7 Ways to Boost Your ABSORPTION of Vitamin D

Today , we're gonna talk about 7 ways to boost your vitamin d levels .

Why ?

Majority of the planet Earth is low in vitamin d , and vitamin d is so important , not just in bone health , but for immune health , cardiovascular , your blood sugars , and the list goes on and on and on .

In fact , almost every single cell in your body has receptors for vitamin d .

And the RDAs , the requirements for vitamin d are way too low .

They're like 600 IUs .

Okay ?

Now that was based on preventing bone loss , but they didn't take in consideration all the other functions of vitamin D to protecting against inflammatory conditions , to having an immune system .

And based on all the research and what I'm gonna talk about , I recommend the average person get about 10,000 IUs of vitamin d every single day as a maintenance dosage , especially in in winter .

Now if you're getting a lot of sun , you definitely don't need that .

Now at first glance , 10,000 IU seems like a lot of vitamin d .

Right ?

Well , we're talking about international units and if we convert this to a micrograms , okay , not grams , not milligrams , but micrograms , It's 250 micrograms .

Okay .

That is only 0.25 milligrams .

That's 1 fourth of 1 milligram .

Okay .

So that doesn't sound like very much , does it ?

Now as far as the toxicity levels of vitamin d , the studies based on that , and I did a separate video on this , are based on people taking 100 of 1000 of IUs for months .

And the biggest side effect is hypercalcemia , which is too much calcium in your blood , which could increase your risk for kidney stones .

So if you have any thoughts at all about , you know , toxicity levels of vitamin d , just consume 2.5 liters of fluid every single day .

Why ?

Because that will prevent kidney stones .

Okay ?

I mean , that's really easy to do .

And , also , just don't take calcium supplements in any large amounts .

So you wouldn't wanna take the typical one a day with the calcium carbonate .

Okay ?

If you did these two things , you would greatly reduce your chance of the biggest side effect from vitamin d if you're concerned .

Now when I talk about 10,000 IU of vitamin d , I'm talking about a maintenance dosage .

If you're trying to use that for certain conditions , I would recommend going up to maybe 20 to 30 to 40000 IUs .

Now the other thing you need to know about vitamin d is these requirements that you need , you just cannot get it from your diet .

Okay ?

You just can't get it from your foods .

There's just not enough vitamin d in foods to get what you need .

So you're really dependent on the sun .

And the sun will give you all the vitamin d you need if you're out there long enough and if you expose your skin to it because it is a certain wave ultraviolet , rays that interact with your skin that convert the cholesterol into , vitamin d .

So that being said , let's just talk about the other barriers that people run into with absorption .

We have body barriers .

We have your stomach pH .

If you don't have a strong , acidic stomach , you're not gonna get the vitamin D absorption .

If there's gut inflammation , that's gonna be a big , big barrier .

If there's any problem with your kidneys , let's say you're a diabetic , and you have kidney problems , well , the kidney and the liver are 2 organs that help you convert , vitamin d into its active form .

So kidney problems equal low vitamin d .

And , of course , if there's liver problems , whether you have a fatty liver , hepatitis , or cirrhosis , that can inhibit your absorption of vitamin D .

Not to mention this one right here .

If your liver's damaged , you're not gonna make the bile .

Bile is absolutely essential for absorbing vitamin d .

If you have insulin resistance like the majority of the population , you're not gonna absorb vitamin d .

And , of course , that comes from a high carb diet .

And , of course , if you're a diabetic , you're greatly limited with your absorption of vitamin d .

Now more and more people are getting their genetics tested , and there's a certain condition .

It's called polymorphism , where the receptor for vitamin d doesn't really absorb vitamin d too well .

In which case , you just need to take more vitamin d so you can get that tested just to see because I met this gal who got a test , and here she was taking vitamin d , the normal amount of vitamin d , and it wasn't even working because the receptor wasn't receiving because there was some genetic defect .

The more weight you have in your body , the less of vitamin d you're going to get , and the more vitamin d you require .

If you had gastric bypass surgery , your ability to absorb vitamin d is less .

If you have low diversity in your microbiome , you can't absorb vitamin d as much .

The more stress you have , the less absorption of vitamin D you're going to have .

So you can see there's a lot of barriers , but there's even more .

Let's say you go on a low fat diet or a low cholesterol diet , or even worse , you're on medications like statins .

That's going to limit the raw material that vitamin d is created from .

Now vitamin d is a fat soluble vitamin .

So when you take vitamin d , it might be a good idea to take it with some oil or fat or a meal .

Now , another barrier that people have is they , for some reason , can't swallow vitamin d capsules .

Let's say they're a child or an adult that just can't get the capsules down .

Now , if you have this problem or you have children that can't swallow capsules , I have a very good solution .

I put that in the description .

It not only has vitamin D3 , but it also has vitamin K2 , zinc , as well as MCT oil for absorption .

Now the other barrier is skin color .

The darker your skin , the more vitamin D you're gonna need .

And then we have age .

Okay ?

So your skin gets thicker as you age , and also you absorb less vitamin d .

And your location where you live is important too .

It has to do with latitude .

If you live in the northern part of the planet , not close to the equator , you're gonna have a difficult time getting enough sun to convert your cholesterol into vitamin D .

And then of course , we have the seasons .

Okay .

You have the winter .

Even if you lay out in the sun in the winter , okay , you're still not gonna get enough vitamin D , simply because where the sun is in relationship to how much rays that you're getting .

Vitamin d absorption is also dependent on your magnesium level and your zinc level .

It's 2 other things that can limit your absorption .

And anytime you take vitamin d 3 , you always wanna take vitamin k 2 because they work together .

Vitamin k 2 keeps the calcium out of the joints and the arteries .

Okay ?

And the last variable that is a big variable is just being outside in the sun enough .

More and more people are inside , especially children , And so that is really why we are deficient .

Okay .

So let's take a look at how you can boost your vitamin d levels .

Get at least 1 hour in the sun every single day .

Okay ?

Of course , not in the winter , but during the day .

And expose your arms and your legs to the sun directly .

That would be a good thing .

Of course , expose your skin , but not to the point of being burned .

Alright .

Number 2 , take your vitamin d because it's fat soluble with some fat , some MCT oil , or when you eat a meal .

And also when you eat the meal to get your magnesium and your zinc , make sure you consume food high in magnesium , as in big salads .

Now , of course , with the zinc , you can , get zinc from a trace mineral supplement , or you can get it from shellfish or seafood as well .

Number 3 , go on keto and intermittent fasting so you have more ability to convert into the active form of d 3 .

Also , you have more bile to absorb vitamin d 3 .

Also , you're gonna decrease insulin resistance and help your absorption .

And you're gonna lose weight , which is gonna directly increase your ability to absorb more vitamin d .

Not to mention , you reduce your gut inflammation from the fasting and absorb more vitamin d .

So this is very , very important .

Number 4 , consume more fatty fish on a regular basis and or cod liver oil .

The cool thing about cod liver oil compared to , like , fish supplements is that cod liver oil not only has the omega 3 fatty acids , but it has vitamin a and vitamin d .

Okay ?

So it's unique in that it's different than fish oils .

Okay ?

Fish oils don't have vitamin d .

Fatty fish does , but not fish oils .

So that's why I recommend the cod liver oil .

Number 5 , if you take vitamin d in a liquid form , it tends to absorb better , especially if there's gut issues , if there's stomach issues , and there's intestinal issues .

And I will put a link down below in the description for a good brand .

Number 6 .

If you have a genetic factor related to , the receptor for vitamin d , the only solution you have is just to take higher quantities .

So you wouldn't take 10,000 IUs , you would probably take 30,000 IUs as your maintenance dosage .

And number 7 , increase more bile .

Generally speaking , if you have more bile , you can absorb more vitamin D .

Now , how do you do that ?

Well , you can either take a purified bile salt product or you can do things to the liver to increase the bile .

And on that note , I think the best video to watch next would be on how to increase your bile salts .

I put it up right here .