What is the next-best alternative to actual sun in producing vitamin D?

Get checked by your doctor and see if you require vit D pills and associated health vitamins. You will be suffering specific symptoms if you are deficient physically. The test is important, why worry about something that is not a problem.You can also go outside during the height of the sun’s intensity each day if you are in a northern country. Also diet does matter. See the doctor. Maybe a D.O. if your M.D. is not holistic (whole body).

@MaryW I’ve read that in the winter, and when it’s cloudy, you can’t process as much vitamin D as in the summer. I’m also looking for alternatives to supplments, diet, as numerous studies have proven that vitamin D produced by other organisms (mushrooms, fish, etc.—which are used in supplements) are only minimally effective when compared to the vitamin D metabolized by your own body.

The next-best alternative is D3 tabs or capsules. The real debate now is what is the safest dosage. It ranges from 700IU/ daily for an adult to 5000 IU/daily. NO one can agree on that, but mainstream doctors are on board.

There’s a very new study out (which I cannot find) that suggests that too much D3 (and that means more than 40ng/ml) increases one’s risk for pancreatic cancer. It’s very difficult to decide what to do.

I have been taking 4000IU/dailly on the advice of my dermatologist. Now my internist tells me to drop it to max. 2000IU/daily.

I take prescription D; 50,000 IU once a week, and an extra 500 daily.

Get your D checked with a blood test, so you know where you are at. If you take in sun during the summer, you might not need a ton of D in the winter. My husband exposes his skin to the sun to wash his car on the weekend and now and then drives with his cartop down, and takes D only in his daily vitamin (I think 500 IU daily) and he has olive skin and his D is just fine (I am so jealous). I am extremely dificient, and it is hard for me to stay up in normal ranges even with megadoses. I protect my skin more, but I am very pale naturally, so should be quick to absorb the D. The problem is SPF blocks the aborption of D.

New study about D3 dosages that correlate to rare cancers is in The American Journal of Epidemiology, July 1, 2010. it’s not the easiest reading.

@gailcalled Like everything, difficult to decide, so true. Plus, the normal ranges for D were raised fairly recently, so 20 years ago a lot of people considered low on D would have been normal back then. I have to hope we get better in our understanding of these things, not worse.

Was it a large study? Did they compare people will blood levels of D that were similar, but one group from supplements and one naturally?

@JLeslie: Here’s the PDF of the whole article. I read a dumbed-down summary of recommendations in a health news letter, which I can no longer find, either.

Here’s an article in the NYT from July 26, 2010. No consensus but suggestion is of 40 ng/ml as optimal. Source

@gailcalled That was nice of you, I was going to try and search for it. I’ll look it over.

@gailcalled Still reading, but you realize the 40ng/ml is the blood serum level and not a dosage, right? I’ve ever been above 40. The closest I have been is 39, and then I dropped back down again, which I found shocking still taking my megadoses and it was summer. I wondered if it had anythng to do with going back to exercising regularly and putting more demand on my bones? No idea if it works that way, just made it up in my own head.

Guys—not looking for supplements…

@gailcalled and the NYTimes article says minimum 40, not that 40 is optimal.

@JLeslie: Yes, I do understand the difference between the blood serum level and the daily dosage. My dermatologist wants to get his serum level to between 75 – 80. My Internist says that that is nuts and part of the supplement du jour trend. It used to be megadoses of Vit. C, according to Linus Pauling (RIP). Then Iron, A, E, HRT.

I have been exercising like a fiend for two years. At 4000IU/daily, my serum came back last week at 49.

Good. You do all the hard reading and the summaries; my head is swimming. My instinct tells me that I am taking too much of everything. The latest issue is about Cal/mag supplements.

@gailcalled I want to get to between 50–60, just my own number. I believe there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

I just had a test this morning. We’ll see where I am at.

I never bought into the megdoses of C.

I took pregnancy doses of folic acid, which is not considered a megadose, and when I was tested my numbers were very high. I had been told to take much higher doses because of a genetic clotting thing I have, and chose to go somwhere in the middle, I’m glad I did. Seems there are studies now that show too much folic acid can have negative effects. I have a neighbor who decided on her own to take B12 shots, and when her doc tested her her numbers were off the charts. I know we are supposed to eliminate water soluble vitamins, but I have a feeling it takes time for our bodies to get rid of them. Like the idea that you can OD on water and die from it.

Moderation.

[mod says] Let’s get back to answering the question, folks. The OP is not looking for supplements.

Ok, if you don’t want suppliments, which are the easiest, and going outside more isn’t helpful, then get a good quartz/sun lamp. They aren’t cheap, but you can sit under them to get what you need. Changing your diet may not be enough, I get plenty from my diet, and I’m outside often, and I take suppliments, but still, for some reason my levels tend to be on the lower end. A combination of all three keeps it at a decent level.

I think a lightbox designed for people suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder would work. The light is on a particular wavelength which simulates sunlight.

As indicated above, you need to have a baseline test done to know what your level of Vit D actually is. For some of us who are REALLY low, prescription strength Vit. D is the only choice (I could not get enough sun to get my levels back to anything approaching normal). I take 50,000IU three times a week.

If your vitamin D level is normal or low normal, then things like certain types of lamps and actual sun exposure will help you keep it normal. However, if you are low, you could not consume enough food (even fortified products) to get it back in the normal range without prescription strength Vitamin D.

There are actually what you could think of as a few different forms of Vit. D. There is the product your body makes that lives in your skin and soaks up the sun and converts to Vitamin D. This is then used by your kidneys. Your body only makes a certain amount and the kidneys get first dibs. Any extra you make is converted to a different form and then goes toward all the other wonderful cells in your body.

The design of the body assumes periods of sun and periods of winter. Most people can get enough extra in the summer to tide them through winter in the northern hemisphere (and some can’t). While sunblock is a wonderful thing, it is contributing to the increase in people with really low Vitamin D levels.