Table of Contents
Boost your Absorption of Vitamin D with these 7 effective strategies. Learn how sun exposure, dietary changes, and supplementation can enhance your vitamin D levels for optimal health. Discover expert tips to maximize your body’s ability to absorb this essential nutrient.
Vitamin D deficiency and how to boost Absorption of vitamin D
Today , we’re gonna talk about 7 ways to boost your vitamin d levels .
Why ?
Majority of the planet Earth is low in vitamin d , and vitamin d is so important , not just in bone health , but for immune health , cardiovascular , your blood sugars , and the list goes on and on and on .
In fact , almost every single cell in your body has receptors for vitamin d .
Vitamin D RDAs
And the RDAs , the requirements for vitamin d are way too low .
They’re like 600 IUs .
Now that was based on preventing bone loss , but they didn’t take in consideration all the other functions of vitamin D to protecting against inflammatory conditions , to having an immune system .
And based on all the research and what I’m gonna talk about , I recommend the average person get about 10,000 IUs of vitamin d every single day as a maintenance dosage , especially in in winter .
Now if you’re getting a lot of sun , you definitely don’t need that .
Now at first glance , 10,000 IU seems like a lot of vitamin d .
Well , we’re talking about international units and if we convert this to a micrograms , okay , not grams , not milligrams , but micrograms , It’s 250 micrograms .
That is only 0.25 milligrams .
That’s 1 fourth of 1 milligram .
So that doesn’t sound like very much , does it ?
Vitamin D toxicity
Now as far as the toxicity levels of vitamin d , the studies based on that , and I did a separate video on this , are based on people taking 100 of 1000 of IUs for months .
And the biggest side effect is hypercalcemia , which is too much calcium in your blood , which could increase your risk for kidney stones .
So if you have any thoughts at all about , you know , toxicity levels of vitamin d , just consume 2.5 liters of fluid every single day .
Why ?
Because that will prevent kidney stones .
I mean , that’s really easy to do .
And , also , just don’t take calcium supplements in any large amounts .
So you wouldn’t wanna take the typical one a day with the calcium carbonate .
If you did these two things , you would greatly reduce your chance of the biggest side effect from vitamin d if you’re concerned .
Now when I talk about 10,000 IU of vitamin d , I’m talking about a maintenance dosage .
If you’re trying to use that for certain conditions , I would recommend going up to maybe 20 to 30 to 40000 IUs .
How to get vitamin D
Now the other thing you need to know about vitamin d is these requirements that you need , you just cannot get it from your diet .
You just can’t get it from your foods .
There’s just not enough vitamin d in foods to get what you need .
So you’re really dependent on the sun .
And the sun will give you all the vitamin d you need if you’re out there long enough and if you expose your skin to it because it is a certain wave ultraviolet , rays that interact with your skin that convert the cholesterol into , vitamin d .
Vitamin D absorption
So that being said , let’s just talk about the other barriers that people run into with absorption .
We have body barriers .
We have your stomach pH .
If you don’t have a strong , acidic stomach , you’re not gonna get the vitamin D absorption .
If there’s gut inflammation , that’s gonna be a big , big barrier .
If there’s any problem with your kidneys , let’s say you’re a diabetic , and you have kidney problems , well , the kidney and the liver are 2 organs that help you convert , vitamin d into its active form .
So kidney problems equal low vitamin d .
And , of course , if there’s liver problems , whether you have a fatty liver , hepatitis , or cirrhosis , that can inhibit your absorption of vitamin D .
Not to mention this one right here .
If your liver’s damaged , you’re not gonna make the bile .
Bile is absolutely essential for absorbing vitamin d .
If you have insulin resistance like the majority of the population , you’re not gonna absorb vitamin d .
And , of course , that comes from a high carb diet .
And , of course , if you’re a diabetic , you’re greatly limited with your absorption of vitamin d .
Now more and more people are getting their genetics tested , and there’s a certain condition .
It’s called polymorphism , where the receptor for vitamin d doesn’t really absorb vitamin d too well .
In which case , you just need to take more vitamin d so you can get that tested just to see because I met this gal who got a test , and here she was taking vitamin d , the normal amount of vitamin d , and it wasn’t even working because the receptor wasn’t receiving because there was some genetic defect .
The more weight you have in your body , the less of vitamin d you’re going to get , and the more vitamin d you require .
If you had gastric bypass surgery , your ability to absorb vitamin d is less .
If you have low diversity in your microbiome , you can’t absorb vitamin d as much .
The more stress you have , the less absorption of vitamin D you’re going to have .
So you can see there’s a lot of barriers , but there’s even more .
Let’s say you go on a low fat diet or a low cholesterol diet , or even worse , you’re on medications like statins .
That’s going to limit the raw material that vitamin d is created from .
Now vitamin d is a fat soluble vitamin .
So when you take vitamin d , it might be a good idea to take it with some oil or fat or a meal .
Now , another barrier that people have is they , for some reason , can’t swallow vitamin d capsules .
Let’s say they’re a child or an adult that just can’t get the capsules down .
Now , if you have this problem or you have children that can’t swallow capsules , I have a very good solution .
I put that in the description .
It not only has vitamin D3 , but it also has vitamin K2 , zinc , as well as MCT oil for absorption .
Now the other barrier is skin color .
The darker your skin , the more vitamin D you’re gonna need .
And then we have age .
So your skin gets thicker as you age , and also you absorb less vitamin d .
And your location where you live is important too .
It has to do with latitude .
If you live in the northern part of the planet , not close to the equator , you’re gonna have a difficult time getting enough sun to convert your cholesterol into vitamin D .
And then of course , we have the seasons .
Okay .
You have the winter .
Even if you lay out in the sun in the winter , okay , you’re still not gonna get enough vitamin D , simply because where the sun is in relationship to how much rays that you’re getting .
Vitamin d absorption is also dependent on your magnesium level and your zinc level .
It’s 2 other things that can limit your absorption .
And anytime you take vitamin d 3 , you always wanna take vitamin k 2 because they work together .
Vitamin k 2 keeps the calcium out of the joints and the arteries .
And the last variable that is a big variable is just being outside in the sun enough .
More and more people are inside , especially children , And so that is really why we are deficient .
So let’s take a look at how you can boost your vitamin d levels .
How to boost vitamin D
Get at least 1 hour in the sun every single day .
Of course , not in the winter , but during the day .
And expose your arms and your legs to the sun directly .
That would be a good thing .
Of course , expose your skin , but not to the point of being burned .
Number 2 , take your vitamin d because it’s fat soluble with some fat , some MCT oil , or when you eat a meal .
And also when you eat the meal to get your magnesium and your zinc , make sure you consume food high in magnesium , as in big salads .
Now , of course , with the zinc , you can , get zinc from a trace mineral supplement , or you can get it from shellfish or seafood as well .
Number 3 , go on keto and intermittent fasting so you have more ability to convert into the active form of d 3 .
Also , you have more bile to absorb vitamin d 3 .
Also , you’re gonna decrease insulin resistance and help your absorption .
And you’re gonna lose weight , which is gonna directly increase your ability to absorb more vitamin d .
Not to mention , you reduce your gut inflammation from the fasting and absorb more vitamin d .
So this is very , very important .
Number 4 , consume more fatty fish on a regular basis and or cod liver oil .
The cool thing about cod liver oil compared to , like , fish supplements is that cod liver oil not only has the omega 3 fatty acids , but it has vitamin a and vitamin d .
So it’s unique in that it’s different than fish oils .
Fish oils don’t have vitamin d .
Fatty fish does , but not fish oils .
So that’s why I recommend the cod liver oil .
Number 5 , if you take vitamin d in a liquid form , it tends to absorb better , especially if there’s gut issues , if there’s stomach issues , and there’s intestinal issues .
And I will put a link down below in the description for a good brand .
Number 6 .If you have a genetic factor related to , the receptor for vitamin d , the only solution you have is just to take higher quantities .
So you wouldn’t take 10,000 IUs , you would probably take 30,000 IUs as your maintenance dosage .
And number 7 , increase more bile .
Generally speaking , if you have more bile , you can absorb more vitamin D .
Now , how do you do that ?
Well , you can either take a purified bile salt product or you can do things to the liver to increase the bile
DATA:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20200983
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key Points:
Factors that can negatively affect vitamin D absorption:
• Low stomach pH
• Gut inflammation
• Kidney problems
• Liver problems
• Bile deficiency
• Insulin resistance
• Polymorphism
• Obesity
• Gastric bypass surgery
• Low diversity of microbes
• High stress
• A low-fat diet
• Certain medications
• Inability to swallow large capsules
• Darker skin types
• Age
• Living further from the equator
• The winter months
• Low magnesium, zinc, or K2
• Not spending enough time outdoors
The best ways to boost vitamin D:
- Get one hour of sun per day
- Take vitamin D with fat or a meal that contains enough magnesium and zinc
- Do keto and intermittent fasting
- Consume more fatty fish or cod liver oil
- Take vitamin D in liquid form
- Consume more vitamin D (if a genetic factor is preventing absorption)
- Increase your bile