Interesting article regarding the value of taking Vitamin D supplements especially more so in some parts of the world. In Australia we are generally focusing on the opposite problem of getting too much sun - and so always slopping on sunscreen. Still I usually take a Calcium supplement with D & K and hoping that is enough. But how to get the right balance where you live on the globe is important :
Pic of a delightful little Fantail - one of my favourite NZ birds - taken on a lovely holiday we are having - in the South Island. This bird and many others woke us singing in the garden of a wee cottage by a brook surrounded by huge hills where we are currently staying.
Best wishes
Rimmy
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Rimmy
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My grandchildren in Australia are still as white as snowdrops. On the beach in rash suits and floppy hats and factor 50 sun block. Shame never to feel the sun on your bare skin. Ho hum!
Yes it seems things go from the 'sublime to the ridiculous' in OZ at least where we are constantly warned to 'slip, slop' slap' to prevent skin cancers which seem to beset much of the pale-faced population - especially as we age. There are of course those who are very susceptible and I am on the cusp of that group with quite fair skin. I have had quite a few sun spots removed - nothing sinister - but enough to make me more careful. Thing is most of the damage was done for we 'baby boomer' gens when we were younger and no sunscreen was ever used - just 'frying stuff' like coconut oil when reaching the teenage years when we were 'advised' that 'browner' was better. Now I try to get some sun exposure on my skin despite the admonitions as it feels so good - especially weak Winter sun which I love. Some parents are however quite obsessive about their children's skin and probably overdo it given that the 'great outdoors' is often frequented lots less in favour of tech stuff and screens.
My mother would never waste her delicious smelling Amber Solaire on me. I used to peel every holiday. We didn’t know. As my Scottish father would have said” well yee ken noo” ( you know now).
You are probably lucky you mum did that. Oil, skin, heat...fried Jane. I too peeled every year. That horrid feeling of sand, sunburn and uncomfortable nights on Lilo's inside or on top of scratching polyester sleeping bags. Of course we had been swimming with the Lilo's all day too.
Thank you for that interesting article, we take vit D every day.
Rimmy, if I were you I'd stay in that wee cottage by a brook surrounded by huge hills....
... and listen to the sweet birds singing; but even here in England can't complain, as at this time of year the birdies start twittering early in the morning, and soon come for their seeds and worms laid out for them in the garden.
Thanks - yes I wish we COULD have stayed there for a lot longer - but lots still to do a see before we return to our part of the world. There are 'some' places though that you know will stick in your memory for some time to come ....
Interesting. I spent some of my earliest years near the equator. After a year in the UK and then moving to Canada I remember getting "growing pains". I've often wondered if it was because of the loss of year round sunshine. Is the incidence of diseases like PMR more prevalent nearer the poles because we don't get regular year round exposure to sunshine?
That is a concept that has been thought about - are the low vit D levels found in almost all a/i disease cause or effect? And a study on Finnish babies found supplementing newborms reduced the incidence of Type 1 diabetes in teenage - so suggesting a role in the cause.
My vit D level remains decent as long as I take supplements - falls without. And I am out in the sun without sunscreen all year round at a latitude where theoretically you can make vit D in the winter. Nevertheless, the incidence of vit D deficiency here is over 80%.
~Heron - saw you mention this briefly re Vit D in another thread a day or two ago. Can you please tell me what your dose was that made your levels too high or was this due to another complaint?
I take Vit D3 5000 IU + Vit K 2 - should I be taking calcium??
Going to have Vit D bloods done this week (more out of curiosity) & dexa scan not due until July with only tiny change 2 years ago - been on this journey (2015) with oral steroids & many injections throughout 2014.
I've been diagnosed with sarcoidosis. This causes me no symptoms, other than an enlarged lymph gland which was biopsied, and the diagnosis made. This was when I was in my mid-thirties. With onset of PMR and taking more Vitamin D I'd read that sarcoidosis can cause the body to activate too much Vitamin D. Normally the body only activates what it needs, which is why the sun doesn't poison us. But with sarcoidosis there appears to be a sort of biofilm on what they call granulomas (and an x-ray taken during the days pre-PMR diagnosis when I was being investigated showed what they called "evidence of old granulomatous disease") and this biofilm actually activates Vitamin D. This is what I understand, anyway. Something like that. And as the disease can be, as it is my case, largely asymptomatic there may be people going around who don't know they have it and could therefore be taking Vitamin D supplements they don't need and possibly getting to a toxic level. My Vitamin D intake when this happened to me was not out of line. When starting pred I'd doubled my 1000 IU daily to 2000 on the advice of my doctor, and was also getting a certain amount from other supplements and my diet. No more than 4000 which is not considered out of line. After the high level was found I cut out the Vitamin D3 supplements altogether for a whole winter, and when retested (had to do that privately as we in Nova Scotia are only allowed Vitamin D test annually and even that is discouraged) the level was "low normal" so I reintroduced the 1000 IU per day and the next test showed optimum. Haven't been tested since then, must ask for one in a few months.
Sorry, that got to be a long story. All you wanted to know was whether you should be concerned about your Vitamin D intake. Short answer, probably not. But everyone should be tested at least once to see if there could be any issues either way.
As to the calcium, if you examine your diet you will be able to figure out whether you're getting enough calcium. I think we are advised to take more when on pred because of the way pred interferes with our absorption of it. However it's also a good idea to take Vitamin K2, which you are doing, which makes sure the calcium goes to the bones where it belongs, and avoids some of the problems calcium supplements can cause. Adequate magnesium intake is also important, as well as all those other micronutrients, most of which we'll get through a varied, healthy diet. Vitamin K2, however, is usually lacking in the modern western diet because of the way our animals are fed. Grain fed, no Vitamin K2, grass fed (never grain fed, not even "finished" with grain) is supposed to supply Vitamin K2 to humans who eat them and their products, like cheese, eggs. Supplements made from fermented soy, preferably non-GMO, are a more reliable source of Vitamin K2 especially if you don't have access to the grass fed animals.
~Thank you Heron - most interesting reading indeed and thought you had mentioned sarcoidosis somewhere but wasn't sure.
I guess in your case you need to be very careful and checking levels via blood tests in NZ cost (not huge amount) which is never a problem as peace of mind. Sounds most restrictive for you in Nova Scotia.
The correct dosage varies between most in the medical fraternity here. I did subscribe to an American website some years back who were active in their research. Of course they were at times looking for donations which was not a problem for me as I always found their material informative and could cross check from time to time.
In the meantime the Neurologist with whom I check in every couple of years has never been happy that I am not taking "meds" for my bones. I assure her that I drink 1 litre almond/coconut milk each day (sometimes more/less) and do most of the right things with exercise/diet but not a sun person being very fair and never have been. Will avoid going down the "meds" route unless its absolutely necessary
We are blessed with grass fed animals/chickens etc here in NZ
Many thanks - yes it has been much warmer than we anticipated - after packing piles of woollies !! Quite clement here today in Christchurch too as we get ready to fly up to Auckland for a week tomorrow - where it also looks quite 'warm'. We have loved this holiday and part of me is always enmeshed with so many aspects of New Zealand and memories of my first 30 years.
Yes - saw that yesterday too. The one supplement I believe is essential!! Just having a nag at my daughter about getting some - she currently has renal problems and a vanishingly low vit D level. And asthma - also improved with vit D. Her GP prescribed vit D - and then cancelled the repeat script. They are plonkers though.
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