vitamin D3 vitamin D3 vitamin D3 vitamin D3 VITAMIN D3 Go to the store and get it right now!

Major trials in England going on about D3 and IBD.

Well I know that my Crohns is much worse in winter, when I also have SAD, and if I use my full spectrum light that makes a difference to both. It is a vitamin that Dr Mercola (bless his l'il ole salesman's heart) is forever banging on about as having good credentials.
I am inclined to agree, there was a huge metastudy (done by the World Health Organisation I think) which found that Vitamin D levels had a large impact on the immune system and general well being of all sorts. It has had a big effect on what is considered best practice in primary care - now the idea is to encourage people to get outside wherever possible.

Hello WWWMT dont know if you are a crohnie or not But your post on D 3 is interesting do i ask for vit D3 non synthetic at a pharmacy or must i see a doctor i am in the UK (hi london red) Diagnosed 2009 had it a bit before that i recon meds asacol pedfoam enamas

Going to get some today !

what's a good D3 supplement to take, i was severely deficient (<4) and did the whole repalcement thing of 50000IU once a week for 4 weeks, then i started taking 2500IU daily of D3 and my levels still went back to <4. Not sure what to do.

Sounds like a lot of people dont know how much to take, I dont know either, someone said 10000 iu a day is fine as long as you get checked in 3 months.
Most doctors know as much as we know on this, so I would try an ask a doctor that studies this not your good old doc.
You can get up to 20000 iu a day from direct sunlight with most of your clothes off.
Yes I do have crohns had it for 20 years.
someone else asked if you can get vitamin d3 thats not synthetic, vitamin d3 is the natural form of the vitamin.
From what I read 2500 is way to low, but thats all up to you on how much you take just read read read.

carlson labs makes a very good brand. most health food stores carry it but you can order direct from them off the internet.

vit d2 is synthetic and found out to be toxic, that is why most fortified milks are now carrying d3 (a more natural form) instead of d2.

vitamin d is actually a hormone, not a vitamin, produced by your body using cholesterol deposits in your skin (not blood cholesterol). it is UVB activated. if your sunscreen is greater than say an spf 8, you will be blocking the rays and thus not producing any vitamin d naturally. the spf of sun screen indicates UVB protection, which is superficial, not UVA, which penetrates deep in the skin and is the more dangerous of the two. if you live near the equator, you can get all the vitamin d by sun exposure. the further north you live, the harder it is and the wavelength is weaker in the winter times so it is hard to get any vitamin d naturally then, if any at all. this is why folks in iceland drink cod liver oil by the cup full as it naturally contains vitamin d (most fish oils do not).

vitamin a competes with vitamin d so take them separately. take vitamin d with a good fat since it is fat soluble. i prefer saturated fat like a raw non-homogenized cream or yogurt or coconut oil.

in large doses it can be toxic, but that is individualistic as to where your levels currently are. but if too small a dose it wont do much or at least you will not notice a clinical response any time soon. this is why you really do need to get your levels tested before taking this stuff. but i am a hypocrite here and take 2000 IU almost daily.

as stated previously, dr. mercola's website is a great wealth of knowledge on this topic. subscribing to his free newsletter is a very good idea.

I spent two years so exhausted that I felt that I was struggling through sand when I tried to get anything done--despite monthly B12 shots. My family nagged me to start taking a daily multivitamin. Then you guys suggested D3, and my doctor recommended calcium. I've now been taking all three for several months, and I feel infinitely better and more energetic. I can't believe I didn't take a multivitamin, calcium, or D3 for so many years, now that I know how much they seem to help me. Nanners is right that you should check with your doctor first. Good luck!

cod liver oil has the good vitamin d cos it is from animal sources, which are naturally occurring. the problem with cod liver oil is that generally has high amounts of vitamin A which compete for the same absorption sites as vitamin D. this means you will likely be absorbing all the vitamin D that the product says it has, hence vitamin A and D should be taken separately. but at least you'll be getting some good omega 3s with the cod liver oil.

Yeah I have recently noticed the hype around vitamin D as well lately. It is possibly good for cancer prevention, osteoporosis prevention, and good for assisting the immune system. I use the word 'assisting' because I know people with crohn's sometimes worry about boosting their immune system when on immunosuppressants like remicade, imuran etc. However, when I looked breifly into vitamin D, I did notice one MD suggest that vitamin D is specifically good for auto-immune diseases, because it makes the immune system 'smarter' and not necessarily stronger. Another thing pointed out was the fact that most people get flu's and colds in winter time, when the sun doesn't allow us to make very much vitamin D...so there may be a correlation there. As someone previously mentioned, more studies are being done. Considering all this, it made me go out and buy a bottle of vitamin D3 (vitamin D2 is good too, but not AS good according to some docs). I currently take 1000IU of Vit D3 daily and I'm 'only' 26 years old. I'm thinking of upping that dose as more evidence comes out.