How to increase your Vitamin D levels naturally

SUMMARY:

• Dminder App

• Make Vitamin D from the Sun

• Make sure you're hydrated, use pH2O

Vitamin D is gaining way more attention and the funny thing is that technically it’s not even a vitamin! It’s a hormone. 

I’m not going to bore you with the nitty-gritty scientific details. I just want to give you some basic info and actionable items. 

So you need vitamin D for optimal bone health and also (more importantly) immune function! 

Sun shines on your skin, cholesterol and UVB combine to produce Vitamin D, but it needs to travel to the LIVER and then KIDNEY to become activated. (That’s your physiology lesson)

Here are the factors which affect how much Vitamin D is produced:

• Where you live
• Current weather conditions 
• Skin color
• Hydration & oil content on your skin
• How much skin is exposed to sunlight 
• The temperature of your skin 

I usually advise patients to target optimal levels around 35-45 ng/ml (we used to think it was higher)...but high levels of fat-soluble “vitamins” can pose toxicity issues. High doses can be used (under proper guidance) for short periods of time. 

Levels below 20 ng/mL will need assistance (sun exposure and supplementation)

Producing Vit D from the sun is always better than supplements. But if you don’t live where the sun is shining so bright (like the Pacific NW), supplementation becomes critical. 

Here's a tip on maximizing vitamin D production from sun exposure: 

• Expose as much skin as possible, no sunscreen or other lotions
• Make sure you're well-hydrated 
• Remove your sunglasses, prescription glasses & contacts (they block the UV rays from reaching your retina. You actually need the UV rays to hit your retina to improve the production of Vitamin D. The eyes and skin need to receive the same message)
• Utilize the Dminder App to guide you on how long you should be in the sun
• Try positioning your skin exposure perpendicular to the sun's rays (if the sun is overhead, then try lying down. If the sun is at a 45 deg angle, sitting in a reclined chair may work)
• Once the Dminder app notifies you that you've reached your exposure limit for the day, get out of the sun. As you continue to do this, your skin will increase its ability to stay in the sun longer. 
• You actually want some "pinkness" to occur in your skin. 

Tips on taking Cod Liver Oil:

• 1 tsp for kids
• 2 tsp for teens/adults
• 4 tsp for pregnant/nursing moms

Setup your account in our nutritional dispensary and order your Cod Liver Oil

Why you may not be producing enough Vitamin D from the Sun

Now a big issue with vitamin D production from sun exposure is your skin hydration levels. This is a big reason why people may get optimal sun exposure, but still, have relatively low levels of vitamin D. 

Even drinking lots of water won't necessarily help with improving your hydration levels as most of the water we drink actually acts as a diuretic. There are a couple ways you can improve hydration levels:

• Add a touch of sea salt in a liter of spring water
• We utilized a hyperhydration formula called pH2O that's been shown to increase hydration levels by about 18%

Hope you found this informative! 

Be well & aloha

Dr. Mike

Other Interesting Tid Bits:

There was a study that showed how high dose vitamin D actually put a case of Myasthenia Gravis in remission. 

Traditional Hunter-Gatherers have vitamin D levels at about 40-45 ng/mL