I’m so glad you mentioned about your nails Dr Nass. I have never had fingernails, they would break, split and just never grow. I lived by the beach and was constantly in the sun but couldn’t grow my nails. Like you, I was late to the party and just started taking Vitamin D during COVID. For the first time in my life I have strong fingernails and am very rarely sick. Anecdotal evidence like that shouldn’t be ignored. Thank you.
Yes, Gaia Hair Skin and Nails. Plus collagen and I take Vit D and in high dose for three days along with high K2 if think I may be starting to come down with something. Along with more C . Zinc, Quercetin and Niacin etc.
The biggest single easily correctable cause of ill-health is that most people have only half or less of the circulating 50 ng/mL (125 nmol/L = 1 part in 20,000,000 by mass) 25-hydroxyvitamin D (as mentioned in "vitamin D" blood tests) their immune system needs to function properly.
There is very little vitamin D3 in food - fortified or not - or in multivitamins. Ultraviolet B exposure of ideally white skin can produce significant amounts of vitamin D3, but this is not available naturally in sufficient quantities except from high elevation sunlight on cloud-free days, without passing through glass, sunscreen or clothing. All such UV-B damages DNA and so raises the risk of skin cancer.
Fortunately, vitamin D3 supplementation is inexpensive, safe and readily available in quantities which are sufficient to attain at least 50 ng/mL circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D. Almost everyone in the world should be supplementing vitamin D3 properly. (The exceptions are those who get so much UV-B skin exposure all year round that their 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels are 50 ng/mL or more - and they would be at less risk of skin cancer by reducing their UV-B exposure and supplementing vitamin D3 properly.)
50 ng/mL 25-hydroxyvitamin D only be attained with vitamin D3 supplementation in quantities well above the ca. 0.02 milligram, 20 microgram, 800 IU / day recommended by governments and many doctors. For 70 kg 154 lb body weight without obesity, 0.125 milligrams 125 micrograms 5000 IU vitamin D3 a day is a good amount. Approximately 1/4 of ingested vitamin D3 is hydroxylated, primarily in the liver, over several days to a week, and will attain at least the 50 ng/mL level of circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D the immune system needs to function properly. This takes 3 to 6 months to build up a steady level.
For clinical emergencies, average weight adults should take a bolus (large, single) oral dose of ca. 10 mg 400,000 IU vitamin D3 cholecalciferol. This will raise their level of circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D safely over 50 ng/mL 125 nmol/L over (very approximately) 4 days or so.
The best approach, as recommended by Prof. Wimalawansa, is a single oral dose of calcifediol (which *is* 25-hydroxyvitamin D): 14 milligrams per kg body weight. For average weight adults, this is 1 milligram. This goes straight into circulation and so raises the circulating level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D safely over 50 ng/mL in 4 hours or so. Unfortunately, most people - doctors and pharmacists included - don't have a milligram of calcifediol ready to use, so the best approach for most people who have normal, unsupplemented, or poorly supplemented - and so low (e.g. 15 to 25 ng/mL) 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels - who have contracted sepsis, COVID-19, influenza, Kawasaki disease, MIS-C etc. is bolus vitamin D3.
"5000 International Units" of vitamin D3 a day, on average, sounds like a lot. An IU of vitamin D3 is 1/40,000,000 of a gram. 5000 IUs a day, on average, is a gram every 22 years - and pharma-grade vitamin D3 costs about USD$2.50 a gram, ex-factory.
I am 67kg and supplement, on average, ca. 8000 IU a day. This is somewhat more than Prof. Wimalawansa recommends. My 25-hydroxyvitamin D level was around 96 ng/mL 240 nmol/L earlier this year. This is enough for many doctors to need an anxiolytic and to recommend that I stop supplementing entirely for while. They have not read the pertinent research, including on how the risk of dementia rises in direct proportion to how low the person's 25-hydroxyvitamin D level is: https://vitamindstopscovid.info/00-evi/#3.3.
Most doctors follow advice that 20 ng/mL (50 nmol/L) or perhaps 30 ng/mL (75 nmol/L) circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D is sufficient for good health - but that is just for the kidneys ability to regulate calcium-phosphate-bone metabolism. The immune system needs at least 50 ng/mL 125 nmol/L to function properly, because many types of immune cell need a good supply of 25-hydroxyvitamin D to run their intracrine (inside each cell) and paracrine (to nearby cells, usually of different types) signaling systems. These signaling systems are not related to hormonal (long distance, blood-borne, signaling AKA endocrine signaling). Neither vitamin D3 nor 25-hydroxyvitamin D are signalling molecules. They never act as hormones.
25-hydroxyvitamin D -> calcitriol intracrine signaling enables an individual cell (including many types of immune cell, such as dendritic cells, macrophages and Th1 regulatory lymphocytes) to change their behaviour rapidly and fully in response to their changing circumstances. These mechanisms have never been explained in a tutorial fashion in the peer-reviewed literature. For such an explanation please see the above-linked page, or for more detail: https://vitamindstopscovid.info/02-intracrine/. Only a very tiny fraction of doctors or immunologists understand or have even heard of these systems.
Different cell types detect different conditions - for instance, for Th1 cells, the presence of a high level of a complement protein. This causes the cell to produce, in its cytoplasm, the 1-hydroxylase enzyme and the "vitamin D receptor" molecule, which is really the calcitriol receptor, since it binds very strongly to calcitriol, and only weakly to vitamin D3 or 25-hydroxyvitamin D.
Assuming there is a good supply of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in the cytoplasm (it diffuses there from the bloodstream) the enzyme rapidly hydroxylates these molecules on the number 1 carbon to convert them into calcitriol (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D). These bind to the "vitamin D" receptor molecule and the bound complex finds its way to the nucleus where it binds with the "retinol X" molecule. This triple complex then alters the transcription of hundreds of genes to messenger RNA molecules which control the cell's protein manufacture and so its behaviour. Dozens to hundreds of genes are copied more frequently and dozens to hundreds less frequently.
The pattern of up- and down-regulation differs from one cell type to the next. For Th1 regulatory lymphocytes, the response to full completion of this intracrine signaling system is that their initial, startup, program of producing more of a pro-inflammatory cytokine and less of an anti-inflammatory cytokine is reversed: the cell enters its anti-inflammatory shutdown program. In macrophages, this intracrine signaling system is triggered by a completely different condition and results in completely different changes in gene transcription and so in cell behaviour.
Chauss et al. 2021 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41590-021-01080-3 elucidated this 25-hydroxyvitamin D -> calcitriol intracrine signaling system in Th1 cells from the lungs of hospitalised COVID-19 patients. (They somewhat incorrectly referred to it as "autocrine" signaling, in which the receptor for the intracellularly produced signaling compound is on the outside of the cell membrane, which is not the case.) These cells successfully detected the high level of complement protein, but they remained inflammatory indefinitely due to the failure of the 25-hydroxyvitamin D -> calcitriol intracrine signaling system. This failure was largely or wholly due to inadequate supplies of 25-hydroxyvitamin D.
Low 25-hydroxyvitamin D greatly increases the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infecting the lungs AND it increase the risk of the self-destructive inflammation (indiscriminate cell destruction, such as by eosinophils - the suicide bombers of the immune system). It is this inflammation in the lungs which killed most COVID-19 sufferers - the destruction of cells leads to fluid in the lungs and, most importantly, to the body recognising destruction of endothelial cells in the blood vessels and capillaries as a sign of vascular damage. This leads to the blood becoming hypercoagulative in order to plug the presumed leaks - but this causes clots in the lungs, heart, brain, spinal cord and all other organs, which is what killed most people.
Chauss et al. explained this in detail in 2021 and it should have lead to global adoption of proper vitamin D3 supplementation and rapid treatment with calcifediol. However, most doctors could not - and still cannot - believe that a simple, well-known, unpatented, inexpensive well-researched (though not well explained or widely understood), and easily obtainable *nutrient* could be so important in the midst of a pandemic.
Vitamin D has to be the universal panacea. When you consider that we evolved in sub-tropical/tropical climates where sunshine would have been abundant largely on a daily basis, what we have now is woefully inadequate , certainly on a daily basis ,if you live north or south of about 40 degrees of the equator. However, humans have adapted - with fairer skins, thus less melanin to block UV rays, and we -obviously - survived as a species. One of the things that interests me is the adaptation of the Inuits, who get zero sunlight for 6 months of the year, and when they do get it, it is weak and the temperature is so cold they are not going to be doing too much sunbathing.
So, one can only assume they get all their Vit D from food (fish/seal blubber etc). Which indicates that the rest of us can too.
But I have read recently (Mercola, I think) that there is something about the sunlight on skin mechanism of Vit D creation being more beneficial; it provides something additional ( I need to re-research this).
Anyway,
1. I would think that Inuits would be an interesting research project.
2. the ongoing "weather manipulation"/ sunlight "dimming" going on really does not bode well at all - especially for those in higher latitudes. Surely the people behind this cannot be totally oblivious to the fact that they are depriving humans of the crucial nutrient that we all need for optimal health!!!
So, considering that the globalists MUST KNOW that Human-created Climate Change is a BIG SCAM, one has to conclude that this particular result of their "dimming"/contrails agenda is an added "benefit" !!!!!
Hi JayD, I had wondered about the Inuit, but had not looked for any research. Google Scholar turns up quite a few articles for a search on:
Inuit "vitamin D"
I assume they are not taking much in the way of proper vitamin D3 supplements, or probably even multivitamins with perhaps 5 or 10 micrograms of vitamin D3 per capsule.
This article: "Food insecurity, vitamin D insufficiency and respiratory infections among Inuit children", Tse et al 2016, International Journal of Circumpolar Health, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3402/ijch.v75.29954, reports on 3 to 5 year olds in Nunavut, Canada. Smokers in the house: 89.4%. In utero smoke exposure: 81.4%. Active hunter in the household: 69.3%.
25-hydroxyvitamin D level: mean 48.4 nmol/L == 19.4 ng/mL. Inter-quartile range: 25% had 33.1 nmol/L == 13.2 ng/mL or less and 25% had 71.8 ng/mL == 28.7 ng/mL.
So the Inuit are surviving, not thriving at all. 29% had had a severe chest infection before the age of 2.
Some other articles refers to "vitamin D rich" foods, but there is no such thing regarding attaining 50 ng/mL circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D. The term is only valid regarding avoiding the very low 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels which cause rickets - not for enabling the immune system to work properly.
I recently learned about some research into sulfated 25OHD, which seems to be another way that the body maintains vit D. Not sure about half-life or levels or how it's used metabolically yet. It's mostly sulfated in the liver and small intestine--very little is sulfated in the skin.
"Thus, circulating concentrations of 25OHD3-3-O-sulfate appear to be protected from rapid renal elimination, raising the possibility that the sulfate metabolite may serve as a reservoir of 25OHD3 in vivo, and contribute indirectly to the biologic effects of vitamin D."
Thanks for this link to Wong et al. 2017. Research into the low-level molecular details of the various "vitamin D" compounds is complex and would take a lot of work to keep up with. I don't have the time or the deep cell-biology expertise to read such research in detail, but some of it surely will turn out to be important to human health. I concentrate on the three primary compounds which are clearly important and the central role of intracrine signaling in how most types of cell use these compounds. This is hardly known to anyone outside researchers who specialise in the molecular side of things. For instance, many people who write research articles on the health aspects of "vitamin D" have never heard of intracrine signaling. Many of them therefore wrongly assume that boosting 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels boosts the very low level of circulating, hormonal, calcitriol level (fractions of a ng/mL) the kidneys maintain (which it does, to a small degree) and that this boosted calcitriol level somehow "boosts the immune system".
In my explanations, for simplicity, I also ignore the three compounds, when in the blood stream, largely being bound by the "vitamin D binding protein" and to a lesser extent by albumin proteins. I also ignore genetic variations in this protein and in the "vitamin D" receptor molecule.
I haven't been able to get the PDF of Wong et al. They refer to ordinary, unsulphated, 25-hydroxyvitamin D being rapidly eliminated by the kidneys, but I don't think this is the case. Google Scholar reports 45 citing articles. It would take a lot of work to figure out exactly what they are observing and what this might mean in the broader context.
I am 76 y/o and unvaxx’d. At the start of the scamdemic, I took 10K IU’s of Vitamin D3 for a couple of years and developed itchy skin. When I learned itchiness was a possible side effect of excess Vitamin D3, I lowered it to 5K IU’s and the itchiness went away. The benefits definitely outweighed the risk! When I tested positive for Covid, the symptoms were very mild and I never caught the flu or any colds again. 🙏🏼
Yes, I took Innovixlab Full Spectrum K2 with both MK4 and Trans MK7 in it. I am 5’3 and my BMI is less than 20 - my MD had warned me previously 10K IU’s a day of Vitamin D was a bit excessive for my body size. LOL - more is not always best as in my case 🙏🏻
The house doctor on Fox News back in the 1990s decided to test all of his patients for vitamin D levels. He found that over 60% were deficient and a majority were severely deficient.
I asked my doctor to check mine and I guess he was a Fox News viewer because he said that he was already going to test all his patients. I came up deficient and my wife was severely deficient. We’ve both been supplementing ever since.
Yes, and does everyone know that statins can cause spontaneous rupture of ligaments, tendons, and muscle? Look up "rhabdomylosis" for a fun read on how muscles can break down so fast that they clog up the liver and you die! Yes, rare, but still a real risk. Sure, "enlightened" nutritionists point out that they deplete the body of coenzyme Q 10 and recommend supplementation to prevent these dangers, but the bottom line is still that cholesterol is a false flag designed to increase profits. As Dr. Arthur C. Guyton of _Medical Physiology_ fame once quipped, "Without sufficient cholesterol we would all be dead."
Plus our brains need cholesterol!! My dad got dementia from taking statins. By the time I got involved with his healthcare he was on them 25 years. I immediately weaned him off of them which at least stopped any further deterioration. I’ve spoken to everyone I know about not taking it. It’s a multi-billion dollar business and one of the most prescribed drugs!!!! Insurers push it too!! It’s amazing all the people being prescribed these toxic pills for borderline cholesterol that a diet modification can correct!!!
What amazing that they aren’t even interested in getting it like the rest of us who care about our health and that of our family!! I had bad reactions to asthma medications when I was ages 14-19 and learned quickly the doctors don’t have the common sense to check the medications they prescribe to see if they are causing reactions, instead they prescribe another drug with the toxic one!! Thank God I learned about supplements at 19 and quit all the drugs and injections that made me worse! I’ve never taken another asthma medication and have been fine fifty years later! I also bought a physician drug reference to understand the crap they were giving me! Now at least it’s available online.
I did not know that. My husband has got brain damage and so is a prime candidate for dementia. His wise (not) doc. put him on statins... he knows he's got a TBI! He was put on Lithium until his psych doc (yes, his head doc) saw they made him shake and took him off them, she was the only one who cared enough! My hubby just does everything these idiots tell him! The moral of this tale is QUESTION EVERYTHING AND FOLLOW YOUR INTUITION, which we all have but we have been constantly propagandised to think it is bs that it tells us and not to listen to it!
Yes, that's what "they" say. What you may not have noticed is their phrase "in processed foods." Processing is the problem. Cooking is not "processing" per se. For example, commercial egg powder is a problem, whereas eggs themselves -- the richest food source of lecithin -- are not a problem simply because the lecithin in them disperses the cholesterol for proper digestion. Remember, eating foods containing naturally occurring cholesterols does not move those cholesterols into the blood. It has to be disassembled in order to be adsorbed, and then it's no longer cholesterol, oxidized or otherwise.
Why am not surprised! Another reason never to take them. Thanks, I will pass on to a friend who was recently prescribed. I am trying to get her off them!
Statins rarely help women I have read. The UK NHS website mentions treating the thyroid optimally before embarking on statins. Before the invention of statins the thyroid was treated if cholesterol was raised. Our brains need cholesterol so why block it ?
That's a "whole nuther thread" (GRIN). Seems that despite FDA requirements for iodine (the wrong form) in salt, a lot of weight gain and split ends can be traced back to iodine deficiency. It's simply not in the soil in the Midwest, and "progressive" farming techniques make it even hard to acquire where it is present. Add to that the hype that salt is bad for you and the fact that research shows that low-salt diets reduce life span, and you have a great way to achieve population reduction!
They’ve been working on that depopulation for too many years! I’ve ignored the salt is bad, the eggs are bad, red meat, etc., etc. Trying to reprogram family members who believed it. All my eggs and meats are pastured and grass fed. We raise our own layers and they eat organic, with lots of fresh vegetables and fruits too! At least I’ve gotten family and friends off the statins, or they told their doctors…no!
Been advocating it since COVID. 50 was optimum as far as immunity against COVID, higher levels have other beneficial effects including anti cancer and other preventative and therapeutic benefits
Oil gets rancid after prolonged exposure to air. Some get rancid faster obviously but are not inherently rancid. There are limited options of oils with reasonable Omega 3/6 ratios and flax seed is one of the better ones.
But flax, from what I understand, is more prone to rancidity. I feel that cod liver oil would be the best for Omega 3 and the active form of Vitamin A and D - as we get enough Omega 6's in our diet - if you use a chronometer, you can see how much Omega 6 you are ingesting -
The problem is we need more Omega 3. Fish oil is fine, fish liver oil is fine as a supplement for A and Omega 3 but only has enough Vitamin-D3 to prevent Rickets unless you approach toxic Vitamin-A doses. Vitamin-A is much easier to overdose and deficiency is less common than Vitmamin-D3.
As a vegetarian I don't do fish oils so make do with what I can. Vitamin-D3 I get industrial from lanolin (sheep wool fat is the precursor but vegan forms have come on the market with the precursor sourced from northern litchen and east Australian seaweed).
I am reasonably sure that everyone on a western diet gets more Omega 6 than they need and too little Omega 3.
I try to fight the little battles that I can win.
If you grind linseed/flax seed and mix with yoghurt, smoothie, etc then it does not have time to go rancid. If you plan to use artists linseed oil then it probably is on the way to rancid already, boiled linseed oil is 'rancid' by design but is still able to oxidise further and air harden as used in traditional oil paints and varnish ingredients.
Here is a reasonable step by step of the Vitamin-D3 process. It does neglect paracrine and autocrine signalling (via hydroxylation in other cells) that affect out immune function and so much more and the direct benefits to endothelial cells from the Vitamin Form and the increased gene expression when serum levels are higher as well as the critical need for magnesium in producing many of the required hormones. The Hormone/active form is what boosts out calcium absorption and is controlled by the Parathyroid hormone levels.
* Vitamin-D3/VD3/cholecalciferol + 25-hydroxylase enzyme mostly in liver =
* storage form/calcifediol/calcidiol/25(OH)D3 + 1-alpha-hydroxylase enzyme mostly in the kidneys =
* hormone/active form/calcitriol/1,25(OH)2D3
You can follow some of the links at the top of this page and read the other stuff to get to speed with the benefits against covid and other upper airway infections.
I'm glad the message about vitamin D is spreading. Thank you Meryl. My belief, is that the 'evil ones' have been purposely starving the population of vitamin D for decades; beginning when the scare campaigns about skin cancer and melanoma began saturating the air-waves back in the early 1980's. Here in Australia, everything was "slip, slop and slap" with sunscreen, plus, stay out of the sun as much as possible - and when in the sun, cover your entire body with clothing. Then, skin cancer clinics began popping up in every suburb across the country. At the time, I recall discussing the issue with a 'good doctor' friend, who informed me of the importance of vitamin D, particularly via sunlight - and that being deficient greatly increased the chances of being diagnosed with melanoma due to a weakened immune system.
This website is useful as it looks at al the various treatments for COVID. It shows many things are helpful. I've yet to see the Big Pharma establishment attack this website.
Lots of good comments here, with which I agree. I get lots of sunlight year round, avoiding burns, and take 5000 IU of D3 per day (and K2), so my late-summer vitamin-D levels run upper 70s to upper 80s.
My eye doctor insisted I take 4,000 units a day a bit over 20 years ago. In the last 13 years, I've been sick twice. A cold over 10 years ago, and a very mild flu in March 2019. No covid or anything since. Prior to 13 years ago I don't recall being sick, but before D3 at least one cold a year. Never figured it was the D3 until covid.
Despite this graph being from 07. I find it most accurate as a FNP. Unfortunately the newest lit tells us to stop testing and rx ! I dont buy any of it. Test and tx. The majority of our population is deficient
I’m so glad you mentioned about your nails Dr Nass. I have never had fingernails, they would break, split and just never grow. I lived by the beach and was constantly in the sun but couldn’t grow my nails. Like you, I was late to the party and just started taking Vitamin D during COVID. For the first time in my life I have strong fingernails and am very rarely sick. Anecdotal evidence like that shouldn’t be ignored. Thank you.
I'm going to be working with GrassrootsHealth - they have great Vitamin D information. My D level is 86 ng/ml
I think this was written by reader Noel Taylor - Dr. Nass is passing it on. Biotin, Keratin, hydrolyzed collagen are good for nail growth.
No, it was me
sorry, read it wrong.
Yes, Gaia Hair Skin and Nails. Plus collagen and I take Vit D and in high dose for three days along with high K2 if think I may be starting to come down with something. Along with more C . Zinc, Quercetin and Niacin etc.
I take vitamin D3 5,000 IU and K2 and quercetin and zinc,Vitamin C and B12. D3 and K2 are a powerful together
The biggest single easily correctable cause of ill-health is that most people have only half or less of the circulating 50 ng/mL (125 nmol/L = 1 part in 20,000,000 by mass) 25-hydroxyvitamin D (as mentioned in "vitamin D" blood tests) their immune system needs to function properly.
Please read the research articles cited and discussed at: https://vitamindstopscovid.info/00-evi/ .
There is very little vitamin D3 in food - fortified or not - or in multivitamins. Ultraviolet B exposure of ideally white skin can produce significant amounts of vitamin D3, but this is not available naturally in sufficient quantities except from high elevation sunlight on cloud-free days, without passing through glass, sunscreen or clothing. All such UV-B damages DNA and so raises the risk of skin cancer.
Fortunately, vitamin D3 supplementation is inexpensive, safe and readily available in quantities which are sufficient to attain at least 50 ng/mL circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D. Almost everyone in the world should be supplementing vitamin D3 properly. (The exceptions are those who get so much UV-B skin exposure all year round that their 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels are 50 ng/mL or more - and they would be at less risk of skin cancer by reducing their UV-B exposure and supplementing vitamin D3 properly.)
50 ng/mL 25-hydroxyvitamin D only be attained with vitamin D3 supplementation in quantities well above the ca. 0.02 milligram, 20 microgram, 800 IU / day recommended by governments and many doctors. For 70 kg 154 lb body weight without obesity, 0.125 milligrams 125 micrograms 5000 IU vitamin D3 a day is a good amount. Approximately 1/4 of ingested vitamin D3 is hydroxylated, primarily in the liver, over several days to a week, and will attain at least the 50 ng/mL level of circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D the immune system needs to function properly. This takes 3 to 6 months to build up a steady level.
https://vitamindstopscovid.info/00-evi/#00-how-much and https://nutritionmatters.substack.com/p/how-much-vitamin-d3-to-take includes New Jersey based Professor of Medicine Prof. Sunil Wimalawansa's recommendations https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/14/2997 for vitamin D3 supplemental intake to attain at least the 50 ng/mL (125 nmol/L) circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D, which the immune system needs to function properly, with no risk of toxicity and without the need for blood tests or medical monitoring. This depends on body weight and obesity status.
For clinical emergencies, average weight adults should take a bolus (large, single) oral dose of ca. 10 mg 400,000 IU vitamin D3 cholecalciferol. This will raise their level of circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D safely over 50 ng/mL 125 nmol/L over (very approximately) 4 days or so.
The best approach, as recommended by Prof. Wimalawansa, is a single oral dose of calcifediol (which *is* 25-hydroxyvitamin D): 14 milligrams per kg body weight. For average weight adults, this is 1 milligram. This goes straight into circulation and so raises the circulating level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D safely over 50 ng/mL in 4 hours or so. Unfortunately, most people - doctors and pharmacists included - don't have a milligram of calcifediol ready to use, so the best approach for most people who have normal, unsupplemented, or poorly supplemented - and so low (e.g. 15 to 25 ng/mL) 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels - who have contracted sepsis, COVID-19, influenza, Kawasaki disease, MIS-C etc. is bolus vitamin D3.
"5000 International Units" of vitamin D3 a day, on average, sounds like a lot. An IU of vitamin D3 is 1/40,000,000 of a gram. 5000 IUs a day, on average, is a gram every 22 years - and pharma-grade vitamin D3 costs about USD$2.50 a gram, ex-factory.
I am 67kg and supplement, on average, ca. 8000 IU a day. This is somewhat more than Prof. Wimalawansa recommends. My 25-hydroxyvitamin D level was around 96 ng/mL 240 nmol/L earlier this year. This is enough for many doctors to need an anxiolytic and to recommend that I stop supplementing entirely for while. They have not read the pertinent research, including on how the risk of dementia rises in direct proportion to how low the person's 25-hydroxyvitamin D level is: https://vitamindstopscovid.info/00-evi/#3.3.
Most doctors follow advice that 20 ng/mL (50 nmol/L) or perhaps 30 ng/mL (75 nmol/L) circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D is sufficient for good health - but that is just for the kidneys ability to regulate calcium-phosphate-bone metabolism. The immune system needs at least 50 ng/mL 125 nmol/L to function properly, because many types of immune cell need a good supply of 25-hydroxyvitamin D to run their intracrine (inside each cell) and paracrine (to nearby cells, usually of different types) signaling systems. These signaling systems are not related to hormonal (long distance, blood-borne, signaling AKA endocrine signaling). Neither vitamin D3 nor 25-hydroxyvitamin D are signalling molecules. They never act as hormones.
25-hydroxyvitamin D -> calcitriol intracrine signaling enables an individual cell (including many types of immune cell, such as dendritic cells, macrophages and Th1 regulatory lymphocytes) to change their behaviour rapidly and fully in response to their changing circumstances. These mechanisms have never been explained in a tutorial fashion in the peer-reviewed literature. For such an explanation please see the above-linked page, or for more detail: https://vitamindstopscovid.info/02-intracrine/. Only a very tiny fraction of doctors or immunologists understand or have even heard of these systems.
Different cell types detect different conditions - for instance, for Th1 cells, the presence of a high level of a complement protein. This causes the cell to produce, in its cytoplasm, the 1-hydroxylase enzyme and the "vitamin D receptor" molecule, which is really the calcitriol receptor, since it binds very strongly to calcitriol, and only weakly to vitamin D3 or 25-hydroxyvitamin D.
Assuming there is a good supply of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in the cytoplasm (it diffuses there from the bloodstream) the enzyme rapidly hydroxylates these molecules on the number 1 carbon to convert them into calcitriol (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D). These bind to the "vitamin D" receptor molecule and the bound complex finds its way to the nucleus where it binds with the "retinol X" molecule. This triple complex then alters the transcription of hundreds of genes to messenger RNA molecules which control the cell's protein manufacture and so its behaviour. Dozens to hundreds of genes are copied more frequently and dozens to hundreds less frequently.
The pattern of up- and down-regulation differs from one cell type to the next. For Th1 regulatory lymphocytes, the response to full completion of this intracrine signaling system is that their initial, startup, program of producing more of a pro-inflammatory cytokine and less of an anti-inflammatory cytokine is reversed: the cell enters its anti-inflammatory shutdown program. In macrophages, this intracrine signaling system is triggered by a completely different condition and results in completely different changes in gene transcription and so in cell behaviour.
Chauss et al. 2021 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41590-021-01080-3 elucidated this 25-hydroxyvitamin D -> calcitriol intracrine signaling system in Th1 cells from the lungs of hospitalised COVID-19 patients. (They somewhat incorrectly referred to it as "autocrine" signaling, in which the receptor for the intracellularly produced signaling compound is on the outside of the cell membrane, which is not the case.) These cells successfully detected the high level of complement protein, but they remained inflammatory indefinitely due to the failure of the 25-hydroxyvitamin D -> calcitriol intracrine signaling system. This failure was largely or wholly due to inadequate supplies of 25-hydroxyvitamin D.
Low 25-hydroxyvitamin D greatly increases the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infecting the lungs AND it increase the risk of the self-destructive inflammation (indiscriminate cell destruction, such as by eosinophils - the suicide bombers of the immune system). It is this inflammation in the lungs which killed most COVID-19 sufferers - the destruction of cells leads to fluid in the lungs and, most importantly, to the body recognising destruction of endothelial cells in the blood vessels and capillaries as a sign of vascular damage. This leads to the blood becoming hypercoagulative in order to plug the presumed leaks - but this causes clots in the lungs, heart, brain, spinal cord and all other organs, which is what killed most people.
Chauss et al. explained this in detail in 2021 and it should have lead to global adoption of proper vitamin D3 supplementation and rapid treatment with calcifediol. However, most doctors could not - and still cannot - believe that a simple, well-known, unpatented, inexpensive well-researched (though not well explained or widely understood), and easily obtainable *nutrient* could be so important in the midst of a pandemic.
Vitamin D has to be the universal panacea. When you consider that we evolved in sub-tropical/tropical climates where sunshine would have been abundant largely on a daily basis, what we have now is woefully inadequate , certainly on a daily basis ,if you live north or south of about 40 degrees of the equator. However, humans have adapted - with fairer skins, thus less melanin to block UV rays, and we -obviously - survived as a species. One of the things that interests me is the adaptation of the Inuits, who get zero sunlight for 6 months of the year, and when they do get it, it is weak and the temperature is so cold they are not going to be doing too much sunbathing.
So, one can only assume they get all their Vit D from food (fish/seal blubber etc). Which indicates that the rest of us can too.
But I have read recently (Mercola, I think) that there is something about the sunlight on skin mechanism of Vit D creation being more beneficial; it provides something additional ( I need to re-research this).
Anyway,
1. I would think that Inuits would be an interesting research project.
2. the ongoing "weather manipulation"/ sunlight "dimming" going on really does not bode well at all - especially for those in higher latitudes. Surely the people behind this cannot be totally oblivious to the fact that they are depriving humans of the crucial nutrient that we all need for optimal health!!!
So, considering that the globalists MUST KNOW that Human-created Climate Change is a BIG SCAM, one has to conclude that this particular result of their "dimming"/contrails agenda is an added "benefit" !!!!!
Keep taking the D3/K2 supplements
Hi JayD, I had wondered about the Inuit, but had not looked for any research. Google Scholar turns up quite a few articles for a search on:
Inuit "vitamin D"
I assume they are not taking much in the way of proper vitamin D3 supplements, or probably even multivitamins with perhaps 5 or 10 micrograms of vitamin D3 per capsule.
This article: "Food insecurity, vitamin D insufficiency and respiratory infections among Inuit children", Tse et al 2016, International Journal of Circumpolar Health, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3402/ijch.v75.29954, reports on 3 to 5 year olds in Nunavut, Canada. Smokers in the house: 89.4%. In utero smoke exposure: 81.4%. Active hunter in the household: 69.3%.
25-hydroxyvitamin D level: mean 48.4 nmol/L == 19.4 ng/mL. Inter-quartile range: 25% had 33.1 nmol/L == 13.2 ng/mL or less and 25% had 71.8 ng/mL == 28.7 ng/mL.
So the Inuit are surviving, not thriving at all. 29% had had a severe chest infection before the age of 2.
Some other articles refers to "vitamin D rich" foods, but there is no such thing regarding attaining 50 ng/mL circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D. The term is only valid regarding avoiding the very low 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels which cause rickets - not for enabling the immune system to work properly.
In comments on another Substack article, Graham Wells asked about whether sunlight - and so UV-B - exposure of skin is the best way to obtain vitamin D3. This is a very common belief but I have no reason to think it is true. He takes 0.2 mg 8000 IU vitamin D3 a day, with vitamin K2, so he is doing fine. Please see his question : https://philipmcmillan.substack.com/p/geert-is-bowing-out-now-2024-what/comment/61186445 and my long reply: https://philipmcmillan.substack.com/p/geert-is-bowing-out-now-2024-what/comment/61205032.
I recently learned about some research into sulfated 25OHD, which seems to be another way that the body maintains vit D. Not sure about half-life or levels or how it's used metabolically yet. It's mostly sulfated in the liver and small intestine--very little is sulfated in the skin.
"Thus, circulating concentrations of 25OHD3-3-O-sulfate appear to be protected from rapid renal elimination, raising the possibility that the sulfate metabolite may serve as a reservoir of 25OHD3 in vivo, and contribute indirectly to the biologic effects of vitamin D."
https://dmd.aspetjournals.org/content/46/4/367.abstract
Thanks for this link to Wong et al. 2017. Research into the low-level molecular details of the various "vitamin D" compounds is complex and would take a lot of work to keep up with. I don't have the time or the deep cell-biology expertise to read such research in detail, but some of it surely will turn out to be important to human health. I concentrate on the three primary compounds which are clearly important and the central role of intracrine signaling in how most types of cell use these compounds. This is hardly known to anyone outside researchers who specialise in the molecular side of things. For instance, many people who write research articles on the health aspects of "vitamin D" have never heard of intracrine signaling. Many of them therefore wrongly assume that boosting 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels boosts the very low level of circulating, hormonal, calcitriol level (fractions of a ng/mL) the kidneys maintain (which it does, to a small degree) and that this boosted calcitriol level somehow "boosts the immune system".
In my explanations, for simplicity, I also ignore the three compounds, when in the blood stream, largely being bound by the "vitamin D binding protein" and to a lesser extent by albumin proteins. I also ignore genetic variations in this protein and in the "vitamin D" receptor molecule.
I haven't been able to get the PDF of Wong et al. They refer to ordinary, unsulphated, 25-hydroxyvitamin D being rapidly eliminated by the kidneys, but I don't think this is the case. Google Scholar reports 45 citing articles. It would take a lot of work to figure out exactly what they are observing and what this might mean in the broader context.
Ditto. Plus NAC, Niacin 50mg at one time & full Methyl B complex incl (B6, B9, B12) & Choline. Plus Selenium or a few Brazil nuts per day
Same here and feeling great!
K2 keeps the Calcium in the bones instead of circulating to excessive levels in the blood accumulating where you don’t want it to
I am 76 y/o and unvaxx’d. At the start of the scamdemic, I took 10K IU’s of Vitamin D3 for a couple of years and developed itchy skin. When I learned itchiness was a possible side effect of excess Vitamin D3, I lowered it to 5K IU’s and the itchiness went away. The benefits definitely outweighed the risk! When I tested positive for Covid, the symptoms were very mild and I never caught the flu or any colds again. 🙏🏼
Curious if you took K2 along with it? I took 10k D with K2 mk-7 and never had an issue...
Yes, I took Innovixlab Full Spectrum K2 with both MK4 and Trans MK7 in it. I am 5’3 and my BMI is less than 20 - my MD had warned me previously 10K IU’s a day of Vitamin D was a bit excessive for my body size. LOL - more is not always best as in my case 🙏🏻
https://innovixlabs.com/products/full-spectrum-vitamin-k2?_pos=1&_psq=k2&_ss=e&_v=1.0
The house doctor on Fox News back in the 1990s decided to test all of his patients for vitamin D levels. He found that over 60% were deficient and a majority were severely deficient.
I asked my doctor to check mine and I guess he was a Fox News viewer because he said that he was already going to test all his patients. I came up deficient and my wife was severely deficient. We’ve both been supplementing ever since.
Also, did you know that statins prevent the body from making it's own vit. D!
Yes, and does everyone know that statins can cause spontaneous rupture of ligaments, tendons, and muscle? Look up "rhabdomylosis" for a fun read on how muscles can break down so fast that they clog up the liver and you die! Yes, rare, but still a real risk. Sure, "enlightened" nutritionists point out that they deplete the body of coenzyme Q 10 and recommend supplementation to prevent these dangers, but the bottom line is still that cholesterol is a false flag designed to increase profits. As Dr. Arthur C. Guyton of _Medical Physiology_ fame once quipped, "Without sufficient cholesterol we would all be dead."
Plus our brains need cholesterol!! My dad got dementia from taking statins. By the time I got involved with his healthcare he was on them 25 years. I immediately weaned him off of them which at least stopped any further deterioration. I’ve spoken to everyone I know about not taking it. It’s a multi-billion dollar business and one of the most prescribed drugs!!!! Insurers push it too!! It’s amazing all the people being prescribed these toxic pills for borderline cholesterol that a diet modification can correct!!!
Well, it's not like they have any training in human nutrition.
What amazing that they aren’t even interested in getting it like the rest of us who care about our health and that of our family!! I had bad reactions to asthma medications when I was ages 14-19 and learned quickly the doctors don’t have the common sense to check the medications they prescribe to see if they are causing reactions, instead they prescribe another drug with the toxic one!! Thank God I learned about supplements at 19 and quit all the drugs and injections that made me worse! I’ve never taken another asthma medication and have been fine fifty years later! I also bought a physician drug reference to understand the crap they were giving me! Now at least it’s available online.
I did not know that. My husband has got brain damage and so is a prime candidate for dementia. His wise (not) doc. put him on statins... he knows he's got a TBI! He was put on Lithium until his psych doc (yes, his head doc) saw they made him shake and took him off them, she was the only one who cared enough! My hubby just does everything these idiots tell him! The moral of this tale is QUESTION EVERYTHING AND FOLLOW YOUR INTUITION, which we all have but we have been constantly propagandised to think it is bs that it tells us and not to listen to it!
I am sorry to hear about your husband, and so glad his other doc got him off the statins. All my dad’s issues were from bad medications!!
I read that it is oxidized cholesterol that is the problem and that it is not picked up in routine blood tests. Is that correct?
Yes, that's what "they" say. What you may not have noticed is their phrase "in processed foods." Processing is the problem. Cooking is not "processing" per se. For example, commercial egg powder is a problem, whereas eggs themselves -- the richest food source of lecithin -- are not a problem simply because the lecithin in them disperses the cholesterol for proper digestion. Remember, eating foods containing naturally occurring cholesterols does not move those cholesterols into the blood. It has to be disassembled in order to be adsorbed, and then it's no longer cholesterol, oxidized or otherwise.
Liz, for some reason my reply went into the main thread instead of here. Sorry!
Why am not surprised! Another reason never to take them. Thanks, I will pass on to a friend who was recently prescribed. I am trying to get her off them!
Statins rarely help women I have read. The UK NHS website mentions treating the thyroid optimally before embarking on statins. Before the invention of statins the thyroid was treated if cholesterol was raised. Our brains need cholesterol so why block it ?
That's a "whole nuther thread" (GRIN). Seems that despite FDA requirements for iodine (the wrong form) in salt, a lot of weight gain and split ends can be traced back to iodine deficiency. It's simply not in the soil in the Midwest, and "progressive" farming techniques make it even hard to acquire where it is present. Add to that the hype that salt is bad for you and the fact that research shows that low-salt diets reduce life span, and you have a great way to achieve population reduction!
They’ve been working on that depopulation for too many years! I’ve ignored the salt is bad, the eggs are bad, red meat, etc., etc. Trying to reprogram family members who believed it. All my eggs and meats are pastured and grass fed. We raise our own layers and they eat organic, with lots of fresh vegetables and fruits too! At least I’ve gotten family and friends off the statins, or they told their doctors…no!
That's interesting, I must look into that. Probably it wasn't profitable enough for Big Pharma!
Been advocating it since COVID. 50 was optimum as far as immunity against COVID, higher levels have other beneficial effects including anti cancer and other preventative and therapeutic benefits
I'd recommend dropping the flax oil due to estrogenic reasons and also rancidity of the oil
Oil gets rancid after prolonged exposure to air. Some get rancid faster obviously but are not inherently rancid. There are limited options of oils with reasonable Omega 3/6 ratios and flax seed is one of the better ones.
But flax, from what I understand, is more prone to rancidity. I feel that cod liver oil would be the best for Omega 3 and the active form of Vitamin A and D - as we get enough Omega 6's in our diet - if you use a chronometer, you can see how much Omega 6 you are ingesting -
The problem is we need more Omega 3. Fish oil is fine, fish liver oil is fine as a supplement for A and Omega 3 but only has enough Vitamin-D3 to prevent Rickets unless you approach toxic Vitamin-A doses. Vitamin-A is much easier to overdose and deficiency is less common than Vitmamin-D3.
As a vegetarian I don't do fish oils so make do with what I can. Vitamin-D3 I get industrial from lanolin (sheep wool fat is the precursor but vegan forms have come on the market with the precursor sourced from northern litchen and east Australian seaweed).
I am reasonably sure that everyone on a western diet gets more Omega 6 than they need and too little Omega 3.
I try to fight the little battles that I can win.
If you grind linseed/flax seed and mix with yoghurt, smoothie, etc then it does not have time to go rancid. If you plan to use artists linseed oil then it probably is on the way to rancid already, boiled linseed oil is 'rancid' by design but is still able to oxidise further and air harden as used in traditional oil paints and varnish ingredients.
Here is a reasonable step by step of the Vitamin-D3 process. It does neglect paracrine and autocrine signalling (via hydroxylation in other cells) that affect out immune function and so much more and the direct benefits to endothelial cells from the Vitamin Form and the increased gene expression when serum levels are higher as well as the critical need for magnesium in producing many of the required hormones. The Hormone/active form is what boosts out calcium absorption and is controlled by the Parathyroid hormone levels.
Biosynthesis of Vitamin-D3
* precursor/7-dehydrocholesterol/7-DHC + UVB =
* pre-Vitamin-D3/pre-cholecalciferol + heat (spontaneous isomerisation) =
* Vitamin-D3/VD3/cholecalciferol + 25-hydroxylase enzyme mostly in liver =
* storage form/calcifediol/calcidiol/25(OH)D3 + 1-alpha-hydroxylase enzyme mostly in the kidneys =
* hormone/active form/calcitriol/1,25(OH)2D3
You can follow some of the links at the top of this page and read the other stuff to get to speed with the benefits against covid and other upper airway infections.
https://cholecalciferol.miraheze.org/wiki/DOI
I'm glad the message about vitamin D is spreading. Thank you Meryl. My belief, is that the 'evil ones' have been purposely starving the population of vitamin D for decades; beginning when the scare campaigns about skin cancer and melanoma began saturating the air-waves back in the early 1980's. Here in Australia, everything was "slip, slop and slap" with sunscreen, plus, stay out of the sun as much as possible - and when in the sun, cover your entire body with clothing. Then, skin cancer clinics began popping up in every suburb across the country. At the time, I recall discussing the issue with a 'good doctor' friend, who informed me of the importance of vitamin D, particularly via sunlight - and that being deficient greatly increased the chances of being diagnosed with melanoma due to a weakened immune system.
BINGO!!!!!
Thanks much for posting this, Meryl. Just one correction...I'm a DC, not an LAc
OOps, fixed it now
Here's a meta analysis of Vitamin D for COVID treatments: https://c19early.org/d
This website is useful as it looks at al the various treatments for COVID. It shows many things are helpful. I've yet to see the Big Pharma establishment attack this website.
Excellent!
Dr. Nass magnesium helps with D3 processing/absorption.
Lots of good comments here, with which I agree. I get lots of sunlight year round, avoiding burns, and take 5000 IU of D3 per day (and K2), so my late-summer vitamin-D levels run upper 70s to upper 80s.
My eye doctor insisted I take 4,000 units a day a bit over 20 years ago. In the last 13 years, I've been sick twice. A cold over 10 years ago, and a very mild flu in March 2019. No covid or anything since. Prior to 13 years ago I don't recall being sick, but before D3 at least one cold a year. Never figured it was the D3 until covid.
K2 MK7 is important for control of Calcium in the blood
Despite this graph being from 07. I find it most accurate as a FNP. Unfortunately the newest lit tells us to stop testing and rx ! I dont buy any of it. Test and tx. The majority of our population is deficient