Vitamin D

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Vitamin D

Postby Earthangel » Sun Jul 15, 2012 7:12 am

Can someone please recommend a good Vegan Vitamin D supplement? I just ordered one and I failed to realize when I ordered it (my bad) that it has sunflower oil in the ingredients. I'm not sure if I should be concerned with the oil in supplements.

My doctor suggested taking at least 4000 IU of Vitamin D for my anxiety.

Any suggestions? Thanks!
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Re: Vitamin D

Postby GeoffreyLevens » Sun Jul 15, 2012 10:19 am

Vitamin D is not a treatment for anxiety! IF you blood test "low" for Vitamin D it MAYbe worthwhile taking an appropriate dose but that you should probably decide talking with your doctor. And Vitamin D can be toxic if blood levels get too high, so definitely test if you are supplementing!

The amount of oil in vegan D3 supplements is pretty minuscule, so to me it would be more of a "philosophical issue" whether or not to avoid those couple drops.
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Re: Vitamin D

Postby GeoffreyLevens » Sun Jul 15, 2012 12:39 pm

Let me rephrase that...

Vitamin D is not a recognized, mainstream treatment for anxiety. There have been correlations found between various conditions and vitamin D deficiency that have not been proven.

But really, my basic point is "ya gotta test blood level" because everyone is different. And if you are in normal range, then more is not better and could even cause problems if that "more" is enough more.
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Re: Vitamin D

Postby Earthangel » Sun Jul 15, 2012 1:15 pm

GeoffreyLevens wrote:Let me rephrase that...

Vitamin D is not a recognized, mainstream treatment for anxiety. There have been correlations found between various conditions and vitamin D deficiency that have not been proven.

But really, my basic point is "ya gotta test blood level" because everyone is different. And if you are in normal range, then more is not better and could even cause problems if that "more" is enough more.


I think you're right. I didn't have any blood work done. To tell the truth - I was too freaky that day to have blood work done. When I was telling my doctor about being Vegan and that I suffer with "situational" anxiety - she suggested that I start supplementing with at least 4000 IU of Vitamin D. Oddly enough - she didn't say anything about B12 that day! I was surprised she wasn't all over that.

Thank you - I appreciate your response!
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Re: Vitamin D

Postby GeoffreyLevens » Sun Jul 15, 2012 1:46 pm

Let me guess, not an M.D.? To me, sounds a bit off to just suggest 4k of vitamin D daily on the basis of someone reporting situational anxiety.

A lot of people have that and it is not something to "treat" it is just part of life and how their psyche is wired, something to "work with" and learn from, not necessarily to fix. Of course I don't know your situation or how severe it is, but I do know that the pharmaceutical companies have been trying to make medical problems out of every human quirk and foible and the doctors have mostly played right along, prescribing as they go.

I'm not an M.D. but if someone came to me a said they had situational anxiety I would suggest meditation as first line of "treatment". Probably some type that ties in with the following the breath.
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Re: Vitamin D

Postby Donna R » Sun Jul 15, 2012 9:42 pm

my opinion: you DO need to take b12! and possibly d which may depend on where you live and how much sunshine you get on your skin.
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Re: Vitamin D

Postby Earthangel » Mon Jul 16, 2012 4:57 am

Donna R wrote:my opinion: you DO need to take b12! and possibly d which may depend on where you live and how much sunshine you get on your skin.


Thank you! I agree. I definitely do take B12 sublingual. I spend lots of time outdoors and get lots of sunshine.
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Re: Vitamin D

Postby jasoncfx » Mon Jul 23, 2012 6:49 pm

Dr. McDougall does not recommend taking a Vitamin D supplement, the *only* supplement he recommends is B12 and thats *only* if you have been on his program strict for 3 years or are pregnant, and if you read all his explanation thats basically only to keep all the critics off his back, he says it woudl basically take like 30 years to get deficient in B12.

30 minutes of noontime sun in June in the Northern hemisphere or something like that he said is enough to have enough vitamin D year around for a light skinned person, a dark skinned person could need as much as 6 times taht much time in the sun.

I am just speaking from memory though so you should double check what he says specifically on these things.

My pastor went out to his 10 day thing this spring, and again he doesn't recommend Vitamin D supplements, but if needed, suggests a sunlamp, though natural sunlight is the way to go. I forget where I read it, probably a newsletter, just do a web search for Dr. McDougall Vitamin D, as he talksa bout how the scientifically established levels for proper amounts of Vitamin D are way too high. He mentions how Hawians who spend a lot of time outside are tested as having too low Vitamin D, and how Mary one time after being outside and coming back from Costa Rica or someting tested as having too low of Vitamin D when he was sure she wasn't.
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Re: Vitamin D

Postby jasoncfx » Mon Jul 23, 2012 7:07 pm

http://drmcdougall.com/med_hot_supplements.html

Looks like maybe all of the info I was referring to might be found in those links?
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Re: Vitamin D

Postby Vanilla Orchid » Thu Aug 02, 2012 10:56 am

My doctor wanted me to take vitamin D supplements because my levels were very low. Dr. McDougall advised me not to do that, and to get sun instead. Unfortunately, it's a rare day in my area that I can go outside with skin exposed and not be cold. Dr. McDougall told me to use a sunlamp instead. This is the one I bought http://www.sperti.com/Vitamin-D-Lamp-D-UV-F-p/d-uv-f.htm. Today I got the results of vitamin D blood tests and I went from 16ng/ml to 47 after using the lamp for 5 minutes every other day for about five months. Normal levels are supposedly 20-79.
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Re: Vitamin D

Postby serenity » Thu Aug 02, 2012 11:04 am

Vanilla Orchid wrote:My doctor wanted me to take vitamin D supplements because my levels were very low. Dr. McDougall advised me not to do that, and to get sun instead. Unfortunately, it's a rare day in my area that I can go outside with skin exposed and not be cold. Dr. McDougall told me to use a sunlamp instead. This is the one I bought http://www.sperti.com/Vitamin-D-Lamp-D-UV-F-p/d-uv-f.htm. Today I got the results of vitamin D blood tests and I went from 16ng/ml to 47 after using the lamp for 5 minutes every other day for about five months. Normal levels are supposedly 20-79.

Thank you Vanilla Orchid. Even though I live in So Cal, I do not get in the sun as I work long hours indoors. I've been eyeing the Sperti for a couple of years. I once again tested low on D and the doctor gave me another prescription for supplements. I'm not comfortable taking them but I'm also not comfortable allowing my levels to be so low. I'm very glad to hear of your successful result with the lamp! I'm going to go order one right now.
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Re: Vitamin D

Postby Vanilla Orchid » Sat Nov 15, 2014 9:58 am

I just got the results of a vitamin D test, so here is the update: Normal range is 20-79 ng/mg

1/17/09: 20
4/10/09: 30 (after supplements)
8/14/10: 23 (stopped the supplements)
1/26/12: 16 (declined the supplement, and began using the Sperti Lamp)
7/25/12: 47 (using the lamp every other day for 5 minutes)
11/11/14: 41 (still using the lamp, but slacked off a bit, and did not use it during a 5-week long vacation)
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