What Does Vitamin D Do?

Keeping your level up for the winter

By now, most of us are familiar with the importance of vitamin D, especially in the state of Oregon.

We wait 9 months for that great globe in the sky to grace us with it’s rays!  Unfortunately, the beginning of the 9 month cycle has just begun.

Not all vitamin D supplementation is created equal.

• How much do I take?
• What is the best form?
• Do I take it with food?
• If I get sun in the winter and fall, do I need to take less?
• Do I need to take it in the summer?

First, it is best to get tested.  Second, your physician will determine the best dose for you.

Vitamin D is best taken in liquid form, and it is best to take with food (especially with fat and protein) in the morning.

Even if you get sun in the fall and winter months, you are not activating the vitamin D in your system.  In Oregon, you can only activate vitamin D for 3 months out of the whole year!

What Does Vitamin D Do?

Vitamin D promotes calcium absorption in the gut and maintains adequate serum calcium and phosphate concentrations to enable normal mineralization of bone and to prevent hypocalcemic tetany. It is also needed for bone growth and bone remodeling by osteoblasts and osteoclasts. Without sufficient vitamin D, bones can become thin and brittle.  Vitamin D sufficiency prevents rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults. Together with calcium, vitamin D also helps protect older adults from osteoporosis.

Vitamin D has other roles in the body, including modulation of cell growth, neuromuscular and immune function, and reduction of inflammation

Most people need to supplement in the summer because we are so low the rest of the year.

Remember, the darker the skin color you have, the less ability you have to activate your vitamin D.  Thus dark skinned people especially in Oregon, have to take more vitamin D.