Vitamin D: The Antidote to Low Energy and Frequent Illness

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Disclaimer: Not medical advice. The following information is for educational purposes only.

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Always feeling low on energy?
Depressed?
Getting sick all the time?
Constant muscle and joint pain?

These are all common signs of Vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D is involved in over 1,000 processes in the body. Being deficient in Vitamin D means your body doesn’t have the resources available to function properly in these 1,000+ different processes, leading to undesirable health issues.

Vitamin D Benefits:

Vitamin D has numerous benefits, including:

Supporting the immune system
Supporting heart health and lung function
Bone health
Reducing inflammation
Regulates insulin for diabetes management

Sun: The Best Source of Vitamin D

When your skin is exposed to the sun, your body naturally produces Vitamin D.

Aim for at least 30 - 60 minutes (1 - 2+ hours would be optimal) of sunlight daily between 10am - 3pm.
Getting sunlight doesn’t need to happen all in one go. You can split it up into morning, midday, and evenings.
Expose as much skin as possible and go inside/use shade when needed so you don’t get burnt
Avoid sunscreen - it blocks Vitamin D production and is usually filled with harmful chemicals
If your skin burns easily, your diet is likely high in processed/refined oils - reduce or eliminate from your diet.

Supplementing:

Due to a busy work schedule (most people work 9am - 5pm), living in a country with limited sunlight, or during winter months, it can be difficult to get enough sunlight exposure. This is where supplements come in handy. Supplement with Vitamin D3 + K2 (MK-7) whenever getting enough sun isn't possible. Vitamin D3 helps the body absorb calcium. Vitamin K2 directs the calcium to the places it's needed most, from arteries -> bones. Without K2, calcium from vitamin D3 supplements can accumulate in the arteries - this is not what you want.

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Vitamin D3: Aim for 40 IU per lbs of body weight to figure out your recommended daily dosage. Example: Bob weighs 150 lbs. Bob requires 6,000 IU daily (150 lbs x 40 IU) Vitamin K2 (MK-7): 100mg - 200mg is sufficient

Quality Supplement Choices:

These are some good supplement choices which don’t contain any harmful ingredients:

1. Liquid Form of D3 + K2:

https://www.vitacost.com/trace-minerals-research-liquid-d3-k2
https://iherb.co/1JD9p99
https://www.vitacost.com/double-wood-supplements-d3-k2-liquid-drops

2. Capsule Form of D3 + K2:

https://iherb.co/hWRug7Dk
https://iherb.co/gcVAcwDy

3. D3 and K2 supplements separately:

Vitamin D3:

https://iherb.co/881utgmv
https://iherb.co/uXVgvU5
https://iherb.co/bG1DYiXm
https://iherb.co/qsMo6Yc

Vitamin K2:

https://iherb.co/weJQ3SC1
https://iherb.co/BzhAZU9r
https://iherb.co/6ARV8bFA

What Are Sufficient Vitamin D Levels?

A good rule of thumb is to aim for 40 IU (International Units) per lbs of bodyweight daily. Example: If Bob weighs 150 lbs, he'll require 6,000 IU per day (150 lbs x 40 IU). Dminder is a useful app to determine how much vitamin D your body produces based on your skin colour, location and different times of the day.

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If you’re doing a blood test, Vitamin D levels between 50 - 100 ng/ml is a healthy range (75 - 100 would be optimal) If you’re in a country that uses nmol/L instead of ng/ml then simply multiply the ng/ml numbers above by 2.5.

What If You’re Deficient?

If you’ve done a blood test and you’re deficient in Vitamin D, increasing your daily IU levels for a few weeks will help you get back into a healthy range.

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Under 30 ng/ml: Aim for 10,000 IU daily for 8 - 12 weeks 30 - 50 ng/ml: Aim for 7,000 - 8,000 IU daily for 8 - 12 weeks Achieve these numbers via sunlight, supplementation or both. Vitamin D Toxicity: Unless you’re taking 50,000 - 100,000 IU of Vitamin D daily for months to years, there’s no need to worry about Vitamin D toxicity. Sources: