Live Healthier and Perform Better with More Vitamin D
By CFP Coach Judah Boulet
85% to 95% of the population is deficient in Vitamin D which is essential for optimal health and athletic performance (Arch Intern Med.2007; 167: 1709-1710). The main reason we are deficient is because we do not get enough sunlight by wearing clothes and living inside most of our lives. Alternatively to sunbathing, a Vitamin D supplement has proven to work just as well.
How much sun do I need?
For most fair skinned people like me, 20 minutes of full body sun exposure a day would get me a nice healthy dose of Vitamin D. However, no one wants to see that. Darker skinned individuals are even more Vitamin D deficient and need even longer sun exposure, at least 3-6 times as much. Partial body exposure would require longer sun exposure for the exposed parts.
Where do we get vitamin D from currently?
Through our diets we can get it from fish or fortified dairy; however, the amounts in those food sources do not adequately fulfill our needs. We can also absorb vitamin D from being outside in the sun. However, most of us work indoors, and when we do go outside for extended times, we lather up in sunscreen protecting us from the UVB rays which make vitamin D in our bodies. So, as you can see we are all Vitamin D deficient.
Why does it matter?
- Vitamin D is essential for optimal athletic performance, the Russians figured this out in the 50’s and 60’s
- Vitamin D has a positive affect on body fat mass and insulin sensitivity
- Vitamin D is necessary for strong bones. There are also some studies which link it to decrease osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and decreased fractures in post-menopausal women.
- Vitamin D improves the immune system. Studies have shown that people with Vitamin D deficiency are more likely to get upper respiratory infections, especially viral infections like influenza and the common cold.
- Vitamin D is associated with the decreased risk of at least 15 different types of cancers such as colorectal, breast, ovarian, and pancreatic. The reason is most likely from the above immune system modulation.
- Vitamin D is found to decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease. Why? First off, Vitamin D is synthesized from cholesterol. If you are Vitamin D deficient, your body will make more cholesterol to try to increase the Vitamin D levels. This causes LDL levels to rise (it carries cholesterol to the skin) and HDL levels to decrease, because the cholesterol does not need to be removed from the skin and other tissues, while it is there trying to be converted to Vitamin D.
- Vitamin D improves mental health. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to depression and seasonal affective disorder
- Anecdotal evidence that it enhances quality of sleep.
- Vitamin D decreases silent inflammation within the vasculature
What can I do?
So, you are probably deficient. Optimally, you can ask your doctor for a blood test to determine your current vitamin D levels. However, outside of walking around naked 365 days a year for 20-30 minutes a day, you can take a supplement. There have been recommendations that you take 10,000 IU’s a day for 4-5 weeks to increase your bodies levels, and after that loading phase, decrease to 5000 IU’s a day. If you want to be on the safe side, supplement with 2000 IU’s a day. Along with this you want to make sure your diet is providing 1000 mg of calcium and 400 mg of Magnesium a day. It is very difficult to overdose on Vitamin D. Studies have been done with patients taking 10,000 IU’s a day for 6 months without any toxicity issues.
On a personal note, I started taking Vitamin D on June 28 this year. I started with 10,000 IU’s a day for two weeks, and have since cut it down to 6000 IU’s per day. I have felt entirely different and have noticed improvements in mental status, sleep, and performance.
Note: Supplementation with Vitamin D was something I was unaware of the importance of until I took the new CrossFit Nutrition certification. A registered dietician, Jeremy Mullins, ran the certification, and stressed the importance of this supplement. Since coming back I have researched its importance. By going to http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed and typing in Vitamin D and any topic of interest I mentioned above, you will be referenced to an abundance of scientific literature.
Contact Judah Boulet with any questions or come to our Nutrition Workshop on September 11, 2010 from 11am to 12:30pm.
CFP is extremely selective about promoting supplements. If you would like to order Vitamin D online, we suggest using Paleotrition: http://www.paleotrition.com/Vitamin_D_p/vds060.htm
For 10% off all Paleotrition products enter the following code: m29t
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4 Responses to “Live Healthier and Perform Better with More Vitamin D”
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How can you tell your vitamin deficiency symptoms are not caused by something more serious?
Consider this the low hanging fruit on the tree Jen, something that most of us are deficient in, and something we can correct through supplementation. Corrections like this, fish oil supplementation, and implementing a Paleo sytle of eating can have a huge positive impact on vitamin deficiency and your overall health. If after implementation of these steps, your deficiencies continue, then I agree it would be the time to look into it further.
Vitamin D is not something you can get from diet alone though, you need direct sunlight. If you do not get adequate sunlight, 365 days a year, 20 minutes full body, you should take a Vit D3 supplement (5000 IUs a day)
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