True ill have my dr test me tomorrow!

Hi Cheryl, when you say that diet alone should get you "what should be your daily intake" what recommended daily intake are you referring to? One of the central points of the current Vitamin D "issue" is that the USDA's RDA for Vitamin D is, some say, entirely wrong and far far too low. Our ancestors lived and worked outside. They didn't have office blocks, cars, central heating or air conditioning. They lived outside and were exposed to MUCH more sunlight than your average "First Worlder" today. Diet isn't really the issue, IMHO. Our ancestors didn't get their D from their food.

Cheers,

-Seth

Stily you're right I was basing it on h RDA (government!) I talked to my naturopath and he told me what you did... He apparently takes 2000 mg of vitamin d! I thought tha might be overkill, so I started adding 1000 to my diet daily that combined with the 600-800 I get from my diet puts me in the zone! kudos to whoever started this thread!!

Cheryl
My cardiologist and my endocronolgist both recommend that I take 4000 IU a day of Vitamin D. That dosage has been confirmed by my 3 Vitamin D blood tests a year to put my vitamin D level at the right mark on the accepted lab values.
Again, my recommendation is to get a Vitamin D blood test, that's the best way to see if you are getting enough Vitamin D or if you need supplementation.

Charm

Holy crap! I will best tested - thanks!

No matter which dietary choices we follow as individuals, regular blood work and supplmentation is always a good idea. Even veganism or a vegetarian diet has it's shortfalls and as we are all creatures of habit who usually eat to taste and not for what are body "needs" we'll have a habit of being deficient in one nutrient or another. Typical shortfalls for a vegan/vegetarian diet is Vitamin D, B12, calcium among other things, there are no perfect diets and certainly no perfect individuals following them so supplmenting just makes sense.

Personally RDA's should be thrown out the window (they are typically very low in the first place) and a nutrition plan set in place by working with your PCP and a nutritionist using blood tests to see where you are naturally deficient. Serious athletes live and die (or should) by their nutrition plan and depending on your activity levels getting everything you need through food is a massive chore even eating 6x per day which I personally do.

Those of us on a liquid diet especially should be mindful as malnutrition is a very easy place to get to if we are just drinking Ensure or Jevity. I make sure I'm juicing fresh fruits and vegies along with the protien powders, vitamin and herbal supplements that I take (which includes vitamin D). It is possible to OD on certain vitamins and minerals so working with your Dr and a nutritionist is important, even if it's just to get you started in the right direction. I don't believe I could work or workout at the pace I keep without proper nutrition, it just gives your body the best environment to be healthy.

Sorry for the book, nutrition is a passion and I think if our bodies are to have the best chance of fighting this disease or any type of infection it has to be running at it's peak.

Eric

As I understand it, you can't get vitamin D from diet anyway.....it's mostly from exposure to sunlight. Also, it's not really a vitamin, it's a proto-hormone.

I've been taking 6,000 IU/day for a couple of years and I think it is likely contributing to my overall good health. Or, at least, it hasn't hurt me any!

Traditional medical advice sometimes still freaks at those numbers, but there seems to be a strong shift going on currently, so if you see advice to the contrary, keep looking.

Good luck!

-Seth