Vitamin D
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sampriso
Posts: 3 Member
Hi There I have just been diagnosed with Low Vitamin D levels and have been given tablets by the doctor, can anyone recommend anything to boost Vitamin D levels that will also help me get my wight under control to as it seems to have crept up over the last few months even though I haven't been doing much differently.
Thanks
Sam
Thanks
Sam
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Replies
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Exposure to the sun for 20 minutes a day.
But it won't do anything to help you lose weight.0 -
Vitamin D does not cause weight gain in itself but the resulting lack of energy can cause your weight to gain as you could be eating the same but with less activity. 20 minutes of sun a day as the above poster said and take the supplements the doctor gave you. Along with setting reasonable weightloss goals and calorie limits and accurately counting calories and you'll lose weight
Good luck0 -
As a person with low vitamin D since long time, and tons of hours researching about my deficiencies I can tell you a few things that, if you don't want to believe me, you can just Google and check them out yourself.
- Supplements: Do not ever, ever get any vitamin D2, is useless, not absorbed, so many companies add it to foods like milk alternatives, is synthetic. Always go for D3 but read labels as many companies add tons of unnecessary crap.
- Dosage: My doctor recommended to me 600iu vitamin D3 pills when I had the results, this is a perfect example of how useless and dangerous the majority of doctors are, recent research shows that the bare minimum for keeping vitamin D levels is about 4000-5000iu per day, so with a deficiency, more should be taken. But don't make the mistake of getting a huge dosage at once, I take 3 2500iu pills a day with 3 meals.
- Fat and cholesterol intake, vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, so if your fat intake is low, you will basically pee your vitamin D, your body CAN'T absorb fat soluble vitamins with low fat. If you do not consume cholesterol, your body will be useless converting vitamin D from the sun because the process of creating vitamin D from sun involves using the cholesterol in the skin.
Those are the three more common issues, there are more things, like nutrients or elements that can interfere with this vitamin absorption, and, of course, cortisol, cortisol is an steroid, so vitamin D is, in the presence of high cortisol levels, chronically, you will be vitamin D deficient as the steroid receptors will be "blocked" by so much cortisol.
The best source of vitamin D is, as somebody said, the sun, if you don't have the chance to get enough, supplement, and eat foods that contain it.
Lastly, vitamin F is a vitamin that helps with the vitamin D management, you need to make sure that your intake is this vitamin is in check, otherwise you will get sick more often.0 -
Thanks ^0
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Thank you all for your help for some reason I didnt get any notifications of anyones replies so I just wanted to say I wasnt being rude just hadnt seen them. Thank you for the advise I love the sun and as long as its not raining I'm always out and about in it so am unsure why my levels are low doctors are still working on that one! Just seem to be banging my head against a wall at the moment as before all this started my weight was going down nicely and was very positive about it all but since september its creeping up. I will keep goign and hopefully it will start going my way again soon! Thanks again x0
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Sunlight is great if you are able to get enough, but depending on where you live, that could be difficult. Your best bet is to supplement D3. I take a 1000iu tablet and plus however much is in my multivitamin. But if you are trying to play catch-up with levels, you may want quite a bit more than that for a while.0
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I live in the pacific northwest.. I do not know of this Vitamin D you speak of.0
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You can also get special lamps to sit under for 20 min a day. They help with SAD.0
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I take 5,000iud per day due to deficiency.
Also make sure you're getting enough fat in your diet.
"Vitamins are classified as either fat soluble (vitamins A, D, E and K) or water soluble (vitamins B and C). This difference between the two groups is very important. It determines how each vitamin acts within the body.
The fat soluble vitamins are soluble in lipids (fats). These vitamins are usually absorbed in fat globules (called chylomicrons) that travel through the lymphatic system of the small intestines and into the general blood circulation within the body. These fat soluble vitamins, especially vitamins A and E, are then stored in body tissues.
Fat soluble vitamins, once they have been stored in tissues in the body, tend to remain there. This means that if a person takes in too much of a fat soluble vitamin, over time they can have too much of that vitamin present in their body, a potentially dangerous condition called hypervitaminosis (literally, too much vitamin in the body).
Persons can be also be deficient in the fat soluble vitamins if their fat intake is too low or if their fat absorption is compromised, for example, by certain drugs (that interfere with the absorption of fat from the intestine) or by certain diseases such as cystic fibrosis (in which there is a deficiency of enzymes from the pancreas which similarly interferes with the absorption of fat from the intestine)."
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rainbowbow wrote: »I take 5,000iud per day due to deficiency.
Me too. I take it in the morning with my multi.0 -
Chief_Rocka wrote: »Exposure to the sun for 20 minutes a day.
But it won't do anything to help you lose weight.
It will if you walk or run or swim in the sun for those 20 minutes
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Bingo. I moved my moisturizer/sunscreen to work at my doctor's suggestion about 7 years ago. I ride or walk to work every day. My D has stayed up since I took the mega doses back then.Chief_Rocka wrote: »Exposure to the sun for 20 minutes a day.
But it won't do anything to help you lose weight.
It will if you walk or run or swim in the sun for those 20 minutes
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rainbowbow wrote: »I take 5,000iud per day due to deficiency.
Also make sure you're getting enough fat in your diet.
This may be overthinking it, but do you need to have fat at the same time you are taking the vitamin, or is it more random that that? I eat around 60 g of fat in a day (30% of my total). Since I live in the frozen north, I take D3 in the winter but get enough sun in the summer to not need it. My breakfast since I have started losing is either a slice of whole grain toast with a tsp of butter, or a bowl of oatmeal. The toast and butter (with half and half in my coffee) is 9 g of fat and the oatmeal and coffee is 6 g.
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rainbowbow wrote: »I take 5,000iud per day due to deficiency.
Also make sure you're getting enough fat in your diet.
This may be overthinking it, but do you need to have fat at the same time you are taking the vitamin, or is it more random that that? I eat around 60 g of fat in a day (30% of my total). Since I live in the frozen north, I take D3 in the winter but get enough sun in the summer to not need it. My breakfast since I have started losing is either a slice of whole grain toast with a tsp of butter, or a bowl of oatmeal. The toast and butter (with half and half in my coffee) is 9 g of fat and the oatmeal and coffee is 6 g.
Not necessarily at the same time as food But you need to be eating some fat in your diet.
http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/food-nutrition/vitamin-supplements/fat-absorb-vitamins.htm
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This may be overthinking it, but do you need to have fat at the same time you are taking the vitamin, or is it more random that that? I eat around 60 g of fat in a day (30% of my total). Since I live in the frozen north, I take D3 in the winter but get enough sun in the summer to not need it. My breakfast since I have started losing is either a slice of whole grain toast with a tsp of butter, or a bowl of oatmeal. The toast and butter (with half and half in my coffee) is 9 g of fat and the oatmeal and coffee is 6 g.
As @Scarecrowsama explained you need fat to absorb the vitamin. You have two extra alternatives living in cold climates.
One is using a safe tanning bed, yes, there are, it all depend of the type of energy (must be electric not magnetic) and the bulbs (must have like 90/10 ratio) UVA/UVB. The other is to get "emulsified vitamin d" which is in the form that your body needs to create the final product and does not require fat, it is often used by people with fat mal-absorption.
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Take your supplements. If the doctor advises sunshine minutes sunscreen, do that.
If you can keep your levels up without risking skin cancer, that's best. Not everyone can.0 -
Can I just say it is so nice to have people here recommend eating fat?!! I get so tired of hearing people at work and online talk about dieting and "cutting out fat" and it is so necessary for important body processes. Of course there are healthier fats and healthier quantities...but still. I do enjoy the balanced, healthful perspective on MFP.
And, for what it's worth, I live in Bakersfield, CA, USA (sun, sun, and more sun) but I was severely deficient in Vit D and will have to supplement with an rx forever. I feel SO MUCH BETTER now. I just don't make/store it properly no matter the sunshine. So, no matter where you live or how much sun you get, at your next physical ask the doctor to check it.0 -
rainbowbow wrote: »I take 5,000iud per day due to deficiency.
Also make sure you're getting enough fat in your diet.
This may be overthinking it, but do you need to have fat at the same time you are taking the vitamin, or is it more random that that? I eat around 60 g of fat in a day (30% of my total). Since I live in the frozen north, I take D3 in the winter but get enough sun in the summer to not need it. My breakfast since I have started losing is either a slice of whole grain toast with a tsp of butter, or a bowl of oatmeal. The toast and butter (with half and half in my coffee) is 9 g of fat and the oatmeal and coffee is 6 g.
Not necessarily at the same time as food But you need to be eating some fat in your diet.
http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/food-nutrition/vitamin-supplements/fat-absorb-vitamins.htm
Thanks for that link. I guess I am eating enough fat close to the time I take my D so I won't worry about it.
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cheryllovestoread wrote: »Can I just say it is so nice to have people here recommend eating fat?!! I get so tired of hearing people at work and online talk about dieting and "cutting out fat" and it is so necessary for important body processes. Of course there are healthier fats and healthier quantities...but still. I do enjoy the balanced, healthful perspective on MFP.
And, for what it's worth, I live in Bakersfield, CA, USA (sun, sun, and more sun) but I was severely deficient in Vit D and will have to supplement with an rx forever. I feel SO MUCH BETTER now. I just don't make/store it properly no matter the sunshine. So, no matter where you live or how much sun you get, at your next physical ask the doctor to check it.
They are FAT-soluble vitamins, how on earth are you going to get them otherwise. Try to find a non-animal source of vitamin D, good luck with that. Mother nature is smart.
There is pretty much almost no limit in healthy fats to eat, some African and modern hunter-gatherers that still remain out there eat diets in the range of 70-90% fat (mostly saturated) and they have no heart disease, obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome or any crack and they also show perfect bone structure.
There are so many factors that can cause vitamin d deficiency even with great sunshine exposure. Probably the number one is high stress levels with both deplete and compete with vitamin D, low cholesterol diets, fat malabsorption...0
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