Dr. Soram Khalsa: Increasing Your Vitamin D Protects Against Myriad Of Illnesses

LA Times:

Soram Khalsa is on a mission to get Americans to up their levels of Vitamin D. Why? To protect them against a myriad of illnesses, including cancers, heart disease and diabetes. He even had a patient from his who's-who-studded medical practice in Beverly Hills hand deliver a copy of his book, The Vitamin D Revolution, to Michelle Obama. "In the front, I wrote, 'Vitamin D can help the country's health-care crisis. Please contact me if you are interested' and included my phone number. I haven't heard from her yet, but..."

Read the whole story: LA Times

Comments

[mssreader]

12:59 PM on 10/05/2009

And the main problem is that getting vit E from the sun is not possible if you are wearing sun block. I try for 10 minutes a day a couple of times a week and my tests show me just below the mid range with almost 500 mgs in supplement. In the winter even with this huge amount of supplement. I'm still off the low chart of barely on. So sun is very necessary as it seems it's important for vit D to be absorbed through the skin. And Some bodies just require more like those with thyroid disease. And, in fact vit D is now known to be not just a vit but an essential hormone says my endocrinologist who is the one who found I was low in D.

[vincealy]

11:55 AM on 10/05/2009

It seems that the evidence that vitamin d prevents cancer is strong enough that as reported by
http://www.healthcastle.com/vitamin-d-cancer-canadian.shtml

.... 'In a press release dated June 8, 2007, the Canadian Cancer Society recommends that:

* Adults living in Canada should consider taking Vitamin D supplementation of 1,000 IU a day during the fall and winter.
* Adults likely to have lower Vitamin D levels should consider taking Vitamin D supplementation of 1,000 IU/day all year round.
This group includes people who:
o are older
o have dark skin
o don't go outside often
o wear clothing that covers most of their skin

Mounting Evidence on Vitamin D's role in cancer prevention

We are not surprised by the Canadian Cancer Society's recommendation. Indeed, mounting evidence has suggested daily intake of vitamin D should be raised from 400 IU to 1000 IU......."

Why has the American Cancer Society drug it's feet. ?

[ritz]

11:43 AM on 10/05/2009

I've had S.A.D. for many years, and had just gotten used to dreading the shorter days, feeling lethargic and depressed for months at a time. So much so, that I never mentioned it to my new primary care doctor.

He has been reading up on Vitamin D, and decided to test ALL patients. It's just an additional check mark on your blood work request.

With a reference range of 30 to 80 ng/ml for normal, in May I was at 9! He wanted to put me on a prescription Vit D, but I said, let's wait. I'll go out in the sun, I'll take an over the counter 1,000IU's Vit D3 daily, and then we'll check again at the end of the summer. September 4th I was at 20.

The prescription is ONE 10,000IU gel cap once a week.

I AM A NEW PERSON. Small tasks that I could not tackle for YEARS are DONE! Work is a pleasure. Life is a pleasure. I'm even enjoying the autumn colors - something that would signal the coming doom and gloom before.

GET TESTED. AT THE VERY LEAST, GET TESTED. I'm truly amazed at the difference, and I'm so glad this information is getting out there.

[outnow]

11:06 AM on 10/05/2009

I take vitamin D myself. I used to be out in the sun until I was diagnosed with a melanoma. Fortunately, the doctor removed it and it waswn't think enough to get into the blood and lymph and spread. After five years, I am on the lookout for new skin growths. I am going to the dermatologist this morning, in fact for a every four month check up on my skin.

The question I have is whether some sunlight expose is beneficial or necessary? There is much controversy about that issue. I tend to get some sunlight by walking while wearing a hat and sunscreen, too. But the immune system needs the vitamin D and I don't know where to draw the line with more sun exposure. Zero sun exposures seems like it does more hard to the immune system by depriving it of vitamin D. Any suggestions?

[Twopennygal]

01:33 PM on 10/05/2009

Check out Protein LifePlan by the Drs. Eades. They have a chapter -- that was very controversial when it was written but may be becoming less so now -- in the book about sun exposure, melanoma, and vitamin D. The problem with sunscreen is that it's becoming more and more recognized to promote skin cancer -- maybe from the chemicals or maybe from people's thinking they can spend more time in the sun than they should because they're wearing sunscreen.

When I read the book about six years ago, I decided to follow their advice and stop wearing sunglasses and sunscreen (excep in extreme cases) and it seems to be working for me. I do cover up when I'm going to be in the sun for extended periods and I wear sunglasses in high-reflection situations. But I've noticed that my tolerance for the sun has increased, both my skin and eyes, and that I feel better.

[MicheleCA]

03:26 AM on 10/09/2009

ewg.org has a list of sunscreens by efficacy & hazardous ingredients.

with a malignant melanoma history, i would use a vitamin D supplement period.

wrinkles, aging, cancer risk, cataracts,... i don't see how this could be working for anyone!

[imvegan]

10:12 AM on 10/05/2009

.o(Grandpa Joe) Vitamin D is very important. There's a new book coming out soon by vitamin D expert Dr. Michael Holick called The Vitamin D Solution. I'm curious if there's anything new on the subject. This is the person who got me to start taking a vitamin D supplement years ago. (D2 for vegans). http://www.empowher.com/media/video/video-dr-holick-vitamin-d2-or-d3-supplements-which-should-women-take

[imvegan]

10:13 AM on 10/05/2009

(or make sure I get enough sunshine)

[IMissAmerica]

08:14 AM on 10/05/2009

Dr. Khalsa is 100% correct. Vitamin D also helps your body deal with stress. A simple alternative to anti-depressants for some. When I started taking it I noticed a marked sense of "feeling good" I had not experienced in a long time. I take a liquid supplement cal/mag w/D3, once a day is an easy habit to get into.

[JohnSawyer]

06:57 AM on 10/05/2009

As I vaguely understand it, one way vitamin D helps prevent cancer, is that it prevents some substance in the body, whose job it is to detect and destroy cancer cells, from being deactivated by the cancer cells themselves.

[Rosewren]

12:24 AM on 10/05/2009

The site below is a compilation of the many articles that have come out recently regarding the benefit of Vitamin D, but as I said before, my doctor prescribed it after my annual blood work so I did not start it without checking with my doctor.

[Rosewren]

12:25 AM on 10/05/2009

Oops, left out the site

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/news.shtml

[Rosewren]

12:13 AM on 10/05/2009

I have been coming across many articles lately regarding the need for women to take more vitamin D to help prevent many female disorders or diseases. My doctor has prescribed Calcium, Magnesium and Vitamin D tablets for me for several years now. I just checked and the amount of Vitamin D I am taking in combination with the other supplements is 1200 mg a day. I see both MO's and DO's. The younger doctors seem to be very in tune with supplements for treatment. It seems more sensible to use these products first to see if they work than to start a drug, most which have unwanted side effects.

[Rosewren]

12:18 AM on 10/05/2009

To correct my statement above, it is 800 IU per day on the Vitamin D

[NoSillyName]

03:33 AM on 10/05/2009

Everyone needs more Vit D.

[ForVivi]

08:30 PM on 10/04/2009

I guess this was a book advertisement since it lacked any depth or detail...

[NevaforLeadership]

08:19 AM on 10/05/2009

Exactly. I was looking for the meat.

I've started to take Vitamin D anyway. I think they classify it as a hormone now.

[Donatella]

03:28 PM on 10/05/2009

He provided a bit more information in his post in May.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-soram-khalsa/what-you-can-do-about-the_b_203600.html

[ForVivi]

11:26 PM on 10/05/2009

Thank you for the link. People helping one another is what I like best about most Huff Post-ers.

[ImissBush]

07:38 PM on 10/04/2009

thats 1 good lookin man

id take his advice on NE thing

[NoSillyName]

03:32 AM on 10/05/2009

ugh.

[ImissBush]

03:04 PM on 10/05/2009

ugh? hes not tht kinda indian
:)

[Donatella]

03:27 PM on 10/05/2009

He's a good Jewish doctor. Mother would love that!

[ImissBush]

04:15 PM on 10/05/2009

good point

[SussexBn412fd]

07:23 PM on 10/04/2009

Studded what tires? I thought I studied maybe I have it wrong.

[NoSillyName]

05:38 PM on 10/04/2009

Bio, please. I'm not impressed by a "who's-who-studded medical practice in Beverly Hills".

I do agree with increasing Vitamin D as it acts like an important hormone, not like a vitamin.

[Majus]

03:26 PM on 10/04/2009

There is no question that Vitamin D is essential to good health, but as in all things too much of a good thing is just that -- too much. In the case of excess levels of Vitamin D it can become toxic and you will become sicker than you ever thought possible.

No one should ever set out to increase their D levels without being tested and then monitored by their doctor.

[odyssey58]

08:11 PM on 10/04/2009

I, too, used to believe that it was easy to overdose on D and I limited my intake of supplemental D to the 400IU in my multivitamin. I drink raw milk that isn't fortified.. And I carefully chose a calcium supplement that didn't have additional D. Apparently it takes a lot of D to be toxic, in the range of tens of thousands of IUs.. I take about 2400 IU daily.

[equianimi]

01:57 PM on 10/04/2009

In America we don't cure anyone in that gray zone because there's way more money to be made by keeping them there but dependent on drugs and doctors to help the symptoms rather than treat the cause.

[Angie Cordeiro]

06:10 PM on 10/04/2009

You are right the drug and insurance corporations have taken medicine down a path of blind selfishness and moral indifference.

In the article it states... “What they forgot to teach us in med school is about the gray zone in the middle...people who aren’t sick but don’t feel good in so many ways—with fatigue, headaches, digestive problems that are unattended. Organs are not yet sick, diseased or damaged but are weakened, run down, stressed or toxic,”

Doctors are trained in our country to put people back in the fast lane and too few are sympathetic enough to really practice the ART of medicine.