Most people suffer from vitamin D deficiency so I would say that it's recommended for everyone. Vitamin D is also important when it comes to Covid https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8509048/

It's the only vitamin or supplement that the NHS advises to be taken by large segments of the population.

Their advice hasn't been updated for a long time, and is for 400 IU. During Covid, plenty of medics in the media were recommending about 2000 IU, perhaps a bit more.

Studies are emerging, so time will tell I guess.

This was the dose that my doctor recommends as well. I didn't start taking them until doc said "your vit d levels are pretty low". They wanted to give me some of those megadoses but I just agreed to start supplementing. I took 5000IU daily for about a month and then switched over to 2000 and everything has been normal since.

Vitamin d accumulates. You can actually take it all at once, but most people take dailies. Fat soluable vitamin...unlike water soluable that leave the body almost immediately.

I saw a paper somewhere implying the more body fat you have the more Vitamin D you need too.

Does the NHS say all other vitamin supplements are a waste; or is vit-d the only one they actively endorse?

Can you share link if you have it? I would love to something from an authority like NHS about what vitamins are worthwhile.

The vitamin D page is: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-...

There are links to other vitamins from there, but those pages all say you should be able to get all you need from a balanced diet.

>> Does the NHS say all other vitamin supplements are a waste; or is vit-d the only one they actively endorse?

I need to look for docs around this, but the message in the US (not sure about UK) is usually not that stark. Doctors usually say - "if you are eating a balanced diet, you dont need any supplements except Vitamin D".

Is b12 only recommended for those who eat little meat? They don’t recommend that? It seems like a large segment

There’s a strong evidence base for correlation, the base for causation is much worse. Only few things like bone health in the elderly have been shown to be improved by supplementation.

This very post references a randomized, double blind, placebo controlled trial. It's an intervention over 5+ years that showed 22% reduction in autoimmune disease, not a correlative study.

It’s a study wether vitamin D prevents cancer and cardiovascular diseases: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01169259

The results are negative: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30415629/

What you see here is that combing through the data to see wether anything shows a publishable correlation. It’s better than a correlation in the general population, but can be also spurious.

Here is the article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35082139/ It’s important to observe that “omega 3 fatty acid supplementation with or without vitamin D reduced the autoimmune disease rate by 15% (not statistically significant)”. If vitamin D reduced autoimmune diseases you would expect omega 3 + vitamin D to have similar results than just vitamin D

> Here is the article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35082139/ It’s important to observe that “omega 3 fatty acid supplementation with or without vitamin D reduced the autoimmune disease rate by 15% (not statistically significant)”.

There are two endpoints measured, and you chose to quote the statistically insignificant result, rather than the significant one. Though I agree, p-hacking is always an issue. OTOH, plenty of biological discoveries come from unintended observations. As long as they replicate, nothing's off limits -- you wouldn't disbelieve penicillin because it wasn't discovered in a pre-registered trial.

> If vitamin D reduced autoimmune diseases you would expect omega 3 + vitamin D to have similar results than just vitamin D

It did. D only hazard ratio: .68, D+omega3 hazard ratio .69

i have had some sort of psoriasis in my feet and palm of my hands for the almost 16 odd years now. the feet used to have wide gashes that took years to heal. i would spend months lubricating with vaseline and a sarin wrap style plastic covering to keep the grease in contact with the skin... over time, the feet started to heal, one foot is completly fine, the second one still has a 2 inch square size piece below the ankle that gets super dry, starts to break and super exfoliation making me go "scratch scratch scratch".

left hand, well same thing. i would get a gash in the palm and it would stay an open wound for 2-3 years, get better and then again on its own.

for the past 6-9 years the hands had been pretty much fine but this year i am seeing signs for skin getting "patches" like you get if you just burn the top skin layer, just a tad bit dark. it gets scratchy very easily and so is the urge.

for the first time in my life my right hand palm is showing "patches" which is totally new to me.

i was diagnosed with "hyperhidrosis" back in 2012, got that aluminum chloride or whatever antiperspirant but that never worked. it made my skin super dry and the base problem got worse with it...

they had told me that this is an autoimmune disease so "you gotta weather it out"...

i will definitely try VitD because improvement in my hands and feet would definitely be a quality of life improvement for me personally. its been to a point i have a slight tilt in my left foot because of all the tip toe i had to walk for years because i could not put my heel down in school/road/etc ...

For hyperhidrosis, if you can tolerate the discomfort, I highly suggest using Iontophoresis. It really changed my social life after trying many other solutions that did not work.

There are now plenty of commercial machines available

Would you mind elaborating on what specifically "tangible increase in quality of life" means in this context for the curious (i.e., me :) ?

Pre supplements: Feeling lethargic and often sick, not shaking off coughs.

Our Doctor diagnosed Vitamin D deficiency.

Post supplementation (and D levels returning to normal), sick far less often with lower severity + increase in energy levels [to normal]

EDIT: Clarified energy increase is to normal.

Pretty much the same experience. Have stopped taking supplements twice. And it took me right back to 4-5 colds a winter and no energy.

I'm in Denmark. And health authorities have started recommending everyone to take supplements doing winter. And elderly all year around.

Not everyone is going to get those benefits, though.

I've been so deficient that I literally hurt. I had trouble sleeping due to the back/neck pain and had to take breaks while cooking food. Supplements took care of the pain and the extreme lack of energy, but I've never been "energetic".

The best way to describe this, really, is that if I had taken supplements before, I'd have prevented undue lethargy and tiredness. What actually made me get sick less often was not working with the public nor with children, and I never really had trouble shaking off disease when I did get sick. (I ended up deficient due to moving to a northern climate).

At best, supplements help me keep a level of normal.

Yes, I think what you're describing agrees with my family's experience.

When I said 'lethargic'->'increase in energy levels', I didn't mean increase above the baseline. I meant 'lethargic'->'normal'.

That was My experience. Was stuck in bed 22 hours a day for a year, unable to even look at phone or tv. Few months after lots of Vit D I was kayaking every weekend.

Main ingredient: olive oil.

eat food, don't take supplements

supplements will destroy your liver

There is extremely solid evidence that 4000 IU or 100 mg a day is completely safe for all adults. There are some recent large studies that back this up.

I think you mean 100 mcg.

I suggest blood work over guess work. Dieticians are recommending quite a bit more than that.

Definitely not 100 milligrams

Don't listen to this. Just talk to your doctor and supplement. The main way that humans get vitamin D is sunlight. If you aren't outdoors a lot or live far north it's even more likely you need it. It would be good to get tested by your doctor, maybe with your current lifestyle you are just fine and your vitamin D levels are normal. Mine weren't, taking supplements got it back up to normal.

That's provably incorrect. Any phrase that refers to "supplements" as one thing can be safely dismissed

Why would it destroy the liver? One wouldn’t take it like cookies, would they?

Also there are disintegrating strips/films. There’s one for Mecobalamin at least, that I was prescribed.

what foods would you recommend for vit d?

Direct sun exposure.

Just stand facing the sun and open your mouth.

If you live in the north, the sunlight you might get is inadequate.

Also it’s hard to expose skin to sun zero temperature.

I’m guessing northern ancestors ate organ meat for supplements in the past.

I read an interesting theory that people near rivers ate fish and were able to be healthier than the people inland. And also tended to retain the darker complextion of their southern ancestors.

I read that years ago it's in my brain but no idea where it comes from.

That's not possible during the winter in countries in northern climates.

But preferred when it is possible.

Fish

anything you want that is source of vitamin D3

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vitamin-d2-vs-d3#TOC_TI...

Below are "a few ideas" listed from the article (direct quote):

1- mushrooms that have been exposed to ultraviolet light (11Trusted Source)

2- Take fish oil supplements such as cod liver oil

3- Eat fatty fish twice a week (12Trusted Source)

4- Choose milk or orange juice that’s been fortified with vitamin D

5- Eat some eggs and butter (13Trusted Source)

6- Spend at least half an hour in the sun daily, if possible

My thoughts on their recco:

Option 6 is the typical US doctor prescription before vitamin supplements and seems the most reasonable, though depends on your location.

Options 3 and 5 are legit options and worth noting. Not sure if the portion sizes would be a financial detriment to many though.

Option 2 and 4 essentially seem like taking Vitamin D supplements.

Option 1 is huh? Who has a UV gun for mushrooms? Do stores do this automatically?

You simply let your mushrooms get 30 minutes of sun exposure daily.

"choose milk or orange juice that has been fortified with vitamin D" You mean like supplements?

Yeah, I've seen "Vitamin D enriched" mushrooms at the Coop supermarket in the UK.