Has Your Health Been Harmed by Having Low Levels of Vitamin D in Your Body?
”A Statistical Error in the Estimation of the Recommended Dietary Intake (RDI) for Vitamin D” was published in the Nutrients journal in 2014. The authors pointed out that the Institute of Medicine (IOM) miscalculated the RDI for Vitamin D, 30+ years ago, due to a math error. The IOM’s recommended RDI is actually 10-15x lower than it should be. This error had had grave health consequences.
In January of 2016, the IOM admitted that the RDI had been established based solely on its role in skeletal health. And that Vit D is now considered a “shortfall” nutrient- meaning people who live in the USA are deficient- in fact, close to 98% of us. Canadians have followed the recommendation of the IOM over the years and they are now dealing with an epidemic of rickets and osteomalacia. Both conditions result in soft bones and are due to vitamin D deficiency that leads to calcium deficiency. Rickets leads to bone deformity and growth issues in children and teens. Osteomalacia causes bone pain and tenderness.
Vitamin D’s importance has largely been overlooked, probably because of the title “vitamin”. It received this moniker in the early part of the 1900s when scientists figured out how to synthesize it from ergot rot. What they didn’t realize at the time was that this “Vitamin” was actually a prohormone that changes into a steroid hormone that plays many vital roles in the body: absorption of calcium for strong bones, heart health, improved mood, lowered cancer risk, weight loss. It increases vitality, stamina, & energy. It supports brain function, your immune system, enhances sleep, and helps reduce inflammation. It reduces the risk for Alzheimer’s & dementia. It helps balance reproductive hormones reducing PMS, and menopause symptoms. The list goes on. Not your average “Vitamin”.
Vitamin D is so important that your body makes it by itself. But it requires skin exposure to sufficient sunlight to do so. This is a problem for people in northern climates. In the U.S., only the people who live south of a line drawn from Los Angeles to Columbia, S.C. (latitudes below 34 degrees N), may possibly get enough sunlight exposure for vitamin D production. Everyone else needs to get Vitamin D from supplementation. The Portland metro area is 45 degrees north.
Dark and olive-toned skin colors absorb less sunlight, so people with dark skin do not get as much vitamin D from the same sun exposure as do light-skinned people. An estimated 42% of people are deficient in Vit D, though the Institute of Medicine has estimated as high as 98%. Dark pigmentation in the skin can reduce Vitamin D production the skin by over 90%.
Measuring your Vitamin D levels is done with a simple blood test. Most labs measure the results in a range of 0-100 ng/ml. The lowest range of normal is 30-32 ng/ml. Many of our patients, who have not supplemented and have limited or no exposure to sunlight, often have test results well below normal. After years of reading Vit D research from around the world, we recommend our patients aim to get their Vit D level between 60-90 ng/ml for optimal health benefit. Call today for your appointment to get tested and find out more ways this humble hormone can save your life.
