Heather Bedard, C.H.E.
Let’s begin with a news flash…vitamin D is NOT a vitamin; it is a hormone. Not only is it a hormone, it is a type of steroid hormone. I will continue to call it vitamin D so we all know what I’m talking about, but please, please keep this fact in mind especially when you are deciding to supplement vitamin D or take multi-vitamins that include vitamin D. This hormone is produced in the skin from exposure to sunlight and then converting a form of cholesterol to vitamin D. Then, in turn, your body converts that to other forms of vitamin D such as active and inactive forms. So technically, the sun doesn’t give you vitamin D, it gives you the resources to make it.
Vitamin D is vital in regulating calcium and phosphorus which are both essential to bone health. One of the best things that you can consider for your bone health, is to stop taking calcium supplements and get outside in the sun! Vitamin D also plays an integral part in immune function and controlling glucose metabolism. Many people do not understand that this hormone is immunosuppressive meaning that it suppresses your immune system. This is one of the reasons that you feel better in the summer and get sick less often. When winter comes around, the truth of your eating habits often catches up to you and your body begins to detox!
The amount of vitamin D that you make, and how long it takes to make that amount, is greatly affected by what you are wearing, your weight, where in the world you are, and your skin color. For most lighter skinned people, you can spend 30 minutes in the sun, in a bathing suit and release up to 50,000 IU’s of vitamin D in your circulation within 24hrs. If you are already tan, the same exposure will yield 20,000-30,000 IU’s, and about 8,000-10,000 IU’s in darker skinned individuals.[1]
Many people think that darker skinned individuals require even more sun exposure to make the same levels of vitamin D as their lighter-skinned counterparts. However, they also have a DNA variant of the vitamin DBP which makes vitamin D more bioavailable, which in turn counteracts the lower synthesis of vitamin D.[2] So fascinating!
You’ll probably hear from both mainstream doctors and natural medicine doctors as well that most people are deficient in vitamin D. This however is rare and there are a lot of variables that go into this. In this article, I am going to give you a few points to consider and then follow up with more specific articles in our library.
1. Reference ranges for vitamin D were changed about 10 years ago increasing the amount of people diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency.[3]
2. Labs vary on what type of vitamin D they test for as well as the reference ranges they use.[4]
3. When looking at vitamin D status, observational studies show that people who have a lot of health issues typically have lower vitamin D levels. Interestingly enough, intervention studies (when they give the participants vitamin D supplements) do not show that the supplements improve health. The researchers state that lower vitamin D levels are a result of disease, not the cause of it.[5]
4. Vitamin D is a steroid hormone, not great in either high or low amounts
5. Vitamin D is immunosuppressive – meaning you may feel better for a time while taking it, but it is not treating your disease and most likely making it far worse.
6. According to UW Health, “Currently, there are no consensus guidelines for targeting plasma 25-hydroxy vitamin D concentrations and no studies addressing the outcomes of long-term vitamin D supplementation in general populations.”[6]
7. Vitamin D supplements are not the same as the vitamin D that your body makes from the sun[7]
8. Due to vitamin D half-life, these hormones may not require daily, weekly, or monthly replenishment…your body will store it through the summer for use in winter[8]
9. And the list goes on…
Your body NEEDS the sun. Nothing is a replacement for what the sun can do for you. Vitamin D is made from the sun and supplements are NOT the same as what you will be getting in the hormone from the sun. You can best support your body by allowing it to make the hormones it needs by getting in the sun for 20-30 minutes every day and not being sucked into the supplement trap.
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[1] Mead MN. Benefits of sunlight: a bright spot for human health [published correction appears in Environ Health Perspect. 2008 May;116(5):A197]. Environ Health Perspect. 2008;116(4):A160-A167. doi:10.1289/ehp.116-a160 [2] Sinotte M, Diorio C, Bérubé S, Pollak M, Brisson J. Genetic polymorphisms of the vitamin D binding protein and plasma concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in premenopausal women.Am J Clin Nutr. 2009; 89:634–640. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.2008.26445 [3] https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/vitamin-d-whats-right-level-2016121910893 [4] Hyun-Jeong K, Misuk J, Junghan S et al. “Clinical Utility of Vitamin D-Binding Protein and Calculation of Bioavailable Vitamin D in Assessment of Vitamin D Status.” Ann Lab Med 2017 Jan;37(1):34-38 [5] Autier P, Boniol M, Pizot C, Mullie P et al. “Vitamin D status and ill health: a systematic review.” Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol 2014 Jan;2(1):76-89 [6] https://testguide.labmed.uw.edu/view/VITDG2?tabs=no [7] “The vitamin D questions: how much do you need and how should you get it?” J Am Acad Dermatol. 2006 Feb;54(2):301-17 [8] https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.118.311585Circulation Research. 2018;122:1576–1585