The Kind Life


sunset

I’ve always assumed that I get all the Vitamin D I need on a daily basis just from being out in the sun. Of course, too much exposure can be harmful, but living in sunny California gives me the chance on most days to soak up the sun while I’m out taking a walk, gardening or getting to and from my car.  Sometimes I’ll just stop what I’m doing, open my arms, take a deep breath and really feel the sun on my face for a few relaxing minutes.

It wasn’t until some of you Kind Lifers inquired about Vitamin D recently, that I decided to dig deeper into this subject and see if what I’d always thought was actually the truth. Do those short bursts of sunlight exposure really supply enough Vitamin D to those of us who live and work indoors in large, polluted urban areas? And, if not, what’s the deal with supplements?  Are they helpful? And, if they are, what’s the proper dosage?  For these and other answers, I decided to seek out perspectives from Dr. Neal Barnard and Christina Pirello, both of whom walked me through the whole topic with their usual brilliance and clarity. Here’s what I learned: 

For starters, let’s explain what Vitamin D is. In simple terms, it’s a fat-soluble vitamin that our body manufactures when it’s exposed to the sun. It has a number of purposes, but Vitamin D’s main job is to maintain the right balance of calcium and phosphorus in our blood, help us to absorb enough calcium in our bones and, in general, to work with other vitamins at keeping our bones healthy and strong.

We don’t have to roast in the sun all day long to get a healthy daily dose of Vitamin D, but we do have to get a good 10-15 minutes of direct sunlight to even approach our minimum requirements. But before you go thinking that a few trips back and forth to your car will do the trick, keep in mind that this minimum exposure time will generally be higher for those of us who live in cities and areas where pollution, cloud cover and other obstructions can block the vast majority of the sun’s UV rays.

If you’re getting out and exercising in the sun each day, you’re taking a big step towards meeting your daily Vitamin D requirement in addition to all the other health benefits that regular exercise offers. But, the sad truth is that a lot of us live in situations and areas where our exposure to sun is limited. Our access to sunshine can be affected and compromised by everything from latitude to climate to pollution to even our work schedules. In some cases, physical characteristics like old age, darker skin tones or very young breast-feeding infants have more difficulty getting enough Vitamin D as well. Because of any combination of these and other factors, some of us Kind Lifers might not get as much Vitamin D as we should. If you think this might be the case with you, it’s easy to have your doctor give you a simple blood test that can screen you for any vitamin and mineral deficiencies, including Vitamin D.

The point is, each of us has different individual needs. For me, a plant-based diet and healthy lifestyle fulfills most of the nutritional requirements that others might use vitamin supplements to meet.  Most people should get about 1,000 – 2,000 IU of Vitamin D per day, but, if you belong to one of the more potentially Vitamin D-deficient groups mentioned above, you may benefit from taking supplements.

As always, it’s best to figure out your personal supplemental dosage in consultation with your doctor, based on your specific deficiency levels. Or you can skip the blood test and take a small dosage of Vitamin D if you think you might need it, since excess Vitamin D is not likely to do much harm other than making your liver work a little harder than necessary. If you do take supplements, my sources tell me that the plant-based supplement D-2 is far more preferable and just as effective as D-3 which is not vegan.

How do you guys get your vitamin D? Do you have any favorite vitamin D-rich kind foods? 

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There's a lot of substitutes available like special lamps and pills, but I'm better say right now that personally I really believe it's a extremely good practice to do everything possible to avoid spending more than a few days without sunshine...

After just getting a full blood work-up to go with my physical, my Dr. told me I was at the low end, almost vitamin D deficient!!? I take a multi-vitamin daily and add D suppliments so I was surprised. She explained that most people  (like me) take it all at once and forget about it. Vitamin D should be taken in smaller amounts throughout the day totaling no more than 2000mg. The body does not absorb it all at once so it must be received in smaller doses best with meals for it to be absorbed. Now I've switched to 400 mg. chewables (flavored and yummy) that I take thru the day. I get plenty of sun being outdoors as part of my job, so this, as everything in life, is a reminder to stay mindfully in the moment always!

The more melanin you have in your skin (the darker you are) the less likely you will be to absorp it from the sun. I found this out the hard way. I thought I was getting plenty out in the morning sun every day. But I was racked with terrible fatigue for a couple of years. When I had my blood tested I was extremely low in D3. I started supplementing with Vitamin Code's D3 capsules and Natural Source's drops - 10,000mg/day (both vegan) and it changed my life. I've never experienced such a drastic change in my energy levels before! No more naps (seldom anyway) and way more sustainable energy.  I am now just taking the daily recommended dose for maintenance. I am in my 40s, so perhaps this has something to do with it. But I am grateful I found out the cause and the easy solution!

  • Mr.S
  • Jan 28, 2012
  • 27

Mrs. Fletcher, I can't comment on any offical research on the matter of Vitamin D absorption, however I can write about my own experience. Two year ago I started losing the hair on my chin. I was misdiagnosed with Alopecia Barbae, and was given cortisone injections. The shots didn't help, in fact the patch got bigger. Finally my doctor had some blood draw and it came back that I was Vitamin D deficient. I was given 50,000 IU of vitamin D a week (gelcap form). Soon after my patch grew hair and my Vitamin D levels returned to normal. I asked my doctor if I could get the same results if I spent more time outside, he claimed the time I'd have to spend outside to get the levels of Vitamin D my body needed was very unrealistic.

Vitashine and  Nature's Plus both make vegan vitamin D3 now.  You can find them at vegan essentials.

My wife and I live in northern Idaho at the moment.  We buy liquid vitamin D from the natural food store in town during the long, cold, gray, snowy winter months.  Even today the lack of sun was just a dampening of spirits sort of deal.  My wife was born in Port Hueneme (hope I spelled that correctly), but her family moved west of the Seattle area on the kitsap peninsula when she was 6.  To this day she still misses it down there and always misses the sun and revels in it when it does show its orange/yellow self in the blue sky.  A few years ago we took a vacation to visit her home town and she showed me where she used to live.  We were there for a week and had to extend our vacation because I couldn't get her to leave! :)  What does she miss most about southern CA?  The sun, that is what she loves and not only is the vitamin D a must for the body, but the sun improves ones mood as well.  I compare living in cloud covered areas to that of living in a cave.  We eat as vegan/vegetarian as we can and even with all the nutrients it provides along with the liquid vitamin D supplement, often times it just isn't enough to combat the dreary dark days of winter. 

This is a great thread and thank very much Alicia for starting it!

Craig

For some good research on the benifits, mechanics, dosages, and studies: Steve Gibson has done quite a bit of work and you can read his article.

http://www.grc.com/health/vitamin-d.htm

I have always been told that Vitamin D also needs Calcium to be properly absorbed in the body. I see a naturalist for all my vitamin/supplement needs. There are also studies out there showing that higher doses of vitamin D can prevent the flu, since it is so great for the immune system. When I was pregnant, I took that advice...I was pregnant right smack dab in the middle of the whole swine flu scare thing. I didn't want to get the vaccine...and I didn't want to get a flu shot either. After all, my body is already working so hard growing a life, why tax it more? So, I decided on boosting my immune system naturally...with added vitamin d, calcium (with magnesium and zinc), and vitamin c. I didn't take crazy dose amounts, just a bit extra. I went wherever I wanted, even ended up in the mall where they were giving the live flu nasal spray (where pregnant women are NOT supposed to be near), and I never got sick at all! I am not one of these people that sanitizes the shopping cart when I go into Walmart, or anything like that. So, I think A LOT can be said about vitamin D!

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