Do You Get Enough Vitamin D?
Do you sometimes feel like you're dragging your butt ten feet behind you? If the answer is yes (😩🙋♂️), you might need to look at your vitamin D. When levels are lower than optimal (70-90), it can affect how you feel and the ability to get results from even the best nutrition and exercise habits.
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What Does Vitamin D Do?
Vitamin D helps with things like immune function, hormone balance, blood sugar regulation and the repair of tissues in the body. Basically, it acts a little like a hormone in the body that makes you feel awesome.
In fact, vitamin D can save your life. A July 2020 study indicates that people with low levels of vitamin D are more likely to become infected with COVID-19. Another recent article reported that Vitamin D is increasingly being looked at as part of COVID-19 treatment protocols.
How Do I Know if I Need More Vitamin D?
Symptoms of vitamin D insufficiency include trouble losing weight, depression, fatigue, hair loss, impaired wound healing, bone loss (osteopenia/osteoporisis), poor immune function, muscle pain and poop that floats (yes, you read that right).
Most people could use more vitamin D, and while it's possible to have too much vitamin D, it is rare. Most people choose to start increasing it to see if they feel better. That said, it's always wise to check your levels. If you are curious about your vitamin D levels, talk to your doctor or order an at-home vitamin D test.
Where Does Vitamin D Come From?
There are 2 ways to get Vitamin D: dietary sources and ultraviolet light, specifically UVB rays.
When sunlight hits our skin, it reacts with a substance called 7-DHC and produces D3 (the active fore of vitamin D, cholecalciferol) from its precursor form, ergocalciferol (known as vitamin D2). Making D3 from D2 requires a few processes to be done in the liver and kidneys, plus exposure to sunlight.
D2 is found in mushrooms, nutritional yeasts and fortified foods, and D3 is found in pastured animal products and fatty fish like salmon, herring and sardines. Try to eat lots of vitamin D-rich foods, but also know that food alone may not cover all the bases. People with a compromised digestive system (sometimes known as leaky gut) can also struggle keeping the vitamin D they get through their diet, even if they are taking in the right amount.
How to Increase Your Vitamin D
Sun exposure. 5-20 minutes full sun exposure without sunscreen. Skin pigmentation makes a difference, so darker skin will need a little more time, and paler skin a little less. Tanning beds can also give the same UV light needed, but with any UV light (including the sun) there is always a heightened risk for skin cancer.
Mushrooms and nutritional yeast (a fungus) are the only vegetable source for Vitamin D2. Some wild mushrooms contain D3, but eating wild mushrooms can be risky.
Animal foods. Egg yolks, cheese, milk, salmon, sardines, pastured beef and pastured pork are great sources for Vitamin D3. Organ meats of these animals are naturally higher in vitamin D3, so be sure to incorporate them if you are an omnivore.
Fortified foods. Many foods are fortified with Vitamin D. Ergocalciferol (D2) is what is used in most fortified foods. Most dairy and non-dairy milk, yogurt, cereals have been fortified with vitamin D. Fortified foods are how most Americans get their vitamin D.
Supplement. Good multivitamins have a baseline of vitamin D3 in them, and should be part of everyone’s self-care routine.
If you are not currently talking vitamins, start with taking a high-quality, pharmaceutical-grade multivitamin that includes vitamin D.
If you need additional vitamin D., take a D3/K2 Liquid. If you were to take 5,000 i.u. every morning, a bottle will last 4 months, which works out to a little over 20 cents a day. Not a bad way to boost immunity and have more energy!
Address gut health. Since compromised guts don't break down fats as well, a fat-soluble vitamin like D can literally slip through the cracks, even if your intake is adequate. Make sure you are thoroughly chewing your food, drinking most of your liquids away from meals, and eat in a way that supports gut health. The topic of gut health can go pretty deep, and solutions can be is as individual as you are, so be on the lookout for more blog posts!
Challenges to Getting Enough Vitamin D
In a perfect world, getting plenty of sun would be the ideal way to support vitamin D synthesis. Unfortunately, modern life rarely gives us the opportunity to run around naked! Our clothing prevents full-body exposure, our jobs keep us inside, and the weather isn’t always great for getting sun.
Be mindful of how much time you need in the sun. Fair-skinned people can get sun burned more easily than those with more pigmentation, while the melanin in darker skin tones blocks some of the ultraviolet light and makes it take longer to synthesize vitamin D.
Since vegetarians and vegans may not have as many sources of dietary vitamin D as omnivores, it is important to get lots of opportunities to boost vitamin D.
Older people also have a hard time making vitamin D, as the skin stops working so well (thanks, aging).
People with a high percentage of body fat also have a harder time absorbing vitamin D (it gets abducted and stored by fat cells).
People with GI issues (Crohn’s or Celiac), as well as people who have had gastric surgery don’t absorb enough vitamin D and should take extra.
For most people, the combination of dietary sources, time outdoors and supplementation is a wise choice.
The K2 Factor
Dietary vitamin D3 works best when it is paired with vitamin K2 (found in dark, leafy greens like kale and Swiss chard) and suspended in a fatty solution (like MCT oil), both of which help with absorption. In fact, the combo of D3 and K2 has been shown to have cardiovascular benefits when taken together.
Additional Considerations
Most people need a baseline of 2,000 i.u. vitamin D per day, but those with less than 15-minutes of large-body-area direct sun exposure per day should consider adding an additional 5,000 i.u. per day. People with known deficiencies usually take more (10,000-15,000 i.u.). If you are considering taking large-dose vitamin D, be sure to consult a health practitioner and get your levels checked quarterly.
If you think your vitamin D may be low, get it tested and see! If you think it might be OK, but want to get all those great Vitamin D benefits, actively work on getting more. Try to increase your outdoor time if possible, eat organ meats, eat fatty cold-water fish and take supplemental vitamin D. For people with a diet that is healthy, compromised gut function may be the root cause of low vitamin D levels.
What to do Next
Get tested if you can, be sure to take a baseline intake of Vitamin D, work on your gut health and get some sunlight regularly! Vitamin D is awesome, so why would you drag ass when you can kick ass?!