An interesting set of videos from U.C.
The upshot is that unless you work outdoors you are likely defficient in Vitamin D and need to raise your intake or production. How much? Where prior medical advice was to never exceed 1000 iu, it looks like 4000 iu is about ideal.
(Don’t argue at me that that is too high, these are folks with Ph.D. and M.D. so take it up with them)
Various findings include things like 62% reduction in breast cancer and better prostate cancer outcomes too. Significant improvement in immune function (what got me watching) and improvements in calcium handling, and many more from M.S. to schizophrenia.
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https://www.uctv.tv/shows/Vitamin-D-Measurement-the-Key-to-Change-29085
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https://www.uctv.tv/shows/Vitamin-D-Sunshine-Optimal-Health-Putting-it-all-Together-29077
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UVB makes vit-D with 280 to 310 nm or so being best.
Musings from the Chiefio 
Humans exposing full skin surface …
Locally today our high temperature was 48°F with sustained wind speed of 30 mph, gusts to 40.
I passed on the full skin exposure.
I don’t see that our annual tests include Vitamin D levels.
While the “wellness” visit includes asking us to draw the face of a clock for a specific time, remember a few words for a few minutes, asks if we fall, asks if we “use” alcohol, and other stuff – no one wants to know about Vit-D levels or supplements.
There has been discussions in medical and quasi-medical places about Vit-D and Latitude.
We are at 47°N.
I’ll remember to ask about this next time – November, I think, or ask on e-mail sooner.
If boosting vitamin D3, then important to get vitamin **K2** also.
If you are not eating a lot of grass fed meat and organs and butter you need to supplement.
Not to be confused w regular K (K1) which affects platelets and clotting.
K2 is important for directing the deposition of calcium (which D3 enhances the uptake of) to teeth and bones instead of to soft tissues like arteries.
Magnesium is also important in conjunction w D3 and calcium.
Big green thums to the post & both comments.
Been taking 10,000 IU of D2 twice a day since 2012.
Extremely important for bone health & with K2, preventing osteopena.
Will probably be a good supplement along with Vitamin C, if one come sin contact with Corona virus 19.
@Newscaper:
Thanks for the k2 nudge. I just did an interesting first data dive on it (more to come after First Coffee :-}
It does look like there are more sources, but they are somewhat specific. Yogurt, a Japanese fermented soybean product called natto, eggs, cheeses. It is made by bacteria, so likely other fermented foods too. I’ve always liked liver so I’m likely well supplied, but the spouse avoids it… though we both like our cheese omelets, so likely ok.
From the wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_K2
So it both makes bone stronger and reduces calcium deposits where you don’t want it. Interesting…
As it also states skim milk has none, the big push to skim milk and margarine becomes problematic… and those meatless burgers….
We’ve always enjoyed real butter, so again a good choice.
Interesting implications for a food storage system. Beans & rice may carry you for a month or two, but not a lot of K in most storage dry goods. I’ll need to dig into that more. (I’ve got 4 lbs butter and 3 of cheese in the ‘fridge so no issues with the current stores. But I wish I’d got more dry milk and had some yogurt so as to make my own longer term.)
https://healthyeating.sfgate.com/humans-convert-vitamin-k1-vitamin-k2-11895.html
As we eat a lot of chicken, we’re good I think.
It also looks like just eating your greens with good gut flora is enough for vegetarians.
Then we’ve swapped to olive oil:
https://healthfully.com/371790-content-of-vitamin-k-in-olive-oil.html
Since we’re not eating a half cup of O.O. / day, those greens still matter.
OK, all the more reason to get the garden greens going early. The O.O. and stored meats will carry us for at least 6 weeks, maybe 2 months. By then I’ll have some early greens. Hopefully by then it is all over anyway.
Oh, and it looks like turning stored beans into bean sprouts can get vit-K too:
https://www.answers.com/Q/Do_bean_sprouts_contain_Vitamin_K
There’s a Dutch study somewhere which persuaded me to take the mk7 form of menaquinone for artery health, at 90 micrograms per day. I can see references to it online but not the whole thing for some reason. Anyway at the time I read it I came to the conclusion that if supplementing with vitamin d should definitely add k2.
@Geoff:
There’s a bit of schizoid behavior in what I’ve read so far. You make it in your body AND adding K2 to the diet helps / fixes some issues.
It may be like some other things where you can make some, but not always ideal level.
Yes, it did seem rather confused. Lots of discussion of mk4 v mk7 etc. I was particularly interested at the time, having had a small stroke, having rather high cholesterol and not tolerating statins, so I was looking for anything that improved CAD type illnesses. Since then I also changed my diet to much less carbs, grow my own veges, and seem much healthier. But living at 42S take vitD 6 months of the year along with 90mcg k2, and vitC and magnesium. I find that I can’t go near a doctor, as it just starts the whole statin discussion over again every time I do. They’re relentless. Then they want to use some other thing which is not a statin but will reduce your cholesterol. And you google it and find there is no support for any positive outcome re CAD. So I blunder along without the benefit of medical advice.
CVD rather than CAD. Was thinking ‘arterial’.
@Geoff:
Don’t know if you were following when my Florida Friend had a bypass surgery and I went down the coronary artery disease rabbit hole. One of THE big takeaways was that it appears to be a sort of sub-clinical scurvy effect. Based on several sets of data / research, it looks like about 2 gram vit-C per 100 kg body weight is desired.
The one that convinced me was a mouse study. Knock out for natural vit C and genetically added the human gene that makes the protein that glues up leaky arteries. Then they could modulate cad via vit C level. Similarly in great apes who do not make vit C but eat a lot in their diet (and normally no heart disease) by feeding a deficient C diet, they got plaque and heart disease.
If you search the blog on “bypass” and/or “heart” the articles and videos in them ought to pop up.
It seems we lost innate vit C production in the great apes but our leaf rich diet was plenty. We also evolved a protein that would very temporarily plug artery leaks when vit C went low seasonally. Then we started farming… Perpetual low vit C and eventually too many patches that never get fixed results in clogged arteries.
As recommended dietary levels are set to prevent overt prompt disease, it was set at the level that stops the worst scurvy symptoms, but not that prevents decadal degeneration. That’s how I understand the doctors argument anyway.
Thanks EM I’ll look back and read that. In the post above I meant CVD rather than CAD.
I take 2 half mile walks each work day. So I think I get enough, If what those letters said is true,the human race would have died out as soon as farmers went below 50% of the population,
I am very glad we put our own grass-fed sheep and goats in the freezer. The last ram was over 200 pounds and I am eyeing a nice fat 2 year old buck to go with him.
….
Since chronic inflammatory disease seems to drastically increase death with this Wuhan virus, I have been checking out ways to modify my diet/nutrition.
Gail be extremely careful about taking Cinnamon in big doses. Sri Lanka Cinnamon is good.
But it is rare & expensive. So suppliers frequently sell Casia Cinnamon instead. – sometimes as Sri Lankan cinnamon.
The Cassia Cinnamon has a blood thinner chemical in it called Coumarin….. !
Not clever ! Take care !
On Vitamin D3 boosting the immune system and thus fighting off COVID 19 :
https://jefftbowles.com/make-your-immune-system-kill-the-coronavirus-covid-19-before-it-makes-you-sick/
A thing to remember is that cholesterol *is* an acute phase reactant; which means it *is* involved in inflammatory/immune response. Thus, there are those who will benefit from statins. That said, they are likely overprescribed because the system focused on cholesterol levels too heavily. I am also one who has several chronic inflammatory conditions and these run in the family. Cerebrovascular events predominate with us.
@BillInOz:
As we’re having sunny days, I’m at a latitude with just enough, and thanks to Mum I’m comfortable with shirt ofv ag 60 F…
I’ve been simply sunning myself a bit every day. I’m of the redhead transparent skin pink sort, so make Vit-D just about any sun level. So garden in the sun at noon…
@CDQuarles:
It is complicated. Both a desease and an essential defense mechanism. So moderation in modulating to moderation…
EM, a couple more things re K2…
Google Weston price Foundation, who did a lot of early research on what turned out to be K2. The conversion process does not produce much K2 from K1. Other than nasty fermented soy beans (natto), main natural sources of K2 are specifically *grass fed* beef and butter.
I keep it simple and take a supplement that has extracted it from natto IIRC.
Another finding… apparently very fresh organ meats have Vitamin C or compounds close enough.
Both of these are why some meat heavy hunter tribes were quite healthy in ways that we would not expect today.
Gail, did you really mean 5000 mcg of D3, or 5000 IU?
5000 mcg = 200,000 IU !!!!!!
@ Gail: Perhaps a left-handed smoke shifter and a bucket of jet wash from the airport would help….
:-)
Steven Fraser…. Given the jetport near by and my pyromaniac of a neighbor..
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newscaper replied 3 March 2020 at 6:01 am GMT:
Another finding … apparently very fresh organ meats have Vitamin C or compounds close enough. Both of these are why some meat heavy hunter tribes were quite healthy in ways that we would not expect today.
Observant divers and anglers whose present or potential catch is pounced on by seal-like marine mammals, while it’s in the water, may notice what seems to be really odd behavior: They often go for the internal organs first. “Yeccch! [expletive deleted] animal ruined my catch!“ Yes, but guts of fish and invertebrates have a greater concentration of numerous nutrients that the animal can’t get so easily from protein-intensive fish or invertebrates.
Compu Gator replied 18 May 2020 at 6:00 am GMT:
[…] numerous nutrients that the animal can’t get so easily from protein-intensive fish or invertebrates.
Arrrgh! Should’ve worded it as something like this:
[…] numerous nutrients that the animal can’t get so easily from protein-intensive fleshy parts of fish or invertebrates that’re preferred by modern hunter-gatherer folks.