Vitamin D

klkelley

I wish there was a way to track the Vitamin D in nutrition. I need to keep up with mine to adjust how much I have to take in supplement form.

jahnlaw

It seems that the American diet is not enough. My doc says 15 minutes of sun every day or I need to suppplement no matter how healthy my diet is. I keep tack by taking 2 vitamin D 5000 tablets every day except in the summer.

klkelley

Thanks jahnlaw. I always seem to be lacking in the vitamin D department. My doctor keeps stressing the importance and I do take supplements. I just wish it was as easy to track, as everything else on fitness pal.

snookeroo

I would really like to be able to track ALL vitamins and minerals on MFP. I think it would be a great addition to this site.

jahnlaw

If it helps...I read in a medical journal that it is very very difficult to take vit d so much that it causes harm. Still, I keep it at 2 a day. Btw, last year I avoided all illnesses that were going around. I praise the vit d and freq hand washing.

Buccinator

I had some trouble with vitamin D also. I took prescription vitamin D and huge doses of it to boost me up to where I need to be and even then I was only up to 16. I finally got up to 26. They prefer levels to be at 30-60. Low vitamin D can do all sorts of bad stuff to you, but I was already really, really sick, so I have no way of knowing what was from low vitamin D and what was from my two autoimmune disease. I'm doing fine on my levels of D now but I take one tablet that contains 500 mg of calcium and 400 IU of vitamin D plus I also get some vitamin D (800 IU) from my multivitamin that I take.

And I also agree that sun is the best way to get your vitamin D. That's what the doctors told me. They still want me to take the giant tablets though!

jessmomof3

I was very low in Vit D last winter. My Dr. recommended a supplement w/ 2000mg a day and that was on top of my multivitamin! I'm up 20 points since then, and he was very happy with that. I get plenty of sun, but during the winter it is harder to get the full exposure that you need (at least here in cold IL!!).

tacticalhippie

with vitamin d, you want to make sure you're taking d-3 in supplement form.
as far as the sunlight:
if you're tanned or "ethinc" (basically if you have any pigmentation), wear sunscreen/block, lotions or cosmetics you aren't absorbing at as well as you should be.

also,
if you live north of atlanta then you need to supplement, especially in the fall and winter.