OK, so let’s carry on with our discussion about vitamin deficiencies. I am highlighting the most common deficiencies that we see that have significant effects on our overall well-being. If you missed the vitamin B 12 podcast, go back and take a listen. nphealthinterventions.com/12. These are almost like little mini podcast trainings.  There are a lot of functions that these vitamins effect, with potential for a big impact on health by testing and treating them appropriately.  

 

That is what this podcast is all about. It’s health interventions for your practice because we are looking at not just treating diseases but preventing them. And when I say health interventions for your practice that is intervening as a practitioner for improved health outcomes by managing lifestyle, nutrition, vitamins, activity and weight control. 

 

You see, our population is changing rapidly, which means we should always be learning. We cannot just learn once and remain stagnant. What was applicable 20 years ago may no longer apply. The core information we receive in our education is not changing as much as the application of that information is changing. Our current society is obese and malnourished. That really is the basis of much of the information I share with you. How to address the contributors to and effects of the current health status of our patient population in your real-world practice. 

 

Forgive my tangent, but you have probably noticed that I am a bit passionate about this subject and managing the health of my patients and helping you to do the same for yours. Now let’s move onto the topic at hand, vitamin D.

 

You may not know this, but Vitamin D is a Vitamin AND a hormone. 

 

Vitamin D plays a role in so many of the body’s functions. From the immune system, to bone building, to mood, to neurological function.  You name it and vitamin D is there for its function. Did you know that vitamin D deficiency could lead to an increased risk of heart disease? That one is not as well publicized as it is for bone health and mood.

 

Vitamin D also plays a role in hyperparathyroidism, psoriasis, malignancies, periodontal disease, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, weight, asthma, chronic kidney disease, chronic lung disease, type II diabetes, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, PMS, seasonal affect disorder and UTIs. I’m sure that you have noticed several of those disease processes that I mentioned are also inflammatory disease processes. Inflammation is a term that I have used throughout all of these podcast episodes and is part of what we need to manage. And you may be surprised at many of the skills and strategies for managing that inflammation. Just like vitamin D. I’m sure vitamin D never struck you as part of the management for inflammatory processes.

 

Why are we vitamin D deficient? 

 

How, in a world with an overindulgence of food, can we be deficient of a vitamin? Part of the reason is the absorption and conversion of Vitamin D.  

 

-The absorption from external source like the sun can be impaired by limited exposure to the sun and the use of sunscreen. 

-Prescription medications like statins can deplete Vitamin D Vitamin K and CoQ10. 

 

Yes, you have heard me talk before about finding a path to prevention first and foremost in metabolic disorders like hyperlipidemia. If prevention was unsuccessful, the use of lifestyle management to treat rather than pharmaceuticals is Next up.  If pharmaceuticals are already in play, then a goal of reducing the need for them and getting off of them is the goal. They often block very important pathways to our metabolic processes. 

 

Obesity is another contributing factor to the Vitamin D deficiency epidemic.  Research is leaning toward finding if obesity is a cause or effect of Vitamin D deficiency, or if both are equally powerful influences.  There is evidence to suggest that vitamin D3 holds a key position in metabolism with a role in determining if preadipocytes turn into adipocytes. There is also evidence that Adequate vitamin D actually plays a protective role in preventing obesity from nutritional imbalance of the diet by improving fatty acid oxidation which increases adipose apoptosis. Obesity is repeatedly shown to correlate with Vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin d is stored in adipose, therefore, the more adipose, storing Vitamin D the less that is systemic available for use. 

 

 

Vitamin D has an anti-inflammatory effect and is a protective hormone due to this, because, if you follow me, you know that the inflammatory piece is the link to many disorders. 

 

So how do you treat vitamin D deficiency? 

 

I can assure you that is not with vitamin D2. Remember those great big horse pills that were given to patients once per month after a loading dose of once a week for four weeks? 

 

The process is so much more complex than that.  When we take in Vitamin D, from any source, it has to be converted to Vitamin D 3 before it can be utilized as the powerhouse it is via the kidneys. That conversion depends on a functioning system, including the hepatic system. If there is a fatty liver, the conversion gets REAL slow or blocked.  So, when you treat, treat with exogenous sources like sun and food, but also supplement with Vitamin D3, that is already in the usable form to get one step closer action.  I typically start at 5000 iu of ADK. Why ADK? Well that’s another podcast.  You have to keep tuning in! 

 

Vitamin D is just a small piece of this obesity management and prevention strategy.  It is complex, but it is doable!