275. Stop Mega-Dosing Vitamin D! Science Explained
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The information provided in this podcast episode is for entertainment purposes and is not medical advice. If you have any questions about your health, contact a medical professional. This content is strictly the opinions of Lucas Owen and is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The references, claims and scientific information linked to any products

are only applicable to those listeners who are based in the US. If you are outside the US, this information does not apply to you. It is not intended to provide medical advice or to take the place of medical advice or treatment from a personal physician. All viewers of this content are advised to consult with their doctors or qualified health professionals regarding specific health questions.

Thank you for listening to the Boost Your Biology podcast. My name is Lucas Owen. I uncover the most cutting edge health information on the planet, ranging from hormones, nutrition, supplementation, fat loss, biohacking, longevity, wellness, and a whole lot more. Welcome to the Boost Your Biology podcast.

Have you ever megadosed vitamin D? What I'm gonna do is actually share with you why you should not be megadosing this fat soluble vitamin. Megadosing in my opinion is classified as anything above 10,000 IU in supplemental form in one serving.

So I want you to do yourself a favor, go and have a look at your pantry or whichever supplement cabinet you use to store your vitamin D. Go and have a look at your vitamin D supplement and check to see the dosage listed on the label.

Now, if you are currently using anywhere from let's say 1000 IU all the way up to around 5000 IU per day, for most individuals, this is actually within the safe limits. However, I do really wanna emphasize that it's absolutely crucial that you get your blood work done.

There is no way to assess vitamin D apart from getting routine blood testing. And this is why I really try to prioritize that my clients get their vitamin D checked at least twice per year. Since this particular vitamin, as you probably already know, listening to this video, will understand that this vitamin is crucial for our immune system, bone health, and general metabolic functioning.

Now, whilst many studies have shown promise in improving clinical outcomes in those affected by various types of viruses, the purpose of this is actually to highlight the major dangers associated with ultra mega dosing vitamin D and also why you must ensure you are monitoring your vitamin D levels. Now, vitamin D is actually not even a vitamin. Vitamin D is actually a hormone.

Now, vitamin D is a psychosteroid hormone that has existed on the Earth's surface for 750 million years and regulates many cellular mechanisms. Now, after being produced in the skin by sunlight or via dietary intake, it is converted to the biologically active form 125 dihydroxyvitamin D in the liver and kidneys respectively.

So this is an important reminder that if you have dysfunctional liver or your liver is abnormal in terms of its efficiency and you might have fatty liver or any sort of type of liver disease or kidney disease, this can affect your body's production of the active form of vitamin D.

Now, although the effects of vitamin D on skeletal and bone metabolism have been well recognized for a long time, it's extra skeletal effects have gradually come into prominence in the last 20 years. Now, in addition, its effects on the regulation of the immune response, oxidative stress, cancer biology, and the nervous system are particularly substantial.

Now, this was the study that completely shocked me. And this is why I no longer recommend using ultra large doses of vitamin D. This study here was titled efficacy of high dose vitamin D supplements for elite athletes.

Now, this was published in 2017. So, I mean, it's a little bit old now, but it's still within the last 10 years. Now, in this study, they gave elite athletes either 30,000 or 70,000 IU of vitamin D3. Now, like I said at the start of this video, there's a chance that you're taking a vitamin D supplement that's probably around 1,000 to 5,000 IU.

Some people use 7,000 IU on a daily basis, but in this study, they used 30,000 or 70,000 IU of vitamin D3. So that's a very, very large dose. Both doses of vitamin D led to an increase in both the form of vitamin D that is tested in your blood, the inactive form, as well as the active form of vitamin D. Now,

Taking the 70,000 IU dose also raised a metabolite of vitamin D breakdown in the body. In fact, this metabolite remained for...

high for weeks after the athlete stopped taking both prescription doses of vitamin D. This metabolite may inhibit the conversion of the inactive form of vitamin D to its active form. In other words, taking that super high dose of vitamin D leads to a negative feedback loop driving down the form of vitamin D that goes to work in your body. So can we outsmart nature?

Most of you probably know that the best way to create vitamin D in your body is not through our diet. I'll get to that in a second, but actually getting vitamin D from the sun or synthesizing it from the sun. The sun is the best way to synthesize vitamin D.

And this is relevant for about 99% of the population. And obviously the sun has many other health benefits, which I'll cover in another video.

So what they noted in the study, abrupt withdrawal from the 70,000 IU dose resulted in blood levels of the inactive form that remained elevated while the active form drastically fell. Six weeks later, both the active and inactive forms of vitamin D finally returned to baseline levels. So daily doses of vitamin D, which are much smaller in quantity, typically 1,000 to 5,000 IU,

are a better option than these very high bolus doses all at once, one time per week or month. Because these large bolus doses block vitamin D receptor binding and it actually drives down the biologically active form of vitamin D in your blood, which is not routinely tested for. Now, this is important to note that vitamin D3 is the best form and

I wanna mention a myth around vitamin D. Food is generally not a good source of vitamin D. So don't think that you can eat mushrooms and fish and eggs and milk as your vitamin D sources. Now, there are limited natural sources of vitamin D. Like I said, it's only found in only a few foods, fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, tuna, etc.

as well as fish liver oils. These are among the best sources. Other than that, there are small amounts found in egg yolks, cheese, beef liver. However, the amounts found in these foods are not high enough to meet the recommended daily intake.

So the amount of vitamin D found in these food sources is generally quite low compared to what the body actually needs. For example, a serving of salmon may provide around 400 to 600 IU of vitamin D, whereas the recommended daily intake for most adults is around 600 to 800 IU. So you need to consume a significant amount of these foods to meet your daily requirements solely through diet.

So this research suggests that lower doses of vitamin D3 ingested more frequently may be most appropriate and gradual withdrawal from supplementation as opposed to rapid withdrawal may be favorable. So from the best to the worst, we have...

Number one, allowing your body to make its own vitamin D through the sun or from the sun. Remember, you can use the app called D-Minder to find out how much sun you should expose your skin to. And if that's not an option for you, you live in a cold climate or perhaps you just don't really see much sunlight, then you can use a vitamin D lamp. That's only three to five minutes per day. And then supplementing with vitamin D if necessary.

your immune system is compromised for a short period of time or if verified by a blood test. So that wraps up today's podcast. If you did find this episode helpful, please consider leaving a review. Thank you very much for tuning in. I look forward to seeing you in the next podcast.

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