Beginner Plan: Supplements

It is my goal to limit supplements. I believe you can obtain most of the nutrition you need from wholesome food. There are some exceptions, but it is quite rare that someone would really benefit from a shopping bag full of supplements, especially the synthetic varieties.  However, if you're looking for an all-inclusive insurance policy, I have formulated one of the best and most comprehensive high quality multivitamins on the market, made from raw whole foods.

Lesson 1: Make sure you get enough vitamin D.

Vitamin D is not “just a vitamin” that’s necessary for strong bones. Rather, vitamin D is the only known substrate for a potent, pleiotropic (meaning it produces multiple effects), repair and maintenance seco-steroid hormone that serves multiple gene-regulatory functions in your body.

Each cell in your body has its own DNA library that contains information needed to deal with virtually every kind of stimulus it may encounter, and the master key to enter this library is activated vitamin D. 

This is why vitamin D functions in so many different tissues, and affects such a large number of different diseases and health conditions. So far, scientists have found about 3,000 genes that are upregulated by vitamin D.

Receptors that respond to the vitamin have been found in almost every type of human cell, from your brain to your bones. And researchers keep finding health benefits from vitamin D in virtually every area they look.

Optimizing your vitamin D levels can help you to prevent as many as 16 different types of cancer as well as reduce your risk of numerous illnesses including:

• Heart disease
• Diabetes
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Obesity
• Cold & flu
• High blood pressure

It's found in food like milk, eggs, fish and fortified orange juice, but you only get an average of 250 to 300 international units (IU) of vitamin D per day from dietary factors alone, which is rarely enough to maintain optimal levels.

Based on the most recent research, the current recommendation for healthy vitamin D levels is 35 IU’s of vitamin D per pound of body weight.

So for a child weighing 40 pounds, the recommended average dose would be 1,400 IU’s daily, and for a 170-pound adult, the dose would be nearly 6,000 IU’s.

Vitamin D Dose Recommendations
Age	Dosage
Below 5	35 units per pound per day
Age 5 - 10	2500 units
Age 18 - 30	5000 units
Pregnant Women	5000 units
WARNING: There is no way to know if the above recommendations are correct. The ONLY way to know is to test your blood. You might need 4-5 times the amount recommended above. Ideally your blood level of 25 OH D should be 60ng/ml.

However, it’s important to realize that vitamin D requirements are highly individual, as your vitamin D status is dependent on numerous factors, such as the color of your skin, your location, and how much sunshine you’re exposed to on a regular basis.

So, although these recommendations may put you closer to the ballpark of what most people likely need, it is simply impossible to make a blanket recommendation that will cover everyone’s needs.

 

Fortunately, vitamin D is also made in your body after exposure to ultraviolet rays from the sun, and this is the ideal way to get vitamin D.

During the summer months, you can get enough vitamin D from just spending some time outside every day. Your body can produce about 20,000 IU of vitamin D per day with full body exposure, about 5,000 IU with 50 percent of your body exposed, and as much as 1,000 IU with just 10 percent of your body exposed.

In the winter months, though, and even during the summer months if you don’t spend much time outside (or use sunscreen, which blocks the production of vitamin D), you will most likely not get enough vitamin D, especially if you live in a place that has low or infrequent amounts of sunshine (such as the Midwest U.S.). In that case, I strongly recommend a healthy tanning bed like the Sun Splash.

You can also supplement with vitamin D, but be sure to choose the right form of vitamin D supplement. The one you want is the natural vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol), which is the same vitamin D your body makes when exposed to sunshine.

I strongly recommend you monitor your blood vitamin D levels regularly when taking oral vitamin D supplements to make sure you’re staying within the optimal range.

This is best done by a nutritionally oriented physician. It is very important that they order the correct test as there are two that closely resemble each other: 1,25(OH)D and 25(OH)D.

25(OH)D, also called 25-hydroxyvitamin D, is the better marker of overall D status. It is this marker that is most strongly associated with overall health.

However, please realize that the “normal” 25-hydroxyvitamin D lab range is between 20-56 ng/ml. As you can see in the chart below, this conventional range is really a sign of deficiency, and is too broad to be ideal.

In fact, your vitamin D level should never be below 32 ng/ml, and any levels below 20 ng/ml are considered serious deficiency states, increasing your risk of as many as 16 different cancers and autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis, just to name a few.

The OPTIMAL value that you’re looking for is 50-65 ng/ml.

This range applies for everyone; children, adolescents, adults and seniors, and are based on healthy people in tropical or subtropical parts of the world, where they are receiving healthy sun exposures. It seems more than reasonable to assume that these values are in fact reflective of an optimal human requirement.

For more information about vitamin D, please listen to my one-hour lecture on this important topic.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/12/16/my-one-hour-
vitamin-d-lecture-to-clear-up-all-your-confusion-on-this-vital-nutrient.aspx

Lesson 2: Be careful with Tylenol.

If you take Tylenol regularly, you should be on N-acetyl cysteine to prevent organ damage.

Lesson 3: Smell your vitamins.

It is important to smell your vitamins. If they smell bad, you should not take them. It is your body's signal that they are not good for you.

If you do take many supplements, a convenient way to store and transport your supplements is a small fishing tackle box (available at sports stores).