Vitamin D3 better than metformin for insulin sensitivity

[Rich66]

http://www.tulsaworld.com/Scene/article.aspx?subjectid=361&articleid=20091107_222_D4_DearPh185644

"a 2004 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition which found that raising a person's blood levels of vitamin D (from 25 to 75 nmol/l) could improve insulin sensitivity by a whopping 60 percent. "

"Compare that to metformin, one of our pharmaceutical gold-standards, which can dispose of blood sugar by a meager 13 percent "

"I suggest you ask your doctor if he minds you supplementing with about 5,000 IU "cholecalciferol" or vitamin D3 every morning."

[Rich66]

Vitamin D Good for Breast Cancer Patients

FRIDAY, Oct. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Many breast cancer (http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=298) patients have low levels of vitamin D (http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=6307), which could lead to weaker bones and increased risk of fractures (http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=2035), say U.S. researchers who recommend high doses of vitamin D for them.
"Vitamin D is essential to maintaining bone health, and women with breast cancer have accelerated bone loss due to the nature of hormone therapy (http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=9817) and chemotherapy (http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=7778). It's important for women and their doctors to work together to boost their vitamin D intake," Luke Peppone, a research assistant professor of radiation oncology at the University of Rochester Medical Center, said in a news release from the medical cwnter.
Peppone and colleagues studied 166 women undergoing treatment for breast cancer and found that nearly 70 percent had low levels of vitamin D in their blood. The average level among the women was 27 nanograms of vitamin D per milliliter of blood. Levels of 32 nanograms per milliliter are adequate, according to the U.S. Institute of Medicine.
The lowest levels of vitamin D were in non-whites and those with late-stage breast cancer.
The researchers found that weekly supplementation with high doses of vitamin D (50,000 IU or more) boosted the levels of the vitamin among all the women.
The study was to be presented Oct. 8 at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's breast cancer symposium in San Francisco.
Previous studies have shown that nearly half of all women and men have vitamin D levels below 32 nanograms per milliliter. Along with strengthening bones, vitamin D plays an important role in cell (http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=2661) growth and keeping the immune system (http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=3907) strong. People obtain Vitamin D through exposure to sunlight and from foods such as milk and fortified cereals.


http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=106411

[Rich66]

"50,000 IU" ?! is that 7,000+ a day? Or is this an infusion 1x/week? It's a lot by any measure. Wayyy beyond any normal dietary intake.

[Rich66]

Checked at Walgreens and they do, indeed, have 50,000 IU oral D3 by prescription.

[TanyaRD]

I have a lady on 200,000 iu orally prescribed by an endocrinologist. She is not an oncology patient but has some malabsorptive issues. She is now getting it IV with us.

[Rich66]

That's some heavy D, Tanya. I'm confused, was she taking that amount orally at first, now IV? Any side effects? I suppose it's all relative to absorption.

[TanyaRD]

No side effects but I think that may be due to her poor absorptive ability. The dose was shocking to me! Even at that dose it was not enough to bring her levels to normal so she had to have the IV therapy.

[rl2]

I had my levels checked about 6 months ago at a routine screening and was deficient at 21. I upped my intake to 6000 units a day (dr.'s office said to take 2500) and I am now up to 41 (in normal range, but could go higher). I am now taking 10,000 units of D3 a day.
Another benefit - it is a mood enhancer, frankly, I think it works better than prozac.

[lexigirl]

My levels were tested several weeks ago as I was having lots of fatigue and some mild aches. I am already on a med for low thyroid and my thyroid #s were fine.

I tested very low for vit D and have been taking 50000 iu for about 2 mos now. What a difference. I have more energy and dropped about 5 lbs. I can really feel a difference in my achiness.

I would recommend having your vit D levels checked as part of a routine screening.

Lexi

[Rich66]

Thanks for the anecdotals.
This D3 issue seems to have some serious legs. No offense intended. I wonder how large it looms in the overall health picture. I mean, if the RDA is ___ and people up and walking around need some ridiculous multiple of that dose to get to equilibirium, seems like it could be a huge deal.

[TanyaRD]

I believe we will be seeing that RDA recommendation change just as it did for children. I hope it will be sooner than later but in the mean time I think we need to be proactive and check levels routinely and dose accordingly.