The incredible potential of vitamin D

[Norbert Somogyi]

6 hours ago, Carl-Richard said:

I used to take 720 IU, now I'm taking 1200 IU. I've been thinking about if I could up the dose. Meanwhile expert doctors in my country are writing pop journalistic articles about how you can overdose on vitamin D and that you shouldn't take more than 400 IU a day unless you're already deficient 

400 IU is equivalent to 10 micrograms, barely able to make a measurable difference unless you are severely deficient (~5-10 ng/mL). There have been products with 50,000 (! - 1250 mcg) IU per capsule with 60-120 capsules since 2000, which are meant to be taken weekly or bi-weekly (7700IU/day and 3750 IU/day respectively). Let's say we add up 80 capsules' worth of Vitamin D3, which is 4 million IU (it would take 10,000 days (roughly 27,4 years) to consume that much at the aforementioned dosage, way beyond the shelf-life of the product). They are severely and intentionally downplaying the potential of D3, since it is so cheap and generally much more effective than other much-more expensive methods. Furthermore, it does not guarantee repeated admission of patients.

Here is an overview of clinical trials addressing this for multiple conditions with incredible benefit.

In short, feel free to up the dosage slowly to 5-10K/IU while also addressing other cofactors such as Magnesium, Omega 3 (each have incredible benefits alone - but they work synergistically with D3, activating it and helping you absorb and use it more efficiently) and K2 (standalone vascular benefits), which in combination with D3 is also for avoiding hypercalcemia.

P.S: Test your levels and experiment, different bodies react differently to different doses.

[Michael569]

On 16/03/2025 at 0:10 PM, Cireeric said:

Currently im taking 10.000 IU and I need to check my blood-levels again soon

Its not necessarily that levels will go up to much but that received in high doses at once, vitamin D can be hepatotoxic (cause damage to liver). More in people who have a pre-existing condition but also in healthy individuals. 

It also works with your parathyroid hormone and helps balance out the amount of calcium that's being absorbed and removed from the body so interfering with that balance for too long could lead to hypercalcaemia which in itself isn't great. You can imagine what having too much calcium floating around the body will do to your soft tissues (arterial calcification deposits, excessive calcium passing through kidneys increasing stone formation etc).  Yeah 10K feels too high as a maintenance dose.

Vitamin D - Health Professional Fact Sheet

I'd check your levels and if you are already on a good level then maintenance 2K or a gentle push for even higher with 5k seems like a reasonable strategy. If you are very low then 10K for some time is probably a valid, just check it monthly. 

if you want to go super geeky, you could also run a genetic test for VDR and some of the other relevant polymorphisms (if existing) to fine tune even further but for most people this might not be necessary. I've run a genetic test on myself years ago and my VDR is actually working overtime so my levels tend to go up fairly quickly and I found that taking seasonal 2000 IU about 3 months a year keeps me at lower 90s (nmol/L) throughout. However I eat tons of UV irradiated mushrooms, live in part of UK that has decent amount of sun and am a bit freak about getting enough sunshine since my balcony gets hit directly so I'm like a sunflower catching every sunshine I can get tanning in my shorts on balcony in January

@Norbert Somogyi btw really interesting insight about that vitiligo. I am just curious, are you sure this is vitiligo or could it be a fungal infection targetting your melanin cells. I am asking because I have 3 small spots on the top of my neck and they appear with each year's tan and fade as I lose tan. I got it tested and they said there was a small fungal infection that attacked the destroyed the melanin cells so those areas no longer tan. I had more but most of those naturally healed and they are no longer visible. 

So as we are now in the middle of "no-tan" season, those spots may have simply disappeared? Vitiligo tends to form around fingers and face the most and likewise tends to be more apparent during tan season. A GP can run a skin antibody test to assess whether this is an infection or autoimmunity/. 

Edited Monday at 12:22 PM by Michael569

[Norbert Somogyi]

35 minutes ago, Michael569 said:

 

@Norbert Somogyi btw really interesting insight about that vitiligo. I am just curious, are you sure this is vitiligo or could it be a fungal infection targetting your melanin cells. I am asking because I have 3 small spots on the top of my neck and they appear with each year's tan and fade as I lose tan. I got it tested and they said there was a small fungal infection that attacked the destroyed the melanin cells so those areas no longer tan. I had more but most of those naturally healed and they are no longer visible. 

So as we are now in the middle of "no-tan" season, those spots may have simply disappeared? Vitiligo tends to form around fingers and face the most and likewise tends to be more apparent during tan season. A GP can run a skin antibody test to assess whether this is an infection or autoimmunity/. 

I have no diagnosis that it was actually Vitiligo, however do you mean Tinea Versicolor? I'm just reading up about it, and it seems to produce roughly the same symptoms as Vitiligo (with the exception of additional dryness&scaliness and itchiness&sweating - none of which I experienced). 

My spot has always been a few shades lighter than the surrounding skin (regardless of seasonal tan), and burnt really easily (due to a lack of pigments in that area), and it seems to be shrinking away since I've been dosing with vitamin D3 (this aforementioned study also confirms the possibility of Vitamin D-assisted repigmentation).

Edited Monday at 12:39 PM by Norbert Somogyi

[Michael569]

1 hour ago, Norbert Somogyi said:

Tinea Versicolor

yeah that's it. Completely forgot the diagnosis name. 

1 hour ago, Norbert Somogyi said:

and it seems to produce roughly the same symptoms as Vitiligo

, exactly. I initially panicked that I had vitiligo but it was reassuring that it was just a skin infection. I didn't experience any of the dryness or itchiness. It was just worrying. I don't think about it anymore, there's just 3 small spots left

1 hour ago, Norbert Somogyi said:

d it seems to be shrinking away since I've been dosing with vitamin D3 (this aforementioned study also confirms the possibility of Vitamin D-assisted repigmentation).

Interesting stuff. Vitamin D in general has positive effects in autoimmunity but I'm surprised to see that remission was achieved by some of those participants. It would still be interesting to be sure which one it is but good to hear that you've put it into remission. 

[Thought Art]

Interesting. Vitamin D3 in blood is not active. 

[Norbert Somogyi]

13 hours ago, Thought Art said:

Interesting. Vitamin D3 in blood is not active. 

Nice clickbait, but it seems to work. I like how he advocates for minimum 10K/day, which I tend to agree with (for most it seems to be enough to sustain a 50+ ng/mL / 125 nmol/mL levels)

Regarding inactive D3 present in the blood, I guess that's the only current way to provide an approximate measure of what levels of vitamin D3 can be present in the body. Since that amount is currently not being used. Higher levels usually correlate with higher concentrations (and with benefits), up to a certain point where the returns can be diminishing and point towards toxicity (the threshold of which is complex and multifactorial, but I guess the currently established ratios are downgraded for safety concerns).

It's interesting how he is being clear with some things (like the potential of healing MS with high doses of D3 (~20-150K IU/day - Coimbra protocol by Dr. Cicero Coimbra), while being vague with others (D3 shrinking tumors with therapeutic doses  - for which there are hints). Whatever therapeutic doses mean, however if I were to guess something like above 20-30K/IU (as in the link before).

[Cireeric]

On 17.3.2025 at 1:03 PM, Michael569 said:

Its not necessarily that levels will go up to much but that received in high doses at once, vitamin D can be hepatotoxic (cause damage to liver). More in people who have a pre-existing condition but also in healthy individuals. 

It also works with your parathyroid hormone and helps balance out the amount of calcium that's being absorbed and removed from the body so interfering with that balance for too long could lead to hypercalcaemia which in itself isn't great. You can imagine what having too much calcium floating around the body will do to your soft tissues (arterial calcification deposits, excessive calcium passing through kidneys increasing stone formation etc).  Yeah 10K feels too high as a maintenance dose.

Vitamin D - Health Professional Fact Sheet

I'd check your levels and if you are already on a good level then maintenance 2K or a gentle push for even higher with 5k seems like a reasonable strategy. If you are very low then 10K for some time is probably a valid, just check it monthly. 

if you want to go super geeky, you could also run a genetic test for VDR and some of the other relevant polymorphisms (if existing) to fine tune even further but for most people this might not be necessary. I've run a genetic test on myself years ago and my VDR is actually working overtime so my levels tend to go up fairly quickly and I found that taking seasonal 2000 IU about 3 months a year keeps me at lower 90s (nmol/L) throughout. However I eat tons of UV irradiated mushrooms, live in part of UK that has decent amount of sun and am a bit freak about getting enough sunshine since my balcony gets hit directly so I'm like a sunflower catching every sunshine I can get tanning in my shorts on balcony in January

@Norbert Somogyi btw really interesting insight about that vitiligo. I am just curious, are you sure this is vitiligo or could it be a fungal infection targetting your melanin cells. I am asking because I have 3 small spots on the top of my neck and they appear with each year's tan and fade as I lose tan. I got it tested and they said there was a small fungal infection that attacked the destroyed the melanin cells so those areas no longer tan. I had more but most of those naturally healed and they are no longer visible. 

So as we are now in the middle of "no-tan" season, those spots may have simply disappeared? Vitiligo tends to form around fingers and face the most and likewise tends to be more apparent during tan season. A GP can run a skin antibody test to assess whether this is an infection or autoimmunity/. 

Thanks for your detailed answer!

[Norbert Somogyi]

Vitamin D Research Update: PLUS The latest use of the disinformation playbook against vitamin D

Dr. Coimbra talks about how he came to develop the Coimbra protocol, treating people with autoimmune disorders (mainly Multiple Sclerosis) with vitamin D3 - controversial in the medical community, understandably so. However the first video goes into detail why RCTs (randomized controlled trials) for D3 are not currently properly designed. Video from 2014, English subtitles available.

[Thought Art]

Make sure to take things like Magnesium when taking your D3 to make sure it is active. 
 

D3 requires a balance if other vitamins you can research to ensure healthy use.

[Norbert Somogyi]

11 hours ago, Thought Art said:

Make sure to take things like Magnesium when taking your D3 to make sure it is active. 
 

D3 requires a balance if other vitamins you can research to ensure healthy use.

Thank you for pointing that out, those cofactors are important. Not only in reducing risk factors associated with D3 supplementation, but furthermore increasing absorption and utilization by activating D3.

Here is an overview - Vitamin D Cofactors in a nutshell | VitaminDWiki

Furthermore here are some optimal levels based on the research of Alex Vasquez (DC, ND, DO) - Optimal Vitamin D level: 50-90 ng - Dr. Vasquez | VitaminDWiki

 

Edited 6 hours ago by Norbert Somogyi

[Michael569]

5 hours ago, Norbert Somogyi said:

Question: How to embed pictures into posts? The option insert image from url  does not work for me at the button 'insert other media'. Any other ideas?

save to your pc using snipping tool then upload here with the "choose files " link 

[Norbert Somogyi]

7 minutes ago, Michael569 said:

save to your pc using snipping tool then upload here with the "choose files " link 

Thank you, this worked!