Search Articles

clear search terms

Vitamin D Caution You Need to Know

Hi!

I am so excited to share this Facebook Live and THESE POWERFUL PEARLS with you.  At SAFM we are always revising our content in light of research findings.   Vitamin D, HDL cholesterol, Zinc, Vitamin C… There are many positive substances that savvy practitioners know about and emphasize. But More of a good thing is not Better!  And might be harmful.

Check out this video to get some clinical pearls you can use right away.  You’ll learn:

  • Why high Vitamin D can be dangerous (you will be surprised!)
  • What critical cofactors must be taken along with Vitamin D
  • Why high-dose supplementation may be counter productive
  • Surprising research insights into vitamin D and optimal levels
  • Weekly mega-dose or daily moderate dose: does it matter?
  • Why blood levels may not budge after supplement use

Please add a comment below to share what most resonated with you in this video, I am very interested in what you think.

With warmth, love, and gratitude to you for sharing your gifts with so many –

signature

 

 

 

 

P.S.  If you are passionate about transforming healthcare through the power of functional medicine, we encourage you to learn more about our training program here.

To receive clinical tips like this one right to your inbox, click here to receive our weekly newsletter.

Like us on Facebook to stay connected to our rich (free!) content and be notified of our popular, monthly Facebook Lives.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
181 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Janeen Beard
Janeen Beard

If a patient has Myasthenia Gravis and is unable to have any magnesium due to tremendous reactions in the body, specifically the lungs reaction, what are ways to get magnesium into them?

SAFM Team
Reply to  Janeen Beard

In a complex case of an autoimmune condition like this, the best would be to work with a licensed and certified functional medicine practitioner that can help to put all the puzzle pieces together and choose the right order of steps to best support the healing process. It is possible that vitamin D or magnesium supplementation simply are not the best first steps in this case and one needs to dive deeper into the details to uncover why this happens. Should this resonate with you we recommend checking out the directory of our certified students: https://afmccertification.com/

rebecca
rebecca

I’m a bit late to the party, but thank you so much for all the great information!
I’m trying to figure out what cofactors enable the change from D3 into the 25-OH form. Is it also dependent on the health of the liver. (If serum levels of D3 are within range, but 25-OH is super low, what does that indicate?)
Thanks again!

Megan Taylor
Megan Taylor

I work primarily with chronic kidney disease patients. Many suffer from Vitamin D deficiency so I really appreciate this information. I realize the need for adequate Magnesium for vitamin D absorption, however, I am having a difficult time understanding the different types of Magnesium and which one to choose in a chronic kidney disease patient. I realize it depends on the client and their needs but I was wondering if there is a helpful breakdown of each type of magnesium and the safety for kidney diseases patients?

SAFM Team
Reply to  Megan Taylor

There indeed are many magnesium forms on the market and we discuss some of them here:
https://schoolafm.com/ws_clinical_know/client-relief-magnesium-to-the-rescue/
The regulation and elimination of magnesium in patients with renal disease are understudied, however, this is one of the newer studies that are of note here:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5678662/
In this study, a slow-release magnesium hydroxide was used in chronic kidney disease patients with success.

Brenda
Brenda

Hello, I believe that the vitamin D I’ve been taking has made my hot flashes come back. I’m very confused if I should continue or discontinue taking the vitamin D or if I can take magnesium in addition to the vitamin D to help prevent the hot flashes. Please advise.

SAFM Team
Reply to  Brenda

We are not able to provide personalized health advice in this venue. The answer to your question will depend on your current magnesium levels (and need) and your current vitamin D levels, as well as other hormonal factors. However, if you have noticed a direct correlation with the hot flashes coming back since you’ve been taking the vitamin D, it would be a reasonable solution to stop the D for a period of time, while you replete your magnesium levels and resume taking it when your hot flashes diminish. You may want to add it back in low and slow and depending on the dose you end up at, you may need additional magnesium at that point.

Diana Lynn Burk
Diana Lynn Burk

First, thank you so much for your continued education!!! As someone, that deals with both a D deficiency and malabsorption issue due to Osteogenesis Imperfecta I so appreciate hearing you talk about how important it is to look at k2 and Mg as part of making D work better. I’m really new to SAFM and always learn so much from Tacy. I have supplemented with large doses (50k iu) of D weekly on a quarterly cycle for a few years now. K2-7 and a few forms of Mg have been really important to help my body! For me, it takes this 3 months on and 3 months off (still taking 10k iu daily to keep my levels over 40) to keep me from tanking I’m now wondering if I might also have an issue with VitA as well. So many thoughts swirling in my head now.

IDK know how I got this far and never connected my leaky gut issues with vitamin D though! I’m definitely going to go dig up all the research I can find to learn more. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you and your team do!

Samantha Press

A client came to me with high calcium levels because he was on to much vitamin D. He has been off 3-4 months and his levels are going down well. He was not on magnesium or K2. He has some calcification on soft tissues. He won’t be going back to the dr for another blood draw to check anything Including vitamin D he’s hesitant about getting back on vitamin D because of what it did to his calcium. I educated him about the importance of cofactors and we talked about how vitamin D goes down based on what was shared in this video but every three weeks or so his vitamin D was not even 80 but it was more so the driving of the calcium in the calcification. I was thinking of suggesting cod liver oil so he could get all the cofactors in a food form and then have him take an additional K to supplement. I love it for kids but I wasn’t sure if it would give enough Omegas for adults. I would hate to see his levels dropped really low and it goes in a negative direction so I’d like to try to get him… Read more »

SAFM Team
Reply to  Samantha Press

Alas, we are not able to provide advice on specific client cases in these forums as each case requires a thorough review of all the details.
You’re on the right track thinking about all the necessary cofactors when it comes to calcification. We’ve posted about this issue before:
https://schoolafm.com/ws_clinical_know/reversing-arterial-plaque/
This article speaks specifically to arterial plaque but the general concepts regarding calcifications will apply everywhere else in the body as well.
Whether or not the cod liver oil will be enough to support your client’s omega 3 needs will depend on their starting status, general diet, and inflammation levels.

stefanie Aring
stefanie Aring

Should breastfed babies get Vit A with their Vit D as well?

SAFM Team
Reply to  stefanie Aring

It is not in the SAFM scope to declare standards of what breastfed babies should or should not get supplemented with.
I gather your question stems from a newly uncovered relationship between Vit D and Vit A that was discussed in the video. Vitamins D and A were shown to have a synergistic effect in lowering risk of cancer in smoking adults, but the mechanism of this phenomenon is still being investigated. You can read more about it here:
https://www.vitamindcouncil.org/do-vitamins-a-and-d-work-together-to-help-reduce-the-risk-of-lung-cancer/
Current guideline on Vit D supplementation for breastfed babies is 400 IUs/day:
https://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/breastfeeding-special-circumstances/diet-and-micronutrients/vitamin-d.html
And there are existing guidelines for vit A supplementation for babies and lactating mothers:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/156482650102200302
http://ilsirf.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2016/06/IVACG_statement_vitA_pregnancy.pdf

silvia graber

With Hashimoto’s, is it smart to recommend Vit D at all, unless in high doses, as this can possibly exacerbate hot flashes and increase the immune system? I recommended cod liver oil, which has a medium dose of Vit A and D.

SAFM Team
Reply to  silvia graber

If there’s an indication for the Vit D need from lab work then yes, this would be very supportive to the immune system and if you can gradually bring Vit D levels up high enough it can act as a temporary immunosuppressant that gives the affected tissue a break and much-needed healing time.
Your supplementation dose will depend on the initial insufficiency/deficiency in your client and the cod liver oil may be a great place to start if the person is severely deficient. Always remember about bringing in magnesium in tandem with Vit D or even before starting vitamin D supplementation. You can read more about this dynamic here:
https://schoolafm.com/ws_clinical_know/vitamin-d-magnesium-depletion/
https://schoolafm.com/ws_clinical_know/the-vitamin-d-and-magnesium-connection/
Magnesium can also prevent the hot flashes due to vit D increase:
https://schoolafm.com/ws_clinical_know/vitamin-d-and-hot-flashes-2/

Wendy Pearce
Wendy Pearce

Thank you so much for this valuable information!! The most interesting thing I learned from this video was ramping up Vitamin D levels in those suffering from autoimmune disorders! I am currently working on my DNP and my dissertation was to find the barriers to screening and treatment of vitamin D deficiency in the obese population by primary care providers. The most common barriers I discovered were knowledge of clinical guidelines and cost associated with testing! I’m praying that I graduate in December and functional medicine certification is my next goal!!

1 7 8 9