) There is a vitamin D deficiency pandemic – at least 50% of Americans may be deficient.
2) There is also a vitamin A and K deficiency – at least 50% of Americans may be deficient.
Why are we so deficient?
1) Lifestyle – most of us don’t get the sun exposure (main source of vitamin D) our forefathers did.
2) Food practices – the foods in our grocery stores have fewer nutrients than they did 50 years ago. The milk, butter, eggs and meat we eat come from unhealthy animals.
3) Sun exposure isn’t enough – even in the eternally sunny city of Honolulu, Hawaii where people reported a whopping average of 28.9 hours of sun a week, over half of the population is still deficient in vitamin D.
Research has shown that vitamin D is part of an ancient complex molecular script. Vitamins A, D, K and E work together. They are all fat soluble molecules which are powerful antioxidant nutrients, intricately bound. They balance and enhance each other, and as a team, profoundly influence genes, immunity, inflammation and the healthy balance of fats in our body.
Keys to supplementing safely with Vitamin D:
1) Regular blood testing is crucial to monitor blood levels.
2) Vitamins D and A are an ancient and inseparable team, so they must be supplemented together in order to receive the full benefits.
3) Vitamin A deficiency is more prevalent than we realize.
4) Vitamin K is also necessary to enhance vitamin D’s impact on bones.
5) Vitamin E
6) Fat-soluble vitamins are likely to be best absorbed when accompanied by a fatty meal, or in a fish oil.
Preferably, a supplement with all four nutrients is best. Look for a multivitamin or oil with all four nutrients in one.
Check out our top-rated Sage Multivitamin.
Read here about vitamin A.
Read here about vitamin K.
References
University of California - Riverside (2010, July 19). More than half the world’s population gets insufficient vitamin D, says biochemist.
Booth SL. Dietary vitamin K guidance: an effective strategy for stable control of oral anticoagulation? Nutr Rev. 2010 Mar;68(3):178-81. Review. PMID: 20384848
Shea MK, Booth SL, Gundberg CM, Peterson JW, Waddell C, Dawson-Hughes B, Saltzman E. Adulthood obesity is positively associated with adipose tissue concentrations of vitamin K and inversely associated with circulating indicators of vitamin K status in men and women. J Nutr. 2010 May;140(5):1029-34. PMID: 20237066
Holden RM, Morton AR, Garland JS, Pavlov A, Day AG, Booth SL.Vitamins K and D status in stages 3-5 chronic kidney disease.Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2010 Apr;5(4):590-7. PMID: 20167683
Crivello NA, Casseus SL, Peterson JW, Smith DE, Booth SL.Age- and brain region-specific effects of dietary vitamin K on myelin sulfatides.J Nutr Biochem. 2010 Nov;21(11):1083-8. PMID: 20092997
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