The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated • Hacker News Board

Re: The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

#211

Post by 2000UltraDeluxe » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 9:10 AM UTC

khurs wrote: post #206

I think Vitamin D deficiency hype is driven by supplement sellers. As someone who grew up in a European country where we don't get long summers, I suffered no demonstrable issues from the lack of sun nor did the many around me. My family wasn't rich so food was reasonably nutritious but not perfectly balanced either. Vitamin D supplements are sold widely, including in smaller supermarkets like Lidl and Aldi. And one…

As many other things, it depends on diet and lifestyle. I also live in the cold north, and generally, if you're fair-skinned, spend enough time in the sun and consume at least some products with natural or added vitamin D, you're usually good.

Having a balanced diet and enough time to spend in the sun isn't a given, though, and many struggle getting enough vitamin D without suppments.

Re: The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

#212

Post by adrian_b » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 9:11 AM UTC

throwaway2037 wrote: post #128

cute_boi wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These days it is same with protein... Too much protein fads.

> Too much protein Is there really a scientific consensus about "too much protein"? As I understand, the bit about "stresses your kidneys" has been disproven.

Too much protein can definitely kill you, or at least make you ill, as discovered by the Europeans who explored the northern parts of America and who had initially tried to live from the meat of hunted animals, until they learned from the natives that they must eat enough fat besides the lean meat, in order to survive (most wild animals have little fat, except the bone marrow, which must be extracted).

However, too much protein is a lot, much more than most people will try to eat in normal conditions, because an important advantage of protein is that it is satiating, i.e. when you eat enough protein it is easy to eat less food and more seldom, without feeling hunger.

For example, I eat 2 meals per day, in the morning and in the evening, of about 800 to 1000 kcal each. If I ate more, I would gain weight rapidly.

When I was eating any kind of industrially-processed food, I could not eat so little, because I became hungry quickly. Now I eat only food that I prepare myself, from raw ingredients. In order to avoid hunger, the content of protein and fat is very important. Typically, each of my 2 meals includes 40 to 60 g of protein and 20 to 30 g of vegetable oil. This ensures that I will not be hungry all day.

Re: The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

#213

Post by Etheryte » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 9:22 AM UTC

anamexis wrote: post #125

Etheryte wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly you don't even need to know the recommended number. In many countries you can get tested for free, and if that's not the case for you, getting tested usually costs in the ballpark of a box vitamin D supplements. Measure and only then supplement, then measure again later. You don't need to fly blind.

A year's worth of daily 5000 IU (125 mcg) Vitamin D supplements costs approximately $15, so you could also just supplement.

This approach doesn't make much sense to me. Why supplement something when you don't even know that you need it? You could make the same argument about any and every supplement and eat the whole alphabet soup every day, but that's just putting extra strain on your body.

Re: The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

#214

Post by AltruisticGapHN » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 9:25 AM UTC

All I know is I used to have full on colds during winter in my 20s to early 30s, like every winter I would get two weeks of runny nose till the skin became red and irritated, sore and painful throat, coughing, etc. Since I take 25000 IU (D-Cure in Belgium) like 2-3 times a month during winter for the past 15+ years my cold last 2-3 days and symptoms are much more mild. For me the data is there.

Re: The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

#215

Post by adrian_b » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 9:31 AM UTC

brandonb wrote: post #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 quo…

That blood level matches what the parent article cites as typical for Africans who were still eating their traditional food, and which is higher than typical for the industrialized countries.

Re: The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

#216

Post by epihelix » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 9:35 AM UTC

AltruisticGapHN wrote: post #214

All I know is I used to have full on colds during winter in my 20s to early 30s, like every winter I would get two weeks of runny nose till the skin became red and irritated, sore and painful throat, coughing, etc. Since I take 25000 IU (D-Cure in Belgium) like 2-3 times a month during winter for the past 15+ years my cold last 2-3 days and symptoms are much more mild. For me the data is there.

The problem is that you don't know what your situation would be like if you'd not taken Vitamin D. There are too many variables, generally -- e.g. in your early 20s and 30s you're likely socialising with many more people (so, more exposure chances), and you may also have young children (even worse disease vectors).

I'm similar to you in experience, btw, except that I don't believe correlation is causation. But as it won't do any harm, most of us don't regularly monitor our Vitamin D levels, and Vitamin D supplements are cheap -- it becomes a harmless form of Pascal's wager that I'm happy to keep making. Nothing to lose except a very, very tiny amount of money.

Re: The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

#217

Post by epihelix » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 9:49 AM UTC

cobalt wrote: post #158

ChadNauseam wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If everyone is deficient, then it must not be that important. Most people are overweight. Does that make being a healthy weight not that important?

most people can tolerate being overweight pretty well it seems

Not according to the public health literature. But, hey, don't let hard population data spoil what things "seem" to you.

Here are a few highly-cited articles to get you started:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/1471-2458-9-88 https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1614362

Re: The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

#218

Post by bryanrasmussen » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 9:50 AM UTC

HPsquared wrote: post #91

qurren wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to mention, northern latitudes get more sun that average in summer, and most northern countries have more reasonable working hours so people actually do go outside.

More hours of sun, but it's less intense.

Is it really less intense? When I go out on a sunny day in Denmark it is murder. When I go out on a sunny day in Italy it's generally just overall warm.

At any rate another factor is that in the Northern regions it's my experience people do their best to soak up as much sun as possible.

Re: The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

#219

Post by nerbert » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 9:52 AM UTC

khurs wrote: post #206

I think Vitamin D deficiency hype is driven by supplement sellers. As someone who grew up in a European country where we don't get long summers, I suffered no demonstrable issues from the lack of sun nor did the many around me. My family wasn't rich so food was reasonably nutritious but not perfectly balanced either. Vitamin D supplements are sold widely, including in smaller supermarkets like Lidl and Aldi. And one…

tell that to the 90% of belgians with deficiency

Re: The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

#220

Post by b112 » Wed, Jun 24, 2026, 9:57 AM UTC

Aerroon wrote: post #40

The survey in the article that assessed vitamin D deficiency was a bit odd: > Because physical exams are performed in mobile vans in NHANES, data could not be collected in northern latitudes during the winter; instead data were collected in northern latitudes during summer and in southern latitudes in winter. To address this season-latitude aspect of the NHANES design, we stratified the sample into two seasonal subpo…

This is why you're supposed to fatten up in the summer. In nature, mammals fatten up all summer long, and fat soluable vitamins such as D, are stored in your fat.

As animals basically slowly starve over the winter, they consume their fat and also get some vitamin D back. It helps shore up the lack of sun in the winter.