Low Vitamin D? I think everyone should get tested for vitamin D with their annual labs. But, should you take the high dose vitamin D your doctor prescribes? A large dose of vitamin D, often in D2 form, is prescribed at 50,000IU at a time This is usually prescribed when a vitamin D blood panel comes back low (below 30 ng/mL) Many people already have a challenge converting the D2 form to the 25-Hydroxyvitamin D, the primary circulating form of D. But wait, there is more! The active form of vitamin D, produced in the kidneys from 25 (OH)D, is called Calcitriol. So there is another step of getting D2 to this active form. Calcitriol plays a crucial role in calcium and phosphorus absorption, bone health, and other bodily functions. No nutrient acts alone. Magnesium is a co-factor for vitamin D metabolism. Introducing a large dose of vitamin D2 or D3, is going to use up stored magnesium. Many, many people are deficient in magnesium to start, then you add in a large dose of vitamin D which requires magnesium to be utilized, and you can easily go into a state of depletion. | |
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Someone may notice symptoms of low magnesium (which is often called vitamin D toxicity) when they start on high doses of vitamin D such as: • Cramping in their muscles • Headaches or even migraines • Constipation • Spasms • Acid reflux I would not recommend a large dose of vitamin D. First start with “filling up” your magnesium storage. Your magnesium is stored in red blood cells. A truly accurate magnesium blood lab is to look at red blood cell magnesium. Your standard blood panel is not looking at the stored magnesium in your red blood cells. Vitamin A is also used up as you take up vitamin D in the cell. Remember, all nutrients have to be taken up at a “receptor” level on the cell. If we have insufficient vitamin A, the uptake of vitamin D will be hindered. And, if you are taking a large Vitamin D bolus, such as 50,000IU, you can actually get toxicity from the D that is not being converted and absorbed. A good multivitamin with your fat-soluble vitamin A coming from an animal source like fish, (not synthetic vitamin A, often in the form of retinyl palmitate or retinyl acetate) should be sufficient for good absorption of vitamin D. You have often heard of vitamins D, A, E, and K1&2 as being “fat-soluble” vitamins, which they are. Vitamin D promotes more calcium uptake into the body, which is important for more than just bones. You have calcium channels all over the body that are extremely important for biochemistry processes. However, calcium running “rogue” in the body can be disease-promoting, such as calcification of soft tissue. Vitamin K2 plays a critical role in preventing too much-circulating calcium from damaging the soft tissue. This is critical in preventing calcification of the arterial walls. Vitamin D is also essential for immune strength and immune regulation. I like to see levels between 50-80 ng/mL. So this leads us to another topic about the immune system. | |
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Auto-Immune Disease’s Data From the National Health Council estimates that 50 million Americans are affected by an autoimmune disease. Strong, potent medications are being used to treat these diseases and they overtly interfere with immune function. While these drugs can be blessings, there are some downsides to the long-term use of things like Corticosteroids like prednisone. While immunosuppressants like methotrexate, azathioprine, and mycophenolate mofetil suppress the immune response, biologic agents like tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors and interleukin inhibitors target specific components of the immune system. These drugs suppress immune function and reduce symptoms but the challenge with that is the majority of autoimmune diseases have at their roots, some sort of persistent infectious challenge, often coming from the gut. So, an immune system that has been suppressed is unable to eradicate the infectious challenge, so it persists and this further perpetuates the autoimmune disorder. Often one autoimmune disease will lead to another because this “root cause” has not being addressed. Ultimately the root cause is an immune system that has been overwhelmed by an infectious dynamic, often for years, and it has lost it’s ability to self-regulate. These medications, because they suppress the immune system, can be at the root cause of the development of cancer further down the road. | |
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Along with a suppressed immune system, you will then open the door for things like sinus infections, bladder infections, dental infections, bronchial infections, etc. etc. These are then treated with antibiotics. This in turn wipes out the gut microbiome where 80% of your immune system lies. This begets a circle of more infectious over-growth of pathogens in the gut which further exasperates the autoimmune condition. If you are dealing with an autoimmune disease, you want to work with a practitioner who can get to the root cause of your disease. Depending on how long you have been on immunosuppressive drugs, this is a marathon, not a sprint, to restore the body’s immune function and remove the cause of the autoimmune disorder. Did you learn something new? Please pass the information along to others. My heart is heavy so many days when I hear someone’s story of how long they have been suffering with a “dis-ease” that is only being managed by Allopathic medicine, not cured. I believe healing is possible! In health, Chris Mckee Certified Nutritionist at Achieve Integrative Health |
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