Participants: George Guthrie, Don Mackintosh
Series Code: HFAL
Program Code: HFAL000130
00:47 Welcome to "Health for a Lifetime"
00:48 I'm your host Don Mackintosh 00:49 Today, we're going to be talking about a very interesting subject 00:53 Something we haven't talked about before on this program. 00:56 Vitamin D 00:58 And here talking with us about vitamin D will be 01:00 Dr. George Guthrie 01:02 Dr. Guthrie... you're a physician at the 01:04 "Lifestyle Center of America" in Oklahoma, 01:06 isn't that right? That's correct! 01:07 You also were in family practice. 01:09 How many years were you involved in family practice medicine? 01:11 Oh, about 14 years. 01:13 And you've been a professor at Loma Linda; 01:15 you've taught about health, 01:16 and you're a nutritionist. Yes 01:19 Also, I think you're a carpenter aren't you? 01:20 Many different things... 01:22 We're glad you're with us today, doctor. 01:24 We're going to talk about vitamin D... Yes 01:26 What IS vitamin D? 01:28 First, vitamin D is not a vitamin. 01:30 Well then why do we call it vitamin D? 01:32 Well that's kind of how the history came to us. 01:36 But vitamin D is actually a hormone. 01:38 You ARE Dr. Guthrie, aren't you? That's correct! 01:40 But vitamin D is not vitamin D, it's a hormone. 01:42 Vitamin D is made in the skin when sunlight hits the skin 01:46 And vitamin D is actually created in the skin 01:49 from cholesterol. 01:51 So the radiation from the sun hits the cholesterol in the skin 01:56 and it changes the cholesterol actually by breaking 02:00 1 of its 4 rings into a pre-vitamin D 02:04 So one way to lower cholesterol that kills us, 02:08 is to go out in the sun. 02:09 Well, you know, I've thought of that, 02:11 but I've never seen any documentation that it 02:13 works directly that way. 02:15 The amount of cholesterol used, 02:17 I'm sure is small compared to the total in our body. 02:20 But, it's a good thought! Okay! 02:23 So, vitamin D, what does it do in our bodies? 02:26 You say it's a hormone, but what does it do in our body? 02:28 For years, we focused on vitamin D's effect on 02:32 the calcium balance in our body. 02:34 You see, our body needs to have a calcium level 02:37 in the blood very carefully balanced. 02:39 If it gets out of balance, 02:41 all kinds of funny things can happen; 02:44 nerves start firing when they're not supposed to, 02:46 heart gets irregular. 02:48 The calcium level in the blood needs to be kept stable, 02:52 and vitamin D is an important part of a complex of several 02:57 hormones that actually manages that calcium level. 03:01 So vitamin D is in charge of the calcium. 03:03 That is one of its important jobs. 03:06 And if it doesn't do that, then the body gets all upset. 03:09 What can happen if the body gets upset? 03:11 What kind of things happen? 03:12 Well, tingling around the mouth, 03:15 carpopedal spasm... Which is like your hands... Yeah 03:19 Muscles go into spasm. 03:21 The heart can beat irregularly. 03:22 This is with calcium out of whack. 03:24 With calcium out of whack. 03:26 Okay, so someone watching today that has that happening... 03:29 What should they go? 03:31 Get out in the sun IMMEDIATELY! 03:32 Turn off the TV... you watch too much 3ABN, right? 03:35 I don't think that's possible to do. 03:37 So what kind of diseases then 03:40 are associated with low vitamin D? 03:42 Let's wait to pick up the other side of the other job 03:47 because it's relatively new in our understanding 03:50 So it monitors calcium but another thing. 03:51 It helps to balance the calcium, 03:53 but there's another important job that it does, 03:55 and that job has to do with something called, 03:58 "terminal differentiation" 04:00 Boy, that sounds like something 04:01 we want to do at the end of the program! Yes 04:05 Let's talk about the word. All right - what does it mean? 04:07 Well when you understand it, it's actually pretty exciting. 04:09 You see, when you were in your mother's stomach, 04:11 you started out as one cell divided in 2... 04:12 I don't remember this. I know, I don't either. 04:14 Divide to 4, 8, 16... somewhere along the line, 04:18 one of those cells was going to turn into a heart. 04:21 And it grows, splits, divides, grows until it finally gets 04:25 to be heart size. 04:27 And when it's heart size, and it's doing its job, 04:30 it is said to be "terminally differentiated. " 04:33 And vitamin D sends that signal, 04:35 or is involved in the sending of that signal? 04:36 It's one of the strongest terminal differentiators we have 04:40 Our body uses that apparently 04:42 for this terminal differentiation process. 04:44 It actually goes into the nucleus of the cells 04:47 to make this modulation. 04:49 In its other form, it works more in the serum, in the fluids 04:54 around the cell, but this one form of it 04:56 that actually goes into the cell. 04:58 So it's vitamin D and "D" stands for DONE! 05:01 That's DONE! Right? 05:03 Okay, the terminal differentiation... 05:06 it's finished, it's done, it has stopped growing. 05:08 Now this becomes even more interesting when you recognize 05:11 that CANCER is the LOSS of terminal differentiation. 05:15 Okay, so it never gets done, it makes a tumor. 05:19 Right... a cancer that loses its control starts to grow 05:23 OUT of control. 05:24 It loses its terminal differentiation and, in essence, 05:27 that is the definition of a tumor or a cancer. 05:29 More about effects of that later, but there are some 05:32 associations with vitamin D deficiency and some cancers. 05:37 Wow, so this is a VERY essential hormone, 05:40 not a vitamin - vitamin D You're learning, Don 05:42 And it's something that we get from having exposure to the sun. 05:48 You're going to talk more about, I think, where we get 05:50 vitamin D at the end of the program, 05:52 but what about some of the things it causes. 05:55 What does it lead to if we don't have terminal differentiation 06:00 or it doesn't get us done 06:01 or calcium imbalance... What can this lead to? 06:06 The first disease process that really brought vitamin D 06:10 The knowledge that brought vitamin D to the surface 06:12 was this disease called "rickets" 06:14 The bones need vitamin D to absorb the calcium, 06:18 and to help with the calcium in the bones. 06:19 If there's not enough vitamin D, the bones are very soft. 06:23 This is very common in children and really became apparent 06:26 during the industrial age. 06:27 Children living in tenements, very narrow streets, 06:32 no sunshine - developed very thin bones. 06:36 They tended to have bow legs; 06:38 rickettsial rosea - if you look at their ribs, 06:41 it has little bumps along the edge of the ribs 06:43 because the body was trying to make bone and couldn't. 06:46 It didn't have the vitamin D. Right 06:48 What else... osteoporosis? Osteoporosis, osteopenia 06:53 Thin bones in adults are also a problem, 06:56 and the whole issue of osteoporosis in older age is 06:59 made worse if vitamin D deficiency is present. 07:03 What else? 07:04 Well, it's been of interest... there is some strong evidence 07:07 that psoriasis - that flaky, silvery-type stuff that comes 07:11 on elbows and knees and scalp, 07:14 may be related to vitamin D deficiency. 07:18 This makes sense if you understand that psoriasis is 07:22 cells that are growing too fast. 07:24 Vitamin D helps with terminal differentiation. 07:27 Some of the new medication they have available; 07:29 some new cream that you actually put on the psoriasis 07:33 to make it go away is simply a vitamin D... 07:35 topical vitamin type of a cream. 07:40 And they could just go outside. Yes 07:43 As-a-matter-of-fact, for years that's the way psoriasis 07:45 was treated. 07:46 I remember in my training, 07:48 visiting a dermatologist's office and seeing a BOX. 07:50 People took their clothes off, they got into the box, 07:53 they turned on these BRIGHT lights that had the right 07:56 radiation and people would get treatment for their psoriasis. 08:00 So I guess in a place like a Scandinavian country 08:04 or Alaska or something, you really need the box, 08:06 but if you're at home, you just go outside. 08:09 The sun is always there. 08:10 And we've known for years that the sun helps that as well. 08:12 Now one of the things you said is it causes hyperparathyroidism 08:16 Okay... And then what does that mean? 08:18 Oh MAN!... I mean, "hyper" I know what that is. 08:20 Hyper is high. 08:21 Parathyroid hormone is another one of the hormones 08:23 involved with the calcium balance. 08:26 Vitamin D and parathyroid hormone work together, 08:28 along with some other things, to BALANCE the calcium. 08:32 That's up here somewhere? Yes 08:33 It sits in the thyroid gland, little nubbins in there. 08:37 So when that thing gets big and overactive... 08:38 If you don't have enough vitamin D, 08:40 instead of being able to get the calcium from the food you eat, 08:44 your body has to turn to taking it from the bones, 08:47 and the parathyroid hormone tries to get it out of the bones 08:50 So if that goes up, it causes all kinds of problems. 08:53 The calcium gets out of balance a little bit; 08:54 the bones tend to get thin... 08:56 I've got a list here... Okay 08:58 Hyperparathyroidism - when there is not enough vitamin D, 09:02 thirst, urinating a lot, ulcers, pancreatitis, 09:06 constipation, vomiting... 09:08 Boy, that doesn't sound like a good list. Not good! 09:10 Fractures, joint and muscle pains, gout, calcifications, 09:14 fatigue, apathy, anxiety, depression, coma, 09:17 hypertension and other heart difficulties. 09:19 All these different things because it's trying to 09:21 get what it needs from the body. Exactly! 09:24 In other words, it needs the vitamin D from the sun; 09:26 it's not getting it; it's not being turned into it. 09:28 So it says, "I'll take a little here," 09:29 and then it just messes up everything. 09:31 It messes up the system, and the strange thing is 09:33 this is a hard disease for doctors to diagnose. 09:36 You heard as I read that list, 09:38 those are symptoms from a BUNCH of different diseases. 09:40 Yeah because if someone is thirsty and they're going 09:42 to the bathroom a lot, you might think they're a diabetic. 09:45 Right! Tired, fatigue - maybe your thyroid is a little low. 09:47 It tends to masquerade at at a lot of things. 09:50 One of the things I was taught in medical school was 09:52 "If you don't think of it, you'll never diagnose it!" 09:54 And try to keep this one up in the front because it happens, 09:58 and much more frequently it appears than what we had thought 10:03 So vitamin D... put it on the radar screen! 10:06 PUT IT ON YOUR RADAR SCREEN! 10:07 And if someone is sitting here in front of the cameras 10:09 like we've been doing for this program, 10:11 and maybe some people do this all day, 10:13 I don't know - around here. 10:14 Could they be in danger of not getting enough vitamin D? 10:17 You can't get vitamin D from these lights here, can you? 10:20 Your body will make vitamin D from anything that 10:23 can cause sunburn. Ohhhhh 10:27 So if these lights are so bright they actually 10:29 cause sunburn, you're probably okay. 10:31 That would mean that people who went to tanning booths 10:33 could actually make a little vitamin D, right? 10:35 That would mean that when you 10:37 went out in the sun, you could make vitamin D. 10:39 Yeah, I think I know what we're going to do on the break though 10:42 as soon as we get through with this program, 10:43 I think we should go out in the sun. 10:45 Now on your list here, it says "diabetes type 1" 10:49 Yes, the vitamin D deficiency is associated with 10:53 type 1 diabetes but it's probably not a cause. 10:56 It probably works by helping the immune system 11:00 keep in balance, so it doesn't get confused. 11:02 Type 1 diabetes is what we call an "autoimmune disease" 11:05 where the body turns around and fights itself. 11:08 And so, if it's fighting the beta cells in the pancreas, 11:12 it's doing the wrong thing. 11:13 Vitamin D tends to help the immune system stay in balance. 11:16 That's probably the association. 11:18 They always talk about the three big C's 11:19 Cardiac, Cerebrovascular - in other words stroke, and Cancer. 11:25 You've also suggested here that there are studies 11:27 that show that vitamin D deficiency is related to 11:30 certain types of cancer. Exactly! 11:32 A very interesting study done by "Garland," 11:36 reported in the literature several years ago, 11:39 looked at several thousand people, 11:42 over a period of 7 or 8 years, 11:44 looked at their rate of COLON cancer, 11:47 and tried to predict or see what happened in relationship 11:51 to their vitamin D levels. 11:53 And in essence, there was an 80% reduction 11:57 in the colon cancer rate of people who had 12:00 high levels of vitamin D versus those who had 12:02 low vitamin D levels. 12:04 This makes sense and it's kind of an up and coming area of 12:09 study in the scientific community. 12:12 There is a study going on right now in Canada, 12:16 looking at prostate cancer and vitamin D levels; 12:19 ovarian cancer, breast cancer, lymphoma, leukemia. 12:24 These cancers seem to have a vitamin D link. 12:27 Is there any danger from getting too much vitamin D? 12:29 BOY, you sure can! Too much vitamin D 12:32 Vitamin D is one of the toxic vitamins. 12:35 We talked about low vitamin D causing problems with 12:39 pulling calcium out of bones, 12:40 and causing a bunch of symptoms... 12:42 When your vitamin D is too much, 12:44 it starts to pull too much calcium in from the intestines. 12:47 So many of the symptoms are similar. 12:49 They're high calcium levels. 12:51 So the symptoms from high vitamin D levels are similar. 12:54 Let me come back to that, 12:56 but, you know, other things then that are risk factors 13:01 ...those that have low vitamin D, 13:04 multiple sclerosis - you talked about that, how is that related? 13:08 Okay, there was a recent paper in January, 2004 13:15 that reported an association between low vitamin D levels 13:18 and multiple sclerosis in women. 13:21 So we don't know that it is a cause - effect relationship. 13:24 It may be the immune system again, 13:26 but we're finding these associations, 13:28 and I think over the next few years, we're going to find out 13:32 a LOT about the importance of vitamin D. 13:34 We need to go to a break just in a minute, 13:36 but are there certain people that are really at RISK 13:39 for having vitamin D deficiencies, 13:41 in other words - not enough vitamin D? 13:43 Yes there are, we've been actually at 13:45 Lifestyle Center of America, measuring peoples 13:47 vitamin D levels when they come in... 13:49 I am amazed at how many people are actually vitamin D deficient 13:52 And what types of people do you normally see? 13:54 Well, we are seeing generally 13:56 older people but younger people as well. 13:59 People who are more likely to be indoors, for example; 14:02 not out in the sun all that much. 14:05 Babies? 14:06 We don't see babies at Lifestyle Center of America. 14:09 I haven't' looked at the data in detail, 14:13 but it appears to us that around 50% of the people that come 14:17 actually have a vitamin D deficiency. 14:19 It's much more common than we might think. 14:22 And it can really cause problems, 14:23 but there's a solution, right? There IS a solution. 14:26 We're going to talk about that solution when we come back. 14:28 We're talking with Dr. Guthrie about vitamin D. 14:31 You need to join us after the break. 14:33 Have you found yourself wishing 14:35 that you could shed a few pounds? 14:37 Have you been on a diet for most of your life, 14:39 but not found anything that will really keep the weight off? 14:42 If you've answered "yes" to any of these questions, 14:45 then we have a solution for you that works! 14:48 Dr. Hans Diehl and Dr. Aileen Ludington 14:50 have written a marvelous booklet called... 14:53 "Reversing Obesity Naturally" 14:55 and we'd like to send it to you FREE of charge. 14:57 Here's a medically sound approach successfully used 15:00 by thousands who were able to eat more, 15:03 and lose weight permanently without feeling guilty 15:05 or hungry through lifestyle medicine. 15:08 Dr. Diehl and Dr. Ludington have been featured on 3ABN 15:12 and in this booklet, they present a sensible 15:14 approach to eating, nutrition and lifestyle changes 15:17 that could help you prevent heart disease, diabetes, 15:19 and EVEN cancer. 15:21 Call or write today for your free copy of... 15:23 "Reversing Obesity Naturally" 15:25 and you could be on your way to a healthier, happier YOU! 15:28 It's ABSOLUTELY free of charge so call or write today. 15:34 Welcome back, we've been talking with 15:36 Dr. George Guthrie. 15:38 We've been talking about vitamin D, 15:39 and its importance to you and your body. 15:44 And as we've been talking Dr. George Guthrie, 15:46 we've learned some fascinating things. 15:48 Dr. Guthrie, what are the real reasons we need vitamin D? 15:54 Vitamin D has 2 major functions; 15:56 one is to help the body balance the calcium in the blood, 16:00 and the other is this apparent terminal differentiation 16:04 to help cells decide what they're doing and stay there. 16:07 All right, so terminal differentiation - just make sure 16:10 work as long as you're supposed to on that project, 16:12 and then you're DONE with it... 16:14 And then balancing the calcium again - why is that important? 16:17 Because if the calcium gets out of balance, 16:19 the body tends to get thin bones, 16:23 nerves don't act right, heart gets irregular. 16:26 All those diseases you mentioned... That's right 16:29 Well, are there certain people that are at RISK for this? 16:33 I mean, how do you develop this deficiency? 16:37 Since vitamin D is BEST obtained from the sun, 16:42 people who are NOT in the sun, 16:44 or don't get very much sun exposure are at greatest risk. 16:47 A lot of people are surprised to know, for example, 16:50 that sun block with an SPF of 8 16:55 will block something like 98% of the vitamin D 16:59 formed in the skin. 17:00 Well they do that because they don't want to get skin cancer. 17:02 Exactly, and that's been kind of the pull back-and-forth... 17:05 Doctors are saying, "Don't get a sunburn" 17:09 "Don't spend too much time in the sun 17:10 because you'll get skin cancer. " 17:12 At the same time, we also need the vitamin D, 17:15 so it's a tension. 17:16 Maybe the best way to deal with it is to say, 17:19 or to recognize that vitamin D deficiency may 17:25 increase your risk of cancer. 17:27 Too much sun to the point of actually causing a sunBURN 17:31 will INCREASE the risk of cancer, 17:33 so maybe we need to find 17:34 a BALANCE somewhere in-between. 17:36 So put it on an hour after you've been 17:38 outside or something like that? 17:39 Well, the rule is "don't burn" 17:41 and you know, some people have very sensitive skin, 17:45 and in 5 minutes they'll burn. 17:47 So it would be reasonable to NOT put on your sun block 17:50 until you've been out in the sun until it's just pink. 17:53 We call it the "minimal erythema dose" 17:56 The minimal erythema - which means the "pink" 17:59 Just "pink" not burn, 18:01 because when you BURN the energy from the sun 18:06 has actually overpowered the protective mechanism 18:09 of the cholesterol to vitamin D 18:11 and damages the DNA and protein... 18:13 and THAT puts you at risk for the skin cancer. 18:16 What about in an older or younger... 18:19 let's say an older person. 18:21 Older people have a harder time making vitamin D. 18:24 The enzyme in their skin that prepares the cholesterol 18:27 to turn into vitamin D doesn't work as well. 18:30 The numbers that are thrown is 75% of people... No 18:34 Yes, there's a 75% DECREASE in function of that enzyme 18:38 by the time people are 70 years of age. 18:41 So there is some risk from just getting older. 18:44 So when you're old, are you just doomed? 18:46 No, you better start looking for 18:48 some other sources of vitamin D. 18:50 Let's talk about that just a little bit later. 18:51 What about someone, you mentioned, 18:54 you have to be "pink" but what if you're 18:55 skin is naturally black, you're an African American. 18:58 African Americans are at high risk... 19:00 Estimates are that 50% of black Americans in this country 19:04 have some vitamin D deficiency. Why is that? 19:07 Well, the pigment - the dark pigment in the skin 19:10 blocks those same rays. I see 19:13 And it never makes it to the cholesterol 19:15 to turn it into vitamin D 19:16 So what should THEY do? 19:18 That's a real good question. 19:22 Spend more time in the sun. 19:24 7, 8, 10 times as much time in the sun necessary 19:27 for the very dark-skinned people to make 19:29 the same amount of vitamin D 19:32 Or, they may need to take supplements, 19:34 but let's talk about that when we get to the end. 19:36 What about someone that's young? 19:38 YOUNG! 19:40 We discovered vitamin D in relation to rickets which was a 19:45 problem with children IN THE OLD DAYS. 19:49 Now we know about vitamin D... BUT you know kids aren't 19:52 playing outdoors as much as they used to. 19:54 A lot of the video games and that type of thing - 19:57 So a significant number of children are actually coming up 20:00 with rickets THESE days... 20:02 And in the pediatric literature, we are reading about 20:05 more and more cases of this vitamin D deficiency. 20:09 Okay, and it's not so much the calcium then as it is the 20:13 vitamin D side of that equation with the rickets. Right 20:17 Then what about someone that is overweight? 20:19 Now you bring up a very interesting point. 20:22 People who are overweight, 20:23 #1- Don't like to go out in the sun. 20:26 Often, they'll have joint pains. 20:28 It's just not very flattering to put on a bathing suit. 20:31 So they often avoid the sun, but BESIDES that 20:34 vitamin D is actually a fat soluble vitamin. 20:38 Meaning, when it gets into our bodies, 20:40 it distributes itself in the fat. 20:43 And when someone is large, that is, has a lot of fat... 20:48 They have a larger container to fill with the vitamin D. 20:54 So they are going to tend to need MORE vitamin D 20:56 to keep that container full. 20:59 So one way to help that is lose weight again. 21:02 Okay, if there is less fat, that's true. 21:04 There would be a little less need for vitamin D... 21:08 But I wouldn't wait for somebody to lose weight. 21:12 I would want to replace the vitamin D. 21:14 We talked about the young and the rickets with the young, 21:16 but what about the REALLY young - like the babies? 21:18 BABIES! Good point 21:19 You know, we've been taught that in this country 21:24 we get our vitamin D from milk. 21:27 The COWS do not put vitamin D in the mild. 21:29 That was a decision of the public health, 21:32 people of the country to solve the rickets problem 21:35 by adding vitamin D to dairy. 21:38 Breast milk does not have vitamin D in it either. 21:43 It doesn't? It does not. 21:45 Even if the mother is out in the sun? 21:46 Even if the mother is out in the sun, 21:47 there's no vitamin D in the milk. 21:49 So when the baby is breastfeeding, 21:51 they will NOT be getting vitamin D. 21:53 There are some doctors who are recommending 21:55 that when a baby goes home from the hospital, 21:58 he would actually receive a shot of vitamin D 22:00 to hold over for those first few months until 22:05 the baby is actually exposed to a little more sun. 22:07 You know, in the winter, especially a baby is 22:09 wrapped up tightly and kept warm because their small, 22:12 they often don't see enough sun to make vitamin D. 22:15 So if you live in a country, or watching this program 22:17 and there are not people that can give you a shot 22:19 though when you have a baby, what do you do then? 22:21 Take him out in the sun? 22:22 Oh boy, Don, I don't know that I have a good answer for that. 22:24 I think I would have to look for oral supplementation. 22:28 Well what about fibromyalgia? 22:31 I mean, you've talked about hyperparathyroidism, 22:35 and how it masks itself as different things, 22:37 and fibromyalgia has all kinds of symptoms. 22:40 What's the connection between that and vitamin D? 22:43 The symptoms of vitamin D deficiency CAN be, 22:48 in some individuals, very similar to fibromyalgia. 22:51 Now fibromyalgia is not a distinct and well-recognized 22:56 symptom complex. 22:58 We don't know what causes it. 22:59 It probably has multiple causes. 23:00 It looks like some of the people with that diagnosis 23:04 probably have vitamin D deficiency. 23:06 And, there have been those who have had the diagnosis 23:09 of fibromyalgia who have had their vitamin D replaced 23:12 orally, in the sun... over 2 to 3 months 23:16 the fibromyalgia kind of melts away. 23:18 It's not true of all of them, 23:20 but I think it's an important thing to be CHECKED 23:22 if someone has the diagnosis of the fibromyalgia. 23:28 So it's certainly worth checking out. Yes 23:31 Especially if you're suffering from that. 23:33 We have about 5 minutes left to look at... 23:36 I mean, you've convinced me all right. 23:38 Vitamin D is very important. 23:40 It's associated with all kinds of risks if you don't have it. 23:44 We have a few more minutes... 23:46 Can you get too much vitamin D, 23:48 and then, what are some good sources of vitamin D? 23:50 Vitamin D is actually a potentially toxic vitamin, 23:56 and if we get too much of it, 23:57 it causes symptoms that are actually similar in some ways 24:01 to those of low vitamin D. 24:03 You see, when the vitamin D is LOW, 24:05 the body pulls the calcium out of the bones and tends to have 24:09 too much in the blood. 24:11 When the vitamin D is too HIGH, 24:12 it absorbs too much calcium from the intestines, 24:15 and tends to mimic some of the symptoms. I see 24:18 So, how much is too much, and how much is too little? 24:20 Okay, that's a good question. 24:22 If we're measuring blood levels, 24:24 we know there's no toxicity until the blood level 24:27 is over 150 ng/dL 24:30 Now I know those numbers are kind of hard... 24:32 We're going to throw them up on the screen here 24:34 a little bit later so you can get a better feel for it. 24:37 Deficiency probably occurs when the level is less than 30. 24:41 There's evidence, for example... 24:43 That levels up to 30 have some parathyroid hormone elevation. 24:50 So it would be good to have peoples levels over 30. 24:53 Personally from my understanding of the studies looking at cancer 24:57 I think 40 or 50 is probably a better dose. 25:00 So we need about 40-50 25:02 We can figure this out with a simple test at our doctor 25:04 or something and if we have any questions 25:06 about vitamin D deficiency. 25:07 This is a blood test that is done. 25:09 People who... the beach bums that spend ALL day in the sun 25:14 will have levels up to about 100 25:16 So that's a rational level. 25:20 So that's kind of where we like to aim as a doctor. 25:24 We have a graphic that shows recommendations about 25:26 where to get this and maybe you can work us through that. 25:28 Okay, on the graphic you'll see that anything 25:32 less than 20 ng/cc or ml is too low 25:36 That's what my laboratory says, 25:38 although their NORMAL values, if you look at the normal 25:41 taking the curve in the population is 8-60, 25:44 anything below 20 is showing evidence of being low. 25:47 And you want it between 40 and 50 is the goal. 25:49 I'd like it between 40 and 50 to maximize the 25:52 beneficial effects of vitamin D 25:53 And the beach bums are up to 150 and that's okay. 25:56 No they're up to 100. 25:57 If you get above 150 from taking TOO many supplements, 26:01 that could cause symptoms. 26:03 There are no symptoms as long 26:04 as the level is less than 150 ng/ml or cc 26:10 Okay, do some people need MORE vitamin D? 26:14 We've talked about, in essence, the size of people. 26:19 If they're large, they have a larger container 26:21 they'll need more. 26:22 No, I don't know that LOTS more, 26:26 BUT the recommended daily allowance changes 26:29 to reflect what we've talked about with older people. 26:34 It starts out about 400 IU a day, 26:37 and is now moved up to 600 IU a day for the elderly. 26:43 So how much sun then should we get a day? 26:46 I'm convinced I need to be out in the sun more. 26:49 How much should I be out? 26:50 If you do the calculation, 26:52 from getting kind of pink all over, 26:56 and how much vitamin D you make, 26:58 it looks like you need about 15 minutes a day 27:01 with your hands and wrists, head and neck exposed. 27:06 15 minutes a day... Um hm 27:08 I don't think anybody watching can do that 15 minutes a day. 27:13 It's not a hard goal to reach. 27:15 One warning... above the 35th parallel, 27:19 you do not make vitamin D in the wintertime. 27:23 So it would be reasonable to use oral supplementation 27:26 during the wintertime in people who live to the north. 27:29 So then how much is safe to take? 27:32 We know from scientific studies that 1,000 to 2,000 IU a day 27:37 for adults is a safe level. 27:40 And they can get this in a pill form? Yes 27:43 It is a fat soluble vitamin, 27:45 so it's absorbed better if it's taken with a little bit of oil. 27:48 So let the SUNSHINE IN is the message today, 27:51 and if you don't have the sun, get some kind of 27:53 supplement as you listen today. 27:55 We are glad you joined us, and hope that you have 27:57 Health that lasts for a Lifetime! |
Revised 2014-12-17