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Comment by BurningFrog | Hacker News Reader

Technically true, but you should still eat vitamin D supplements.

It's very cheap and safe, so worst case it has less effect than you hope. You can overdose, but you have to really crazy with the dosage.

Also 1: Vitamin D supplements do cure rickets.

Also 2: All of us who eat supplements should show up in the stats as high in vitamin D, so the data does partially cover that case.

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What brand/strength of VitaminD supplements do you all take?

I take Jocko D3[1], it's $25 for a year supply. The dosage is on the high end though, it's 5000IU per dose whereas doctors recommend 4000IU per day. It's important to get bloodwork done once you take it, because if you aren't deficient on vitamin D, it can have adverse health effects if your levels get too high.

https://originmaine.com/nutrition/jocko-d3-gel-capsules-360c...

I take NatureMade brand vitamin-D supplements.

That brand is USP certified which means their product is externally certified (through products purchased at stores) to contain the amount of supplement they say it has.

There are some other similar certification programs that you can look for when choosing supplements, but USP seems to be the most rigorous:

https://www.consumerreports.org/supplements/how-to-choose-su...

I registered a 5 ng/ml with a blood test. I wasn't feeling tired or seeing any negative effects at that time from it and most likely it had been low for a decade. However for obvious reasons I began immediately taking actions to move that number persistently into a healthy range.

I've been using a D3 supplement of 5000 IU from NatureWise, for several years. I take one per day depending on the time of year. It's inexpensive, ~$11-12 for a year supply, and it has worked very well. I take it daily throughout Fall & Winter, and then lighten up on it during Summer.

Sam's Club has this really crazy-understated product (imo) that I like because it contains fish oil and 2000IU VitD in a fish gelatin capsule: https://www.samsclub.com/p/mm-fish-oil-dbl-d3-200ct-fish-gel... .

Thone 5,000 IU once per day (qd)

I take 5000 IU D3 a day, in a pill that combines 180 mcg of K2. K2 is important for calcium transport. My most recent tested level was 38 ng/ml. I'd like it to be above 40. I also make sure to get a lot of sun, because I think the measured benefits of D3 blood levels might be partly a proxy for sun exposure. A good resource for managing your serum D3 is https://www.grassrootshealth.net

I do similarly. The k2 because I read it can be extra important if you have a history of kidney stones.

Well and K2 is involved in transporting calcium into bone. So it helps if you are worried about your D3 supplementation altering your blood calcium levels.

Yeah, agree completely. I still take Vitamin D daily, and its among my cheapest supplements, I think somewhere around 3 cents per day.

It's not that safe, not like vitamin C safe. Especially not in doses sold in pills in pharmacies around the world.

I still can't figure out the safe + effective dosage of Vitamin D.

I was taking 1,000mg a day and that didn't seem to move the needle on my Vitamin D blood work.

In recent weeks I've been taking 4,000mg/day (with K2), which is 4x what I've had pharmacists recommend.

I plan to keep that up for a couple more weeks while I'm under quarantine (recently flew from a high-risk country to a less high-risk country). After that I'll level off to 2,000mg a day.

But I'm shooting in the dark. I have no idea if 2,000mg/day or 4,000mg/day is too much or not enough.

The safest way is to take an occasional test for your vitamin d levels. There are tests that you can take at home that aren't too expensive!

Yep. I work inside a lot, so I started taking 5000IU of D a day. After two weeks, I had my levels tested and it showed a level of 37. When fall comes around, and I'm outside even less, I'll probably up the dosage for a week or two, then test again. Target is between 50 and 70, so I definitely need more.

Thanks. I didn't know.

Amazon has a few options in the $50-90 range.

You prick your finger, draw a "small amount" of blood, and send it to a lab.

The order it yourself lab companies compete on the Vitamin D test, you can usually get one for $40.

Studies of pale skinned Norwegiens who go in the sun during summer show they make 10,000-20,000IU equivalent a day. Results will vary depending on skin tone and the position of the sun (lower in the sky means no vitamin D as the right wavelengths of light are not hitting your skin)

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vitamin-d-from-sun#time...

Quick Google results:

- Mayo Clinic says "Taking 60,000 international units (IU) a day of vitamin D for several months has been shown to cause toxicity."

- news-medical.net says "To prevent toxicity, tolerable upper intake levels have been fixed for vitamin D as..." 4000 for adults.

- healthline.com says "A daily vitamin D intake of 1000–4000 IU (25–100 micrograms) should be enough to ensure optimal blood levels for most people."

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-h...

https://www.news-medical.net/health/Vitamin-D-Overdose.aspx

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-much-vitamin-d-is-t...

This is also what I read. People please read up on vitamin D overdosing.

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