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Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections (2017)

bmj.com

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Re: Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections (2017)

#121

Post by CodeWriter23 »

jpdus wrote: post #98

I am a bit perplexed. Haven't almost all randomized/controlled trials shown (e.g. [1]) that there is basically no measurable effect for healthy people? All "positive" stories are relying on observational studies with the usual confounders, right? EDIT: Look at figure 2 in the Paper. Looks pretty random to me. Result is almost exclusively driven by 4-5 small ( [1] https://www.vox.com/2018/10/4/17933880/vitamin-d-healt…

Vitamin D in the study you provide, D2 & D3 in the OP link. Chemistry and source matters. D is synthetic, D2 is plant derived, D3 animal derived.

Re: Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections (2017)

#122

Post by teach »

ucha wrote: post #51
mherdeg wrote: post #38

As a layperson it feels to me like research in the "megadose on vitamins to prevent illness" area is kind of tainted by the legacy of Linus Pauling, who was no doubt a genius in his fields and whose published literature advocated the position that vitamin C megadose would reduce cancer deaths by 75% ( https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/07/the-vitam... ). I guess we know how to avoid the trouble -- make h…

You can't really megadose on Vitamin D because like most liposoluble vitamins, they are hepatotoxic at large doses.

Yeah, but there's a huge gap between current RDA and toxicity.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-h...

4000 IU per day would probably help a lot of people and is still an order of magnitude under the intake that's known to be toxic (60,000 IU/day for several months).

Re: Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections (2017)

#123

Post by chabes »

BurningFrog wrote: post #88
leto_ii wrote: post #21

I can say from my own experience that the lack of vitamin D can have a significant impact on both mind and body. I suspect that essentially all people living at relatively northern latitudes have some sort of vitamin D deficiency. From what I know you need to have your face and arms exposed to direct sunshine for at least 15 minutes/day to keep healthy vitamin D levels in the body. Good luck with that in the European…

This is one reason arctic people eat so much (vitamin D rich) fish. The other is of course that a plant based diet is impractical when plants are only alive half the year. White skin itself is an evolutionary adaption for getting enough vitamin D outside of tropical Africa. The extreme "melanin-anemic" blond & blue eyes look of Scandinavia is thought to be because it has a uniquely warm weather for the latitude, whic…

Ummm, plants are alive longer than “half the year“. Humans have also preserved foods for out of season consumption for millennia. Natives in California had plenty of plant-based foods in winter months.

Re: Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections (2017)

#125

Post by SketchySeaBeast »

abainbridge wrote: post #113
kaztal wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sweden here. My partner is a doctor, she claims with assurance that you can't make a carpet decision like this. People who come from norther latitudes are used to the lack of sun, and their bodies don't need more vitamin D than is provided. Depending on your heritage, ymvm.

That seems implausible. Obviously there was evolutionary pressure on northern Europeans to tolerate lower levels of sunlight and no doubt adaption happened. However, I expect even Swedes evolved in an environment that included more time outdoors than a modern Swedish office worker gets. So, in the absence of any actual evidence, I'd still expect a problem. On top of that, there is some evidence. Basically all the pap…

The first two articles I get from that search looks at vitamin d and the older population, and the third[1] suggests that even in sub-arctic elevations "Adequate levels were found in 79.2%, more often in women (82.7%) than in men (75.6%). Only 0.7% of the population were vitamin D3–deficient but 23.1% of men and 17.1% of women had insufficient levels." That doesn't seem too damning.

At the end of the day I don't know enough, so I'm not making the claim about Vitamin D quantities, but isn't the evidence that there was at least some form of adaptation evident based upon skin tone alone?

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3402/ijch.v74.27963

Re: Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections (2017)

#126

Post by Robotbeat »

chabes wrote: post #123
BurningFrog wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is one reason arctic people eat so much (vitamin D rich) fish. The other is of course that a plant based diet is impractical when plants are only alive half the year. White skin itself is an evolutionary adaption for getting enough vitamin D outside of tropical Africa. The extreme "melanin-anemic" blond & blue eyes look of Scandinavia is thought to be because it has a uniquely warm weather for the latitude, whic…

Ummm, plants are alive longer than “half the year“. Humans have also preserved foods for out of season consumption for millennia. Natives in California had plenty of plant-based foods in winter months.

"California" being the operative word, there. Oslo, Norway has a 60 degree latitude. Sacramento has a 35.8 degree latitude.

Re: Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections (2017)

#127

Post by bdamm »

chabes wrote: post #123
BurningFrog wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is one reason arctic people eat so much (vitamin D rich) fish. The other is of course that a plant based diet is impractical when plants are only alive half the year. White skin itself is an evolutionary adaption for getting enough vitamin D outside of tropical Africa. The extreme "melanin-anemic" blond & blue eyes look of Scandinavia is thought to be because it has a uniquely warm weather for the latitude, whic…

Ummm, plants are alive longer than “half the year“. Humans have also preserved foods for out of season consumption for millennia. Natives in California had plenty of plant-based foods in winter months.

Natives in California can still be harvesting in November and can see the ground all year round except in the mountains. Natives at the far north might be done with harvesting by late September or early October and might not see the ground again until April. Not even remotely comparable in terms of the severity of the issue and the impact to survival.

Re: Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections (2017)

#128

Post by open-source-ux »

In the UK, a science advisory body (Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition) published a review of the evidence on vitamin D and health in 2016. Their recommendation: adults and children over one in the UK should take vitamin D supplements in winter.

This advice may not be applicable to people living in sunnier climes. Here is an overview of the guidelines on the NHS website which includes a link to the 300 page scientific review.

https://www.nhs.uk/news/food-and-diet/the-new-guidelines-on-...

Re: Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections (2017)

#129

Post by joncrane »

leto_ii wrote: post #55
_d03 wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about DHA/EPA? Iodine and vitamin B1? Our modern diets could cause further nutritional deficiencies. I doubt that many people in the West eat fish regularly or supplement with algae oil due to the conveniences of processed food. Same with iodine. Wheat germs have the highest concentrations in vitamin B1, but whole grains in general (rolled oats etc.) are good so you should probably cut the processed food out as…

It can be that there are other hidden deficiencies. Vitamin D was the most surprising for me though because I wasn't aware that you can't really find it in food and that it's only synthesized in the skin in the presence of UV rays.

>you can't really find it in food

Pretty sure that's the reason almost all milk in the USA is fortified with Vitamin D (and A)

Re: Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections (2017)

#130

Post by davidw »

leto_ii wrote: post #21

I can say from my own experience that the lack of vitamin D can have a significant impact on both mind and body. I suspect that essentially all people living at relatively northern latitudes have some sort of vitamin D deficiency. From what I know you need to have your face and arms exposed to direct sunshine for at least 15 minutes/day to keep healthy vitamin D levels in the body. Good luck with that in the European…

> your face and arms exposed to direct sunshine for at least 15 minutes/day

I wonder what the actual numbers are for this. This weekend, I got out for a couple of 3 hour bike rides, for instance, but it was chilly out, so nothing but my face was exposed.

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