Vitamin D efficiency study referenced in NYT article

Just saw this in the news: "Study Finds Another Condition That Vitamin D Pills Do Not Help"

Any thoughts?

McSleepy

I agree 20 nanograms is arbitrary, I shoot for much higher. I understand vitamin K is needed as well to properly utilize the D.
Our ancestors lived naked in the tropics, while we cover up in artificial light. Some supplementation is needed to restore what we can no longer create ourselves.

Apparently, vitamin D overdosing is also becoming a problem.
Damned if you do . . .

Plenty of meds out there prohibit being in the sun.

That always bothered me a bit in theory like a heart patient that cant eat broccoli or spunach while on heart meds.

Plenty of meds out there prohibit being in the sun.

There are also areas of the world, including the Pacific Northwest in the US and Canada, where the sunlight available most of the year is insufficient to produce vitamin D by spending time outdoors, and supplements are encouraged. (When it comes to the supplements, if you're not getting enough sunlight, you'll want vitamin D3, not D2, which still requires sun exposure to convert to D3 in your body.)

latskogkatt wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 28, 2022 9:32 am

Plenty of meds out there prohibit being in the sun.

There are also areas of the world, including the Pacific Northwest in the US and Canada, where the sunlight available most of the year is insufficient to produce vitamin D by spending time outdoors, and supplements are encouraged. (When it comes to the supplements, if you're not getting enough sunlight, you'll want vitamin D3, not D2, which still requires sun exposure to convert to D3 in your body.)

yup, this is where i live and i take d3.

I'm not much of an outdoor person. I work long hours indoors. So I supplement with D3/K2. And since I have been doing this, it seems to really keep my immune system functioning well. I rarely, if ever, get a cold virus--maybe every few years. Before this I was getting 6 to 10 viruses a year, which almost always turned into bronchitis and sometimes pneumonia because of my asthma. If it's the placebo effect, I'll take it. I truly believe it helps ME.

McSleepy wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 27, 2022 6:51 pm

Just saw this in the news: "Study Finds Another Condition That Vitamin D Pills Do Not Help"

Any thoughts?

McSleepy

From the article,

The vitamin pills do not prevent bone fractures in most people or protect against many other diseases

I think science is on the verge of declaring that vitamin D deficiency does not exist and supplementation will not help. "Low" levels of vitamin D are proving to be only a marker, not a cause, of many pathologies.

This idea is expressed in the article,

And Dr. Rosen, who signed off on the National Academy of Medicine report, has become a vitamin D therapeutic nihilist.

“I don’t believe any more in 600 units,” he said. “I don’t believe you should do anything.”

Here is what new, mounting evidence is showing.

Mitochondria are the energy-producing elements in each cell of the body. Any time energy is produced, harmful byproducts are produced. (This is true throughout nature. Think about a car engine or a campfire.) There are several intracellular compounds produced when mitochondria produce energy. (The one I remember is hydrogen peroxide.) These byproducts of energy production will damage cells if not neutralized and removed from the cells. They cause many different pathologies if not removed. What removes them?

Intracellular melatonin neutralizes these dangerous compounds (free radicals). It has long been thought that all melatonin comes from the pineal gland. Due to advances in science, it is now known that less than 5% of the body's melatonin comes from the pineal gland. The remainder is produced in cells for the purpose of "cleaning up" chemical reactions. This intracellular melatonin does not enter the bloodstream and has nothing to do with sleep.

How is intracellular melatonin produced? When the human body is exposed to near-infrared rays from the sun (or certain artificial light such as tungsten), photons travel into many cells and excite an electron on one compound. This trips off a six-step chemical reaction with the final step being melatonin. This melatonin neutralizes the free radicals from the mitochondria's energy-producing process.

So, without sufficient exposure to NIR from the sun, cells have a deficit of melatonin. The body also produces less vitamin D due to lack of exposure to the sun, but this is only a marker for the real problem - insufficient intracellular melatonin.

I studied this science early this year and write by memory. The basic principle is correct, but some of my details may be a bit off. If you have an interest and time, MedCram has some good information on these processes. It's deeply scientific, but they do a good job of summarizing for laymen.

Wow Granny!

Thanks for this.

Very informative.

So, is there consensus? Maybe expose to sunlight but use sunblock or protective clothing that blocks the harmful UV but lets IR go through? That'd be great since it's exactly what I had been doing, regularly hiking in the mountains, wearing compression shirts and leggings, and using SPF50 on my face and hands (and wearing sunglasses). I've been taking 2000 IU of vitamin D3 a day and maybe I should continue (my tests show I'm on the low side but still within limits). I've been very healthy, too.

McSleepy

McSleepy wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 28, 2022 4:45 pm

Maybe expose to sunlight but use sunblock or protective clothing that blocks the harmful UV but lets IR go through?

NIR goes right through most clothing. Exceptions would be heavy coats especially the down or synthetic down models:

If your body can feel the warmth of the sun shining on your jacket - that's NIR getting through.

Interesting.

I wear SPF hoodies and hats and hate sunscreen.

I may need to start a med that means photosensitivity. But here is to hoping the cpap delays that need.

So Granny- I should get out the infrared space heaters this winter?

lynninnj wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 28, 2022 5:30 pm

So Granny- I should get out the infrared space heaters this winter?

You would need to check the wavelengths of the light. Near-infrared light is wavelengths from 800 to 2,500 nm. The part of the light you can see (visible light) is not NIR.

If you find out, let me know, please.

I dont recall where I was reading but I think the Tungsten ones produce the right wavelength?


This particular source has a chart but to be honest, I am not sure if there is an overlap.

https://www.herschel-infrared.co.uk/how ... ared-heat/

You seem much more knowlegable and honestly, I don't know wth I am talking about here?