Vitamin D3 Blog

The epic winters and rains experienced by Seattle are known to cause depression in a large percent of the population. Why? Research has shown that sesonal depression, also known as Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD, is linked to a lack of a Vitamin D3.

Vitamin D3 – cholecalciferol – is the form of Vitamin D that is obtained through human exposure to direct sunlight. It is considered to be superior to other forms of Vitamin D such as ergocalciferol, which is better known as Vitamin D2.

Research has shown that people in cold, rainy climates, are more susceptible to Vitamin D Deficiency, which has been scientifically linked to Seasonal Affective Disorder. This means that people who live in places like Seattle, Washington, where the climate is often rainy and generally cold, are more likely to suffer from SAD, which is a type of seasonal depression that occurs primarily during the winter months.

Take this passage from an earlier post about Vitamin D Deficiency appearing on this site:

A scientific link between low Vitamin D3 levels and depression has been established following several recent studies confirming the relationship. According to one such study by scientists at Georgia State University: “The likelihood of having depression in persons with vitamin D deficiency is significantly higher compared to those with vitamin D sufficiency. Early diagnosis and intervention are paramount because coexistence of vitamin D deficiency and depression has serious negative consequences on health.” (Source)

There has been a surge of interest the medical research community concerning Vitamin D3. Dr. Michael Holick of Boston University School, one of the world’s leading experts on the topic, has been quoted as saying “You’re more likely to live longer and you’re less likely to die of serious chronic disease if you have adequate vitamin D on board. It may well be the most important nutrient of the decade.”

There is also current research being conducted on Vitamin D3 at the Mayo Clinic, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and The U.S. Institute of Medicine to name a few. Existing research has already linked Vitamin D Deficiency to at least 32 different diseases, illnesses and various other health ailments.

People who live in northern climates that are cold and/or rainy have limited opportunities to obtain Vitamin D from sunlight. It is recommended that these individuals in particular take high-quality Vitamin D3 Supplements in order to prevent Vitamin D Deficiency.

Dr. Marc Sorenson on Vitamin D Deficiency, Depression and Seasonal Affective Disorder:

A new study published in the February edition of Neurology appears to show a link between increased sun exposure and higher vitamin d levels and a reduced risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS).

The Australian study involving 611 people determined that those with the highest vitamin d levels in their blood were the least likely to develop multiple sclerosis. The study also found that those with the most evidence of skin damage from sun exposure were about 60% less likely to develop multiple sclerosis or MS-related symptoms.

Nicholas LaRocca, PhD, the U.S. National Multiple Sclerosis Society Vice President, made a point of emphasizing that the findings involving vitamin d did not determine whether or not vitamin d (vitamin d3 to be specific) was the reason for the reduced risk of MS or simply a side-effect of sun exposure.

Vitamin D3, or cholecalciferol, is the form of vitamin d manufactured within the body as a product of sun exposure. It has been found to be by far the most bioavailable (readily absorbable) or the various forms of the nutrient. It is safe to assume that those studied were ingesting cholecalciferol as opposed to other forms of the nutrient (like ergocalciferol, or vitamin d2), based on the fact that direct sun exposure was followed in addition to vitamin d levels.

The scientists representing the study made a point of emphasizing that they do not encourage people to spend unlimited amounts of time in the sun. Instead, they discussed the importance of being smart and getting sun in moderation.

It is not yet known at this point whether or not multiple sclerosis can be added to the list of diseases caused in part by vitamin d deficiency. However, based on the volumes of research to be conducted in recent years linking more than 20 different diseases and ailments to the nutritional deficiency, don’t be surprised if a definitive link is established scientifically in the upcoming years.

In spite of the literally thousands of studies from the past four years affirming, confirming and then reaffirming the stark contrast between Vitamins D2 (Ergocalciferol) and D3 (Cholecalciferol) in terms of supplemental value, there is still a great deal of misinformation being fed to the public touting the supposed benefits of Vitamin D2.

Let me be perfectly clear: Vitamin D3 is the form of the D Vitamin that offers unprecedented health benefits to humans whether ingested via food or supplements or absorbed through exposure to sunlight. Vitamin D2 has been under heavy scrutiny the past few years by medical professionals who are informed and up-to-date on the subject, but some apparently either stopped paying attention some time ago or simply choose not to acknowledge the trove of research backing claims of D3′s superiority.

I came across the following over at Revolution Health, a site I otherwise respect:

What is Vitamin D (Ergocalciferol (Vitamin D2)?

Ergocalciferol is vitamin D2. Vitamin D is important for the absorption of calcium from the stomach and for the functioning of calcium in the body.

Ergocalciferol is used to treat hypoparathyroidism (decreased functioning of the parathyroid glands).

Ergocalciferol is also used to treat rickets (softening of the bones caused by vitamin D deficiency) or low levels of phosphate in the blood (hypophosphatemia).

Ergocalciferol may also be used for other purposes not listed in this medication guide.

Given the fact that Revolution Health sells itself as being a credible source for health news and generally backs it up, I was quite surprised when I found out they were among the ill-informed media erroneously talking up Vitamin D2, claiming that D2 supplements provided substantial health benefits.

The reality is that D2 offers few if any benefits to humans. D3 is something of a supervitamin/hormone, but D2 is little more than a synthetic product. It was created for the sole purpose of being sold, as where its counterpart is a completely natural and bioavailable substance that is easily broken down for use by the body.

Related: Vitamin D2 vs. Vitamin D3

The BBC reported January 19 on the story of a girl diagnosed with Vitamin D Deficiency, which has been linked to the bone disease Rickets. The girl’s doctor told her that an SPF 50 sunscreen may be the culprit.

By blocking out the sun, the cream interfered with the body’s ability to absorb the sunlight and use it to manufacture Cholecalciferol, better known as Vitamin D3. By using the sunscreen on a regular basis, the girl was routinely depriving herself of the nutrient, which eventually resulted in a full-blown deficiency.

Vitamin D3 helps the body absorb calcium, reduce inflammation, boost the immune system, protect against rickets, and some relatively new studies suggest it may even help with hormone regulation. There also appears to be a growing body of evidence suggesting that Vitamin D may even help stave off some forms of cancer.

The video from the BBC report is below.

Vitamin D3 is manufactured by the body when human skin is exposed to direct sunlight. It can also be obtained through certain foods, as well as supplements. The main difference is in D3′s superior bio-availability, which lends to better absorption of the nutrient and enhanced health benefits directly associated with absorption factor and the fact that Vitamin D3 is a more naturally occurring form of the nutrient.

According to Nurse Practitioner Pam Egan, Vitamin D3 is “not to be confused with inactive Vitamin D2.”

Two Major Types of Vitamin D

Although there are a total of five different forms of Vitamin D, only two are commonly used in supplements.

1. Ergocalciferol (Vitamin D2) - A synthetic form of Vitamin D. This is the form found in most nutritional supplements. D2 is substantially less bioavailable than D3.
2. Cholecalciferol (Vitamin D3) – The naturally occurring form of the D Vitamin. This is the same Vitamin D manufactured by the human body when skin makes contact with direct sunlight. Cholecalciferol is five-times (or 500%) more bioavailable than Ergocalciferol, which means that D3 is converted into a usable form by the body at a rate five times faster than is the case with D2.

Another drawback with Vitamin D2 is that it has a much shorter shelflife than does D3, and its metabolites do not bind well with proteins, rendering it that much less effective than the alternative.

Many recent studies have suggested that Vitamin D2 should no longer be classified as a nutrient appropriate for supplementation and/or fortification in foods. Despite this, it continues to be the most common form of Vitamin D available in supplement form on the market today.

In conclusion, based on all of that documented above, it is clear that Vitamin D3 is a far superior form of Vitamin D than is D2, and anyone who takes their health seriously should strongly consider double-checking to make sure they’re getting the good stuff (Cholecalciferol) as opposed to the inferior Ergocalciferol when shopping for Vitamin D supplements.

Cholecalciferol (aka: Vitamin D3)

Pam Egan, FNP-C, CDE, is a board-certified adult and family nurse practitioner, a certified diabetes educator, certified specialist in anti-aging medicine, and also a health columnist. Mrs. Egan has written extensively on the subject of Vitamin D3 and the wealth of both short and long-term health benefits associated with this incredible vitamin.

Vitamin D3, also known as cholecalciferol, is by far and without question the most bio-available form of Vitamin D.

Why is Vitamin D3 so important?

Vitamin D is essential for healthy-looking skin and strong bones. In addition, Vitamin D3 has been found to stimulate the immune system, providing your body with a powerful boost to help stave off illness.

If an individual has chronically low Vitamin D3 intake from food and/or sunlight, the deficiency can lead to numerous health ailments including Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Obesity, Diabetes, Cancer, Fibromyalgia, neuro-degenerative diseases, osteoporosis, and clinical depression. Scientists and researchers are now discovering that the risk of heart disease, heart attack and stroke may increase in people with a prolongued Vitamin D3 deficiency.

D3 can be obtained from a variety of foods, however perhaps the best way to ingest/absorb the nutrient is through sunlight making direct contact with skin. A handful of top health and nutrition experts have even recommended sunbathing in the nude for ten to fifteen minutes daily as a means of ingesting/manyfacturing sufficient amounts of this critically important vitamin in its most potent and bioavailable form.

In addition to foods and sunlight, perhaps the easiest way to ingest sufficient amounts of D3 is via supplementation. A number of high-quality Vitamin D3 Supplements exist to help one ingest enough of the nutrient on a regular basis, including when weather prohibits one from sunbathing.

Included are some links at the bottom of this post to some additional educational resources about Vitamin D3, authored by Nurse Practitioner Egan.

Pamela Egan’s Articles about Vitamin D3:

• Vitamin D3
• Vitamin D3 may help lower blood pressure and cholesterol
• Experts Call for Increased Dose of Vitamin D3
• What is Vitamin D3?
• Vitamin D3 Sources
• Side Effects of Vitamin D3 (D3 Toxicity)

Introduction to Vitamin D3

By: Peter Egan Jr.

My mother, Nurse Practitioner and Health Columnist Pamela B. Egan has written extensively on the subject of Vitamin D3 and the myriad health benefits offered by this super-nutrient.

Vitamin D3, also known as cholecalciferol, is the most bio-available form of Vitamin D. This extremely important nutrient is essential for skin, bone and immune health.

The presence of a Vitamin D3 deficiency in an individual can lead to numerous health ailments including Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Obesity, Diabetes, Cancer, Fibromyalgia, neuro-degenerative diseases, osteoporosis, and clinical depression. Scientists and researchers are also now finding out that Vitamin D3 deficiency may also increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Vitamin D3 can be obtained from certain foods, however arguably the best and most bio-available version of the nutrient is absorbed into the body through sunlight making direct contact with skin. Some health experts have even gone so far as to recommend nude sunbathing for fifteen minutes a day as a means of obtaining sufficient amounts of the vitamin in its most potent form.

In addition to foods and sunlight, perhaps the easiest way to ingest sufficient amounts of D3 is via supplementation. A number of high-quality Vitamin D3 Supplements exist to help one ingest enough of the nutrient on a regular basis, including when weather prohibits one from sunbathing.

I have included some links at the bottom of this post to additional educational Vitamin D3 resources.

More on Vitamin D3:

* Vitamin D3: The Miracle of Sunshine

By:  Pamela Egan  (Nurse Practitioner and Health Columnist)

Due to our indoor lifestyles and fear of going in the sun due to the development of skin cancer, most Americans don’t get enough sunshine. Over the years, the lack of sunshine (Vitamin D3, or Cholecalciferol) is cumulative and has left most American deficient of this essential nutrient.

Supplementation with Vitamin D3 is safe, effective, and essential to health. Higher dosages of Vitamin D3 are needed to reap additional health benefits according to published Risk Assessments.

Four nutrition experts, including two Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) scientists and two of the world’s pre-eminent vitamin D researchers, are urging the Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) to raise the vitamin D Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) five-fold, based on a safety evaluation of the latest scientific research. This research shows that vitamin D is safe at intake levels much higher than its current UL.

The paper, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN) this month (Jan 2007; 85:6-18), concludes the safety profile of vitamin D should safely permit raising the UL for vitamin D to 250ug (10,000IU) per day from the current UL of 50 ug (2,000IU) per day.

The researchers from Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto and Creighton University report that the UL established by the Food & Nutrition Board is outdated. It is not based on current evidence and is viewed by many in the scientific community as being too restrictive-limiting research, commercial development, and optimization of nutritional policy. They provided an ample collection of human clinical trial data published since the 1997 recommendation which supports a significantly higher dosage.

There has been an increased consumer interest in the nutrient following a number of recent studies showing the benefits of Vitamin D3 associated with levels beyond what is typically provided in a multivitamin and most fortified food.
Pamela Egan, NP, ABAAHP Diplomat (American Board of Anti-Aging Health Practitioners), CDE is a board certified Adult & Family Nurse Practitioner, Fellow of the American Academy of Anti-Aging & Functional Medicine, and Certified Diabetes Educator. She is a health columnist from Covington, LA.

Pamela Egan, NP, CDE
ABAAHP Diplomat
(American Board of Anti-Aging Health Practitioner)
1116 West 21st Ave.
Covington, LA 70433
985-892-3031
Fax- 985-892-9504
Website:  http://www.pamelaegan.com

February 18, 2010

By: Pamela Egan

What is one of the cheapest and easiest interventions in medicine that would save the most lives and the most money? It reduces inflammation in your heart, brain & joints. It stops bone loss and protects you from osteoporosis, diabetes & obesity. It strengthens your immune system and helps retard bacterial and viral infections. It helps prevent several different cancers. It helps cure fibromyalgia, depression, and chronic fatigue syndrome. If you’ve read my past health columns, you know that I am referring to natural, active Vtamin D3, not synthetic D2.

Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) is essential for life. You may ask why are Americans so deficient in Vitamin D3? Let’s take a look at evolutionary biology. Our ancestors lived naked in the sun for several million years. Through evolution, sunlight was needed to produce Vitamin D. Then 50,000 years ago, some of us migrated north to places with less sun. Then we put on clothes, started working inside and living in cities where buildings blocked the sun.

We started traveling in cars instead of walking or riding horses and glass blocked even more UVB in the sunlight. Only a few years ago, we started actively avoiding the sun and putting on sun block. All this time we humans have been steadily reducing the tissue levels of the most potent steroid hormone in our bodies, one with powerful anti-cancer properties.

The really significant reductions in sunlight exposure have occurred since the industrial revolution, just the time the “diseases of civilization,” like cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer became prominent.

So what can a Vitamin D3 deficiency lead to? At least 17 varieties of cancer including: Breast, Bladder, Colon, Lymphoma, Ovarian, Endometrial, and Prostate. Heart disease, High Blood pressure, Stroke, Autoimmune disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Diabetes Type 1 & 2, Depression, Chronic Pain, Osteoarthritis, Osteoporosis, Muscle Weakness, Obesity, Periodontal Disease, Infectious Disease, & more. Vitamin D3 is a powerful anti-inflammatory and those of us in the Anti-Aging industry that reducing inflammation is half the aging battle won!

The research is astonishing! So how much Vitamin D3 do we need per day?

Ask your primary care provider to check your serum vitamin D3/ 25(OH) level. The optimum range is 80 – 100 ng/ml. No toxicity was seen with D3 levels less than 150 ng/ml.

The optimum dose of Vitamin D3 is 5000 – 15,000IU per day. (I personally take 10,000IU D3 daily to maintain my 25(OH) level between 80 – 100. A weekly dose of 50,000 IU D3 is OK. Fewer supplements are needed if you receive more sun exposure. Maybe they knew something we didn’t know in those nudist colonies.

Pamela Egan, MN, NP, CDE, ABAAHP Diplomat (American Board of Anti-Aging Health Practitioners), is a board certified Adult & Family Nurse Practitioner, Clinical Specialist in Gerontology/Mental Health, & Certified Diabetes Educator. She can be reached at 985-892-3031 or www.pamelaegan.com.

Vitamin D3 Sources: Food and Sunlight

With the world suddenly alerted to the health crisis that is vitamin d deficiency epidemic, the subject of what natural sources contain vitamin d has become quite the hot topic.

First, let us clarify that not all vitamin d is the same. There are two main types of vitamin d3: Ergocalciferol (vitamin d2); and Cholecalciferol (vitamin d3). Cholecalciferol is the superior form of the nutrient. It is the naturally-occurring form of the vitamin, as opposed to D2, which is largely synthetic and found in most vitamin supplements. That said, the remainder of this article will focus on vitamin d3, as it is the one offering the major health benefits due to its superior bioavailability.

There are two primary vitamin d3 sources not including supplements.

Sources of Vitamin D3:

1. Sunlight – Exposing one’s skin to direct sunlight is the most effective and efficient way of obtaining vitamin d3. Exposure to UV rays from direct sunlight triggers vitamin d3 production in the skin. Artificial lighting is not sufficient to initiate vitamin d synthesis in the skin. Some health experts have even gone so far as to recommend sunbathing in the nude as a means of obtaining healthy amounts of d3.
2. Foods – Food generally has very little to offer in terms if vitamin d3 when compared with sunlight. However there are a few foods that provide small-to-moderate amounts of the nutrient:
• Fish: Not including Cod Liver Oil, since we’re not counting supplements, fish containing vitamin d3 include Herring, Salmon, Mackerel, Tuna, Sardines and Eel.
• Milk and Fortified Foods: Milk supplies small amounts of vitamin d, as do fortified cereals and soy products.
• Eggs: Eggs provide roughly 20 iu (International Units) of vitamin d3 per egg. The nutrient is concentrated in the egg yolk, so one need not eat the entire egg if only seeking to obtain the food-based nutrient.
• Beef Liver: Beef liver can provide trace amounts of vitamin d3.
• Mushrooms: Mushrooms can provide some amount of vitamin d, however, typically mushrooms offer vitamin d2 (ergocalciferol) as opposed to the more valuable cholecalciferol.

A blood test to determine calcidiol (25-hydroxy-vitamin D) levels is a common method used to determine whether one’s vitamin d levels are within healthy range, or if a vitamin d3 deficiency is present. For those who are deficient and averse to taking oral supplements, the above-listed foods along with plenty of sunlight can help correct the problem and restore your immune system to full capacity.