Comments on: Vitamin D’s Flawed Recommended Daily Allowance

By: Vin Miller

Vin Miller — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 20:41:39 +0000

Hi Denise, I'm sorry to hear about your difficulty with vitamin D. The most obvious thing to do would be to ask your doctor for an alternative. It sounds like you've already considered natural dietary sources for vitamin D which I think is great. Although not a popular option, organ meat is a good source of vitamin D that you didn't mention trying. You could also try to get more sun. As long as you don't burn, sun exposure may be less of a cancer risk than you've been led to believe. I suggest reading more on the issue and making an informed decision for yourself. Dark Deception by Dr. Joseph Mercola might be a good place to start. In regard to the safety of tanning beds, the cancer risk may be a result of the electromagnetic radiation from the magnetic ballasts that run the bulbs more so than the UV radiation.

By: Denise in Phoenix

Denise in Phoenix — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 12:22:43 +0000

hi, new to this site and stumbled upon it as I was searching info on Vitamin D. Lots of good advice on here, thanks!
I recently was told by my doctor (whom I’d just met) that I was lacking in the “D” after my yearly physical with blood work. I’d never been checked for that before that I’m aware of and not sure why she had me do it. She’s totally into organic thinking and wanted me to take a prescription for D. I didn’t have her write one knowing I can simply buy it OTC and did so a couple of weeks later.
Here’s my issue/concern: After 3 weeks of pretty much faithfully taking a D400 iu with A on a daily basis, I have become sleepy, lacking in concentration, had diarrhea, loss of appetite, dry mouth/extreme thirst…and for a bus driver the diarrhea is most unacceptable, lol.
I talked to a school nurse about the diarrhea as I had no other “flu symptoms” and it hits rather quickly and she looked up Vitamin D (which was new in my diet) in a large pill book she owns. I hadn’t associated all these “symptoms” together and hadn’t thought too too much about any of them but they all were listed under “Over-dose/Toxicity” in the book!!!
Now, needless to say, I’m cutting back to taking ONE pill on Friday evening (in case it “hits” me again), and no more. I get intermittent times of direct sunlight and 4-5 hours a day of indirect (on the bus) daily and maybe that’s enough. I’m 48 and will most certainly have skin damage/problems as I grew up and tanned wildly BEFORE the dangers of skin cancer were an issue– now I try to limit my time but use no sunblock at all.
I’ll incorporate more tuna sandwiches into my diet (Thanks Subway!), and I eat butter and eggs. Not into seafood at all, but would be interested in anything else I should be eating/drinking more of to keep my D levels up. Any advice? Other than oil pills, lol….now pills scare me! ugh…it’s been a LONG couple of weeks.
SORRY THIS GOT SO LONG….

By: Merlin in Montana

Merlin in Montana — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:24:31 +0000

Thank You for the reply. Seafood, butter, and eggs are regular parts of my diet trying to get out in the sun during my days off. Right now we are down to under 10 hours a day of sun and will be decreasing for awhile. When spring returns more time out in the sun riding my bike still peddle about thanks to snow tires for my bicycle with lots of lights to be seen.

By: Vin Miller

Vin Miller — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:36:23 +0000

Hi Merlin, thank you for your comment. I’m happy to hear that you’re learning from the site. It’s also great to hear about your very impressive weight loss. Congratulations! Keep up the good work!

Aside from relying on sun exposure for vitamin D, the alternative options that I’m aware of are seafood, butter, eggs, cod liver oil, animal fat, supplements, or even some types of tanning beds. My preference from these choices are the whole foods and maybe even cod liver oil, but diet is usually not a good enough source on it’s own and there’s also a bit of uncertainty surrounding cod liver oil.

I would choose supplements over tanning beds, but I like the idea of tanning beds utilizing the body’s natural mechanism to synthesize it’s own vitamin D.

Would it be possible for you to catch some sun either a few hours prior to or after work? That would be the ideal solution.

By: Merlin in Montana

Merlin in Montana — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:12:05 +0000

First I am so happy for your help so far. I only recently discovered your site and am learning as much as I can. Vitamin D shortages are a great conern for me. I have worked 20+ years in the last 30 years on the over night shift. Seven years ago I weighted 425 and started small changes in my eating habits and have dropped to 225. Is there anything to include with the Vitamin D for those of us whom get little exposure to sun?

By: Vin Miller

Vin Miller — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:55:44 +0000

Absolutely, Andrea! Thanks for adding that! I’m not certain, but I’m pretty sure that D3 is now being used in milk.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:16:42 +0000

Don’t think this was mentioned, but we can’t get the vitamin D2 which is added to milk products confused with the D3 in certain types of fish and that our skin produces from sunlight exposure. I believe D3 is more beneficial to us, and is what helps our immune system, and has been known to *help* (i say that lightly, because we just never know, do we?) prevent memory loss, heart disease and certain forms of cancer. a lot of people are deficient that don’t even know it. It’s crazy that the dairy industry is required to add vitamin D2 to milk and it’s not even that beneficial to our bodies. It is also sad that people rely on milk products to get their vitamin D and it turns out it’s not even the right one!

By: Grampa Ken: Social Fix

Grampa Ken: Social Fix — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:58:12 +0000

I needed this article, thanks Vin.

By: Stephen - Rat Race Trap

Stephen - Rat Race Trap — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 15:09:36 +0000

Great article Vin! We hid from the sun to protect ourselves from skin cancer and we gave ourselves every other kind of cancer. Sad.

By: Vin Miller

Vin Miller — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 13:31:10 +0000

Thanks for your comments guys!

Dina – Yes, the Vitamin D Council is great! I’ve learned a lot from their work. I’m happy to hear that vitamin D has helped to improve your quality of life!

Kristen – I am infuriated by a lot of things that result from industrialization! However, I think even the most conventional minded doctors are embracing the potential of vitamin D and awareness is spreading. Despite this, it would still be nicer to see people getting more of their vitamin D from nature rather than a pill.