Boost your Vitamin D for Optimal Health: Part 1 Supplements

Our last blog article “The Essential Role of Vitamin D” highlighted the importance of vitamin D in your physical and behavioral health. Vitamin D holds a key role in cancer prevention and resilience, cardiovascular system protection, immune system regulation, musculoskeletal support, neurological well being and mental health, sleep quality and energy balance. 

Dr. Linus Pauling was a pioneering physician in the field of vitamins and micronutrients. His philosophy was that optimizing vitamins and micronutrients in individuals would lead to enhanced health and disease prevention. Today, the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University continues this work. Current research indicates that at least 35% of Americans are vitamin D deficient, and that as many as 80% of Americans have inadequate levels of vitamin D. Deficient means extremely low and inadequate means less than optimal for vitamin D. 

We can see that vitamin D optimization is very important, and many people are not at adequate levels. So, how do we fix our vitamin D levels?

Enhancing Vitamin D Levels

The first thing you want to know is what your body’s vitamin D level is. Vitamin D is measured through a blood serum test for 25-hydroxyvitamin D. You can ask your primary care provider for a vitamin D test when you get your physical lab work done, or you can order one for yourself through many online providers. If you order a test for yourself the cost is between $30 and $60 depending on what providers cover your area. You order the test, and go to a local lab for a blood draw and get the results sent to you. 

Your test results will show blood levels expressed as “xx ng/mL” The Linus Pauling Institute recommends adults have a minimum of 30 ng/mL and optimally between 30 ng/mL and 60 ng/mL.

Eating nutrient dense foods that contain vitamin D is important, although if you are low in vitamin D it is not likely that you will increase your levels significantly through dietary intake alone. 

You have two other options to enhance your vitamin D levels, supplementation or natural sunlight exposure. I use a combination of both during the year, due to the latitude of my home. This article will cover the basics of supplementation. Next week’s article, Part 2 will cover enhancement through sun exposure. 

Supplementation

The optimal method for increasing your vitamin D level is through natural sunlight exposure. However, in our modern life many don’t get enough sun exposure so supplementation can be a good alternative. Shift workers especially can benefit from supplemented vitamin D if they aren’t routinely getting natural sunlight. Geographical location can also affect intensity of natural sunlight needed for your body to produce vitamin D. 

If you choose to supplement, you will want to be aware of several things. Most importantly, if you are on ANY prescription medications you need to research potential interactions with your medication and vitamin D supplements and discuss with your doctor but preferably a pharmacist who is knowledgeable on these issues.

When you buy a vitamin D supplement, you want vitamin D3. Don’t be cheap. The least expensive supplements at the big box store are similar to the cheapest shoes you can buy, or a cheap knife. You want quality products. I recommend looking at Life Extension, Thorne Research, Designs for Health, or similar brands. Quality sources are made in the USA, third party tested for purity, and produced with rigid controls in certified facilities. Cheap sources are produced in environments that are sub-optimal with the manufacturers focusing only on profit. Don’t cut corners on your health. 

Vitamin D3 is measured in “IU” or international units. You will see vitamin d3 pills in 1,000 or 5,000 iu most commonly. I can’t recommend how much to take each day. The Institute of Medicine sets a tolerable upper limit at 4,000 iu per day, while most reports state toxicity does not occur at levels below 10,000 iu. Some physicians have studied short term amounts well over 10,000 iu. You should increase your level slowly, and don’t think maxing out is good when it comes to any supplement. Treat it like coffee or anything else. A little works, a little more might be better, too much causes problems. 

There are a few other supplements that must be taken with vitamin D3 pills. You need to take vitamin K2 with vitamin D3. Vitamin D3 helps the body absorb calcium. Vitamin K2 helps your body transport calcium intake to your bones and teeth where it belongs rather than your arteries and soft tissue. Magnesium Glycinate or Magnesium Citrate also works in concert with vitamin D3 for absorption. Vitamin D3 is fat soluble so take it with some fatty food like butter, MCT oil, olive oil or similar. You can also add a zinc supplement to your vitamin D3/K2/Magnesium package. Zinc and vitamin D3 work together to enhance each other’s effects. Zinc is helpful for immune system regulation and bone health. 

If you choose to supplement you will want to retest your blood levels after 90 days to see what improvements have occurred. That will inform you as to how much vitamin D3 to continue to take or whether you modify your intake.

I personally use this vitamin combination for my own health and wellness, and use vitamin D3 during the months when I can not obtain vitamin D through sunlight exposure as I live on the 47th parallel latitude. 

In the next article, I will discuss how to enhance your vitamin D levels through natural sun exposure for sustainable optimal levels. Stay tuned!

Disclaimer: I’m not a medical professional. I am a certified health coach and I provide information for your education. I encourage you to research these topics further for yourself in your journey to healing and health. If you have significant physical or behavioral health concerns you should see a qualified medical provider and preferably one who specializes in holistic health or integrative medicine. Understand that traditional medicine is oriented toward pharmaceutical remedies that only fix symptoms of health issues that can be resolved through a natural approach. Do your own research. 

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