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The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

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Re: The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

#11
post #7

This is a refreshingly balanced and honest analysis of Vitamin D studies. The strongest evidence for Vitamin D is in people who are severely deficient. Bumping up to a normal range can provide some improvements. The health influencers started noticing that the Vitamin D studies coming out weren't matching their original hype for Vitamin D, so many pivoted to trying to make claims that most people are severely deficie…

On a slight tangent, if people are unaware, you can pay for and get just about any lab test without a prescription in the United States.

Re: The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

#12
post #5

I suspect that blood vitamin D is mainly a marker for how much outdoor exercise people are getting, and that it is the exercise rather than the D which is causal.

But then why do we see improvements in people that get vitamin D + K2 supplements and not exercise?

Yeah, I wish the article had brought Vitamin K2 into the mix since that seems trendy to pair with your D3 these days.

Re: The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

#14

I suspect that blood vitamin D is mainly a marker for how much outdoor exercise people are getting, and that it is the exercise rather than the D which is causal.

It depends on one’s whereabouts and kind of exercise. Exercising in a gym or outside with all your skin covered won’t make much vitamin D.

Re: The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

#15
Another more recent trial (TARGET-D) is showing a 52% reduction in heart attack risk: https://www.empirical.health/blog/vitamin-d-heart/

That trial used a dynamically-adjusted dosage of a vitamin D3 supplement, where dosing was set as to keep blood levels within a target range of 40–80 ng/mL. IMO part of the reason this trial is showing better results than the previous clinical trials of vitamin D supplementation quoted in the above article is that vitamin D has bad effects if too low and too high. Adjusting the dose dynamically to achieve an optimal range gets you the benefits without some of the negative effects.

Re: The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

#16
post #7

This is a refreshingly balanced and honest analysis of Vitamin D studies. The strongest evidence for Vitamin D is in people who are severely deficient. Bumping up to a normal range can provide some improvements. The health influencers started noticing that the Vitamin D studies coming out weren't matching their original hype for Vitamin D, so many pivoted to trying to make claims that most people are severely deficie…

On a slight tangent, if people are unaware, you can pay for and get just about any lab test without a prescription in the United States.

This is how I found my 10k IU of vitamin D a day, based on modern recommendations for indoor workers, that I modulate based on how much I'm outdoors, was perfectly on the mark!

Re: The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

#17
post #7

This is a refreshingly balanced and honest analysis of Vitamin D studies. The strongest evidence for Vitamin D is in people who are severely deficient. Bumping up to a normal range can provide some improvements. The health influencers started noticing that the Vitamin D studies coming out weren't matching their original hype for Vitamin D, so many pivoted to trying to make claims that most people are severely deficie…

On a slight tangent, if people are unaware, you can pay for and get just about any lab test without a prescription in the United States.

Yes, and to be concrete, you can do so at economical prices at https://requestatest.com (it's a lifesaver in many occasions, I've used it 4 times with great success).

Re: The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

#18
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On a slight tangent, if people are unaware, you can pay for and get just about any lab test without a prescription in the United States.

This is how I found my 10k IU of vitamin D a day, based on modern recommendations for indoor workers, that I modulate based on how much I'm outdoors, was perfectly on the mark!

This is the amount I shoot for in the winter - I live in New England - it's made a huge difference in my life. I'm totally open to it being placebo though and I don't care. I don't supplement with it during the summer.

Re: The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

#19
Has anyone done a RCT of D3+K2? K2 seems to be important in the absorption of D3. Another aspect that bothers me with these studies is that we’re simply supplementing the vitamin D, seemingly without measuring the change in blood levels. I took 2000IU (+K2) a day for many years in between testing my blood levels and still had <30ng/ml and had to go up to 5000IU/day. I’d like to see some further study.

Re: The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

#20
Just mildy exaggerated? Is this a joke article? If you don't achieve a suitable level, health will suffer immensely, even permanently. There are no ifs and buts. People who say otherwise work for the medical industrial complex and will get you killed.

Note that adequate magnesium is critical for proper vitamin D function, but the article doesn't document it.

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