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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

#251

Post by randusername »

owenversteeg wrote: post #193

I have made this comment on HN many times [0] now but: it's the goddamn sunlight. Sunlight has many pathways in the body, and increased vitamin D levels are just one of those pathways. Swallowing one element of a many-element pathway cannot simulate the human synthesis of vitamin D! This should be obvious! Your car might not run because of bad needle bearings, but the solution is not to add them to the gas tank! Firs…

I think science is just too granular to be a reliable input into wellness decision-making. It is too easy for interested parties to enable everyday people to confirmation bias their way into defying common sense.

Of what utility is the truth in decision-making if it is such a narrow truth that it might as well be a falsehood in practice?

Alcoholics talking endlessly about flavonoids, obese people insisting in polyunsaturated fat mayo, sedentary people that don't resistance train drinking soda with protein in it.

Re: The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

#252

Post by Filligree »

noduerme wrote: post #197
Aurornis wrote: 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…

The Mediterranean diet itself has a lot of health benefits interrelated with the ones claimed about fish oil. But just as a human experience, the first time I ate cod livers, it was hard to accept. Then I started spreading them on toast for breakfast, and realized that they were quite delicious, but very very much an acquired taste (and I eat almost everything). As far as Vitamin D, there does seem to be a correlatio…

The Norwegian way to eat cod liver is “squished between two flatbread, mixed with boiled potato and also cod”.

Which is absolutely delicious, even for a kid; it’s one of the meals I still remember loving. You should try it!

Re: The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

#253

Post by regularfry »

heisenbit wrote: post #32
written-beyond wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My life changed after I got tested for vit D and started talking supplements. I was severely deficient. I am now sufficient and everything changed for me.

In December by chance I put a pack of Vitamin D into my shopping basket. I did not think much, thought to take 1000IE but then decided that for the first week I take 3000 to catch up. Muscle pain went and control over eating improved. I did not expect any changes based on past experience with 1000 but this time I could not ignore it (age can play a role) and I stayed on 3000. Tests a month later showed I was just not…

I do think this is worth emphasising: the article only focuses on mortality. Not quality of life. Vitamin D makes me not feel like crap, it's cheap, and effectively zero risk. I'm not expecting it to make me live longer, I like that it makes me live better.

Re: The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

#254

Post by SJC_Hacker »

HPsquared wrote: post #223
ludicrousdispla wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I found this resource which shows that sun intensity in June in northern Europe is similar to that in sub-Saharan Africa (in June). https://physics.weber.edu/schroeder/ua/EarthCirclesAndSunRay... https://physics.weber.edu/schroeder/ua/SunAndSeasons.html

At the equator, the sun is highest at the equinoxes (March and September) and lowest at the solstices. Outside the tropics, the sun is highest at the summer solstice (June or December) and lowest at the winter solstice.

Exactly at the equator the sun is directly overhead (90 degrees) at a single time point (close to 12 on depending on where you are within the time zone) every single day

The only thing that varies over the year is the path it takes to get there. At the solstices (summer/winter) the path curvature is maximal while t the equinoxes (spring/fall) it is a straight line.

Re: The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

#255

Post by SJC_Hacker »

NoPicklez wrote: post #120
codethief wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The sun in northern countries in summer is less intense?

Come to Australia during the summer and watch how quickly you burn outside without sunscreen.

Only for fair skinned individuals

Re: The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

#256

Post by [deleted] »

annzabelle wrote: post #94
galleywest200 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could this be why evidence suggests that redheads synthesize Vitamin D more efficiently? Red hair is more prevalent at higher latitudes (I think). Can redheads produce Vitamin D in these darker conditions while others cannot do so effectively? https://www.sciencealert.com/evolution-favored-genes-linked-...

Pale skin in general helps synthesize Vitamin D. The less melanin you have the more you absorb, this is why lighter skin happens at northern latitudes. Darker skinned people are more likely to need to supplement it.

[deleted]

Re: The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

#257

Post by seba_dos1 »

Aurornis wrote: 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…

You keep showing up under articles about vitamin D and keep telling that more people have excess than insufficient vitamin D levels without presenting any data whatsoever.

We're among plenty of inside-dwelling nerds here. Do the test. Don't listen to folks like the parent, don't let yourself be discouraged; check your blood level and act on it if necessary, it's fast and cheap. I even had a test done at my home, you can schedule that online these days! You're much more likely to be severely deficient than have it in excess (it's quite hard to get to toxic levels anyway, you'd need to be really irresponsible about it) and once you confirm that, supplementing can help you tremendously with plenty of mental issues you may be experiencing. It won't fix you up, but it can make it possible for you to fix yourself up in the first place. And if the test shows you have adequate levels already - good for you.

(and if you're too depressed to even arrange the test, it may make sense to start supplementing blindly - but don't exceed ~10K IU D3 daily and make sure to stop after 2-3 months tops. Hopefully at that point it'll be easier for you to finally do the test to know whether to continue or not; don't keep taking high doses blindly, toxicity is hard but not impossible to achieve and you really don't want to be suffering from it. You almost certainly won't reach it with 10K IU when starting from deficiency, but it you happened to be on the high side already at the start it could be dangerous when prolonged)

Re: The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

#258

Post by economistbob »

annzabelle wrote: post #94
galleywest200 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could this be why evidence suggests that redheads synthesize Vitamin D more efficiently? Red hair is more prevalent at higher latitudes (I think). Can redheads produce Vitamin D in these darker conditions while others cannot do so effectively? https://www.sciencealert.com/evolution-favored-genes-linked-...

Pale skin in general helps synthesize Vitamin D. The less melanin you have the more you absorb, this is why lighter skin happens at northern latitudes. Darker skinned people are more likely to need to supplement it.

That sounds like a hypothesis that brown folks migrated north and evolved to be light as opposed to "light skinned peopled moved to the north". The latter is the historically accurate situation.

Re: The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

#259

Post by wafflemaker »

isodude wrote: post #203
wafflemaker wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to take 4k IU + K² and think that I'm covered, since 4K units was a lot. I landed on just above deficient when tested. My wife was on kind of same regime, but didn't follow it very strictly. She was deficient, but not extremely. It was quite surprising, because I got warned when buying 4k unit tabs that they were quite strong and pharmacy clerk suggested taking less.

Have you looked into UVB lamps?

Had a friend talking about them, but they seem to be prohibitively expensive. Do you have positive experience using such lamps?

I tend to have some eczema on my scalp that sun really helps with.

Maybe a lamp that costs the equivalent of a week of holidays in a warm place could be justified after all.

Re: The worthlessness of Vitamin D is mildly exaggerated

#260

Post by anamexis »

Etheryte wrote: post #213
anamexis wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Well, if a study finds that nearly everyone of your skin color at your latitude is deficient, you can make an educated guess.
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