Are You Vitamin D Deficient?

Insufficient vitamin D is linked to virtually every age-related disorder including cancer (colon, breast, brain, liver, prostate, muscle, pancreatic), vascular disease, and chronic inflammation. Adults (and children) with higher vitamin D levels contract substantially fewer cold, flu, and other viral infections. And for pregnant women, Vitamin D is especially important for fetal health development. I personally notice a nice improvement in my mood when I supplement with Vitamin D, so I'm a big fan.

Take a look at this study done by Life Extension on Vitamin D levels in 14,000 of their members in Florida (yes, the Sunshine State). Results showed that 85% of people were deficient in Vitamin D, and zero had excess levels. Still not convinced?

My Vitamin D Challenge
Here is my challenge for you. Take 72,000 IU per week of Vitamin D for 1 full month BEFORE getting your levels checked. If you're like 85% of the people in the study, then even after a month of supplementation, you will still be deficient since it takes 6-12 months to get your levels up, and you have to take large amounts to correct the deficiency.

Based on the research, I'm quite sure that even after you supplement for 1-2 months, your levels will still be below optimal. The good news is, it's an easy problem to correct if you continue with your supplementation.

Ready to take the test?
After at least 1 month of taking 72,000 IU per week (or 12,000 IU per day 6 days per week), ask your doctor if he can run a Vitamin D test on you (25-hydroxyvitamin D).

Unfortunately, it's not something they typically include in regular bloodwork. You'll have to be sure to ask for it. Many doctors need to charge you extra for the test, so first compare our price with theirs for the Vitamin D test. Once you get your results, your optimal blood value should be 50-80 ng/mL.

Questions & Answers

Q: Which Vitamin D product should I take?

I recommend you take 1 capsule of both products listed below daily for 1-2 months before getting tested:

Vitamin D Ultra 10K by DFH (take 6 caps per week either all at once or one per day.)
Vitamin D Complex by DFH (take 1 capsule per day with meals.)

Q: Aren't I getting enough Vitamin D in my Multivitamin?

No, multivitamins provide about 400 IU of Vitamin D. There is no way to correct a deficiency with this small dose. You'll need a supplement which contains 10,000-50,000 IU of Vitamin D3 per day. In addition, you should continue to take your multivitamin since other fat soluble vitamins like Vitamin A, and K2 are quite important to help absorption of Vitamin D.

Q: Aren't these doses of Vitamin D too high?

No. In order to correct a deficiency, you need to take therapeutic levels for the short term (1-12 months) in order to improve your levels. The dose I'm recommending (12,000 IU) is actually conservative since it's 5x lower than what you'd be taking if you got a prescription for Vitamin D from your doctor. A Vitamin D prescription contains 50,000 IU which is to be taken daily for months to correct a deficiency.

Life Extension writes:

"Fears of vitamin D toxicity have caused health-conscious people to limit their vitamin D3 intake to only a few thousand IU a day. This amount is clearly inadequate to optimally protect against disease, based on recently published studies.52,64,69-72."

Q: Where can I learn more about Vitamin D?

The Vitamin D Council is an excellent resource. Also, I highly recommend the book "The Vitamin D Solution" by Michael Holick, MD, PhD.