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Dr. Nalini Chilkov

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10 Reasons You Should Be Tested for Vitamin D

Posted: 04/16/2010 9:24 am

Life Saving and Health Promoting Benefits of Vitamin D:

Vitamin D can reduce your risk of the flu and complications of flu. Vitamin D contributes to lowering the incidence of infections and inflammation during the fall-winter flu season. The Canadian government has recommended increased Vitamin D intake as part of their flu prevention strategy, including prevention of H1N1 Swine Flu.

Vitamin D can reduce your risk of depression. Low levels of Vitamin D are associated with depression. Sun exposure is known to be a factor in relieving depression, especially winter depression also known as seasonal affective disorder.

Vitamin D can reduce chronic muscle aching and pain. Vitamin D helps to normalize blood calcium which is required for tight shortened muscles to soften, lengthen and relax out of spasm. When calcium is available to the muscles, menstrual cramps lessen.

Vitamin D can reduce your risk of cancer. Low levels of Vitamin D are associated with increased incidence of many cancers. Vitamin D normalizes cell to cell communication, impacts uncontrolled cell growth and allows cells to differentiate into normal cells with a normal life cycle.

Vitamin D can reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, heart attack and >atherosclerosis. Vitamin D has been shown to protect the lining of your blood vessels.

Vitamin D can reduce your risk of developing Type 1 Diabetes by 80 percent. Low levels of Vitamin D are found in diabetics.

Vitamin D can reduce your risk of getting autoimmune diseases like Multiple Sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Lupus. Low levels of Vitamin D are associated with increased auto- immune attack, breakdown of your own tissues and loss of normal functions. Vitamin D supplementation has been shown to reduce the risk of multiple sclerosis by 40 percent.

Vitamin D can reduce your risk of bone fractures, bone loss and osteoporosis. Low levels of Vitamin D prevent your body from normal calcium metabolism and normal bone formation. Both men and women are at increased risk for bone loss and fractures as they age.

Did you think your body could make Vitamin D??

While the body can make Vitamin D when the skin is exposed to sunlight, modern life affords inadequate sun exposure to meet our Vitamin D needs.

Dark skinned people make less Vitamin D than those with light skin.

Aging skin makes 75 percent less Vitamin D than young skin.

Use of sunscreens blocks Vitamin D production in the skin.

Most people living modern life spend a larger proportion of their time indoors and with most of their skin surface covered by clothing or sunscreen when outdoors.

Ask your doctor to check your blood levels of 25-OH Vitamin D (Vitamin D3)

Blood levels of Vitamin D3 associated with OPTIMAL HEALTH are in the range of 70-120nmol/L, far above the "normal" ranges of the past decades before the recent surge of Vitamin D research changed our understanding of this essential vitamin.

Vitamin D rich foods include cold water fish such as wild salmon, wild cod and sardines and cod liver oil. However, it is difficult to regularly eat enough of these foods to build up your Vitamin D stores.

Get some sun exposure on your skin without sunscreen for 20-30 minutes in the morning or late afternoon. Do use sunscreen during the midday to protect your skin.

Be sure to take the correct biologically active form of Vitamin D which is Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol), not Vitamin D2.


Be sure to get retested to monitor your Vitamin D levels. A thorough health care provider will also monitor your blood levels of calcium and phosphorus and parathyroid hormone and may also monitor your urine for evidence of bone loss or order a bone density test.


Please do so under the supervision of a knowledgeable health care provider who can assess the risks and benefits of Vitamin D supplementation and recommend the appropriate dose for you as an individual, taking into account your complete health history and any current medications.


For more on the confluence of natural healing and modern biomedicine and alternative cancer answers find me at doctornalini.com.

Dr Chilkov has been recognized as a go to clinician in Suzanne Somers' book Knockout: Interviews with Doctors Who Are Curing Cancer--And How to Prevent Getting It in the First Place.

She also serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Mederi Foundation, which serves to promote a holistic, integrative approach to healing through education and clinical research programs with an emphasis on providing primary healthcare to those with cancer and chronic illnesses.

http://www.doctornalini.com

 
 
 

Follow Dr. Nalini Chilkov on Twitter: www.twitter.com/doctornalini

Life Saving and Health Promoting Benefits of Vitamin D: Vitamin D can reduce your risk of the flu and complications of flu. Vitamin D contributes to lowering the incidence of infections and inflam...
Life Saving and Health Promoting Benefits of Vitamin D: Vitamin D can reduce your risk of the flu and complications of flu. Vitamin D contributes to lowering the incidence of infections and inflam...
 
 
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
Laura Klein
07:33 PM on 06/11/2010
This is such a great reminder of why we need a healthy dose of early morning or late afternoon sun.
09:07 PM on 04/22/2010
While I agree with the premise of this article, it is confusing to people when they read that new studies indicate vitamin supplements are ineffective in the popular press.

Still, I take 3,000 IU of D3 daily. No change in muscle aches and cramping yet.
12:08 PM on 04/19/2010
I see that someone noted to check the right levels; it is 25-hydroxy Vitamin D, and everyone should know that TOO supplementation much is toxic; you want a level of 55 ng/ml according to most studies.
Kim Crawford,M.D./Anti-Aging Mind,Body,Skin Care
http://kimcrawfordmd.com
02:45 PM on 04/20/2010
There are no known cases of toxicity up to 10,000IU units of vitamin d a day every day plus sun. All the reported cases I've read about have been industrial accidents, eg too much being added to milk, often giving people doses of over 1,000,000IU a day. Overdose seems to start when the blood level of 25(OH)D goes over 200ng/ml, and then only for a few people. So there is a lot of head room. Toxicity occurs when the 25(OH)D starts to affect the blood calcium level, there appears to no other effects.
11:22 PM on 04/18/2010
Overall a good article. One glaring correction though is to get vitamin D during midday sun, not morning or late afternoon. It's the opposite of what the media has told us for the last 50 years! Please don't over expose and get burned.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
mssreader
eat, read, sleep, read and be happy
12:50 PM on 04/19/2010
John and for only 10 minutes without sunscreen. Suncreen blocks prevents the absorption of D.I checked with the dermatologist and agreed that 10 minutes of sun a couple of times a week was not going to cause skin cancer. And you can cut back on your intake of Vit d during the summer months as long as you are getting the sun then increase during the winter months. But overall, I still think people should start with a blood test.
10:15 PM on 04/18/2010
too much repetition, not enough warrants
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Topaz4608
07:51 PM on 04/18/2010
I tested very low. I was so tired and achy, I knew something was wrong. After just 3 days of vitamin D therapy, I went to bed feeling better than when I got up that morning. I continue to feel better all the time. Especially after adding Glucosamine Chondroiten with MSN to my Vitamin routine as well.

I was a skeptic of vitamins and supplements, choosing to never "waste" my money. It's not a waste, it's become absolutely necessary if I want to fee good. And I do.
02:30 PM on 04/18/2010
I'm not fully convinced that Vit D alone will save you ... but I do take a lot of vitamins and supplements because I have been better than ever & I've been selling them for the past 10 years. Mine are from Nutrilite, owned by Amway Global. I toured the manufacturing facility in Buena Park, Ca & it blew me away how precise, controlled & very stringent they were. US doesn't have laws for vitamins & supplements but China does & AG is only one of 2 US vitamin mfgs allowed to sell in their country. Free tour if you're local. You'd never take a centrum or one-a-day brand vitamin for the rest of your life, after that tour. Unless you like their TV ads.

I am getting gastric bypass & my Dr's nutritionist said that Vit D is very important for me after my surgery, especially as I am getting less food. After my blood test, I was only low in D and B1. I've been taking the supplements but I'm adding Vit D (of course, from my own lineup.) My B complex that I take only had about 1.5 mg of B1 so I am supplementing with one from costco for about 4 weeks (before and after surgery) to help with energy & metabolism. I've been obese w/out the health problems (yet.) No diabetes, no high bp, no high cholesterol - but I am majorly at risk for same if my weight doesn't change, so I'm making this
02:33 AM on 04/18/2010
Has it been mentioned that the fluoride in our water may be contributing to our inability to absorb Vit. D?
http://www.breastcancerchoices.org/f.html

"Research throughout the twentieth century found that clinical Vitamin D
deficiency disease of the bones can be caused by increased fluoride
intake"

"Increased fluoride intake also produced deficiency of the active vitamin D
metabolites (25OHD and 1,25OHD) normally produced by the liver and
kidney".
08:37 AM on 04/18/2010
Large sections of the world do not have fluoride in their water supplies, and yet have vitamin d deficiency. This is probably not a significant effect. There is little in the articles references to say that it is. It is where they live and the avoiding of UVB irradiation of the skin that causes the vitamin d deficiency.

Europeans and Native Americans become paler as you move North. This is because for large periods of the year vitamin d is in very short supply. The body risks skin cancer in the summer to reduce the length of the vitamin d winter. Whether the reduction in skin pigmentation is evolution or a built in ability I do not know, an individual can certainly vary their skin colour. Genetic tests on some people in Yorkshire showed that many centuries ago a direct male ancestor was from Africa. The family name (which was odd for this area) and the facial features had passed through up the line but not the skin colour. For those who don't know it is 52 degrees North and it rains a lot in Yorkshire.

Has anyone else who takes a reasonably high dose (>5000IU D a day) noticed they tan very easily and tend not to sun burn, even though they used to burn easily in the past.
08:39 PM on 04/18/2010
I use to tan very easily but now- after regular supplementation, It takes me more time to build a deeper tan. I am certain of this and noticed it the last two years.

I do not burn at all. I seem to be impervious to UV at this point?

5000 I.U. is a normal dose of D3 for the most part. As you are well aware the goal is at least 50 ng/ml, year round (25 OH D).

After that everything pretty much takes care of itself....
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
mssreader
eat, read, sleep, read and be happy
01:00 PM on 04/19/2010
jneems, fluoride is just one of the reasons that have been bandied about but from my understanding there isn't a definitive scientific reason yet. The fact that an overwhelming number of women have low vit D whereas very few men have low Vit D could easily negate fluoride as being the answer.
05:05 PM on 04/17/2010
The conclusion that many of us may need more Vitamin D than previously thought seems to be supported by numerous respectable authorities, and this doctor seems to have respectable credentials as well.

So why in the world would this doctor believe that the following statement adds to her credibility, when in fact it diminishes it:

Dr Chilkov has been recognized as a go to clinician in Suzanne Somers' book "Knockout: Interviews with Doctors Who Are Curing Cancer--And How to Prevent Getting It in the First Place."

========
That is rather like someone writing about Obama and concluding that Obama has been recognized as a go-to community organizer by Bill Ayers. Sommers may have a good heart, and some of what she says, just like some of what EVERYONE says, has some truth, but her book and the main body of her other work are filled with dangerous, life-threatening proposals.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
mainemomma
I don't want a micro bio
01:02 PM on 04/17/2010
Last summer, we had almost no sun. I work indoors, so started taking 2000iu D a day. Have kept taking thru the fall and winter.. and will never ever stop. I got a cold, after I ran out and didn't take any suppliments for a week. Got back on, and have not been sick since. My mood improved.. but the best part was just not getting sick.

I have never had my blood tested.. but I am certainly a believer.
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
doglove
11:03 PM on 04/21/2010
Mainemomma I wish I was there, I am soggy in Seattle. I had my blood work done and was as low as it gets, that's most of us out here in the PNW . The M.S. capitol of the world. I take 5000 a day all year round per my doc. He also suggested (ssssshhhh!!!!!....) the tanning booth in the winter which is ten months of the year out here.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
mainemomma
I don't want a micro bio
07:27 AM on 04/22/2010
I've never been to PNW.. I used to live in the Bay Area years ago, and enjoyed it a lot, until I thought about getting married and starting a family. The pace was too fast for me.

But from what I have seen.. and heard from friends, the PNW is one of the most beautiful places in the country.. but better take your D ( and sneak into a tanning bed once and a while) !
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
JayZee
Biofilm Slayer
10:25 AM on 04/17/2010
"One of the great mysteries in human biology is the fact that most human breast milk is deficient in vitamin D. How could Nature overlook such an important nutrient in the “perfect food”?

~Vitamin D Council

it's not a stretch to say Doctors know little to nothing about nutrition.
Vitamin D 3&2 is added to a myriad of products at the market - not just milk.
This one vitamin is promoted and promoted through the media -lots of food products and all for the better health of consumers...really?

I have a problem trusting the mass media and Doctors - especially when they have no idea HOW vitamin D works.
11:27 AM on 04/17/2010
Breast milk does contain vitamin d but only when the mother has a sufficiently high level of 25(OH)D in her blood. Nature did not overlook this we did by avoiding sun exposure.

Also before we were told never to expose babies/children to the sun they used to make plenty vitamin d of their own.

There is almost no vitamin d in food, even those which are supplemented. The levels are set so they stop rickets in most people, this is not an optimum level.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
JayZee
Biofilm Slayer
12:01 PM on 04/17/2010
"Also before we were told never to expose babies/children to the sun they used to make plenty vitamin d of their own."

I never received that screwball memo, my infants saw and felt the sun.Sheesh.

Again, breast milk has very little D, according the the holy vitamin D council.

The US Dept of Agriculture says Rickets "is not due to vitamin D deficiency but is caused by not having enough calcium in the diet:

"Interpretive Summary: Rickets in toddlers is a large problem in parts of Africa, especially Nigeria. It is not due to vitamin D deficiency but is caused by not having enough calcium in the diet."
read more
http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?SEQ_NO_115=169216

Vitamin-D-resistant form of rickets is rare.
01:46 PM on 04/17/2010
The media has not jumped on the Vitamin D message, if they did they would be bashing the dermatologists who are one of the groups responsible for the deficiency.

Look at it this way, people have been working outside in the sun for millions of years, would they not have learned to benefit from the most dominant part of their environment? Why is UV exposure suddenly bad for people? UV exposure was demonized to sell SPF, and it has been very successful.
09:55 AM on 04/17/2010
Get tested for 25-OH Vitamin D level. If you are low your doctor will most likely prescribe 50000 IU doses of vitamin D2 (not vitamin D3). If you are vegetarian, vegan, or just don't like taking substances extracted from the skins of animal corpses or fish livers you should take vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol). Vitamin D2 comes from plant sources. Recent studies show that both forms are equally effective, but some other studies show that you might need to take a bit more D2 than D3.
11:35 AM on 04/17/2010
Vitamin D3 supplements (however, not in cod liver oil) are created from oils extracted from the wool of sheep. It is therefore vegetarian but not vegan.

What makes you think it is found in the skins of animals? Most animal are covered in fur, wool or hair so the sun light does not reach their skin. The vitamin d is made from a precursor on the wool etc and is ingested by licking. Thus it is common for vitamin d to be ingested. Cod liver oil tends to be a poor source of vitamin D as it often contains vast amounts of vitamin A. Choose your cod liver oil with care.

D2 and D3 are as effective in controlling blood calcium levels but I have seen no evidence either way for other uses the body has for vitamin d.
ThatsTheTheWayItIs
religion, ideology, partisanship are delusional
09:18 AM on 04/17/2010
Take 2000 IU vitamin D a day.
Get lots of sun, with sunblock on areas normally exposed: face, neck, hands, chest.

If you do the above, you will not have a vitamin D deficiency.
If you don't, you will.

Testing is absolutely unnecessary, a waste of money, and clearly self-serving for the medical industry.

Bring back the other HP doctors, the ones who tell US how to care for our health, instead of the typical "ask your doctor" like in drug ads. This is an ad for medical services, not information.

I've known many people who lived to a very old age, one to 106. They all had one thing in common: they did not go to doctors unless they had symptoms. Don't let them sell you useless tests.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
FredBrighton
up the establishment!
07:51 AM on 04/17/2010
I have chronic pain from various injuries as well as arthritis in my feet and hands. Lots of pain all the time. I'm running out of pills that work at all so they are burning nerve off to kill the pain down the legs. Just recently my GP told me to get my test for D. Now this doctor is the best! I've had him running around my ailments for years and he's kept me sane and more or less functioning. I like to garden and I am learning photography. So I looked at my diet and yup I don't get very much D at all! Now we'll see how the supplements do... more fish, but not the endangered ones.
02:25 AM on 04/17/2010
Don't take stupid supplements, just drink milk and calcium OJ! =)
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clintonius
The British are coming! Warn the British!
02:40 AM on 04/17/2010
Don't drink milk.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
zapyourappetite
04:10 AM on 04/17/2010
eww - the mucus - please don't drink milk. Vitamin D3 got me through this winter.
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TheBaffler
a long the riverrun
06:12 AM on 04/17/2010
2% organic milk is deeeeeeeelicious.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
mssreader
eat, read, sleep, read and be happy
09:55 PM on 04/17/2010
Well, Mortl, did you know that the milk for sale has been fortified with D? Very little vit D is found in foods. I think eggs, that are fed free range have some in the yolk and a few other foods like fish but they don't seem to be fortifying other foods thank goodness. So buy a supplement and stop buying and consuming milk. It's not good for you!