Vitamin D Deficiency in someone who's always outside?

[eatyourbroccoli]

Hey guys,

I've been feeling incredibly fatigued, sore all over, and have been struggling with depression the past couple of months. I finally yielded and went into my doctor (who acknowledges my raw lifestyle and never tries to talk me out of it :D ), and she ran a bunch of tests for various conditions. Everything came back good, except I'm very deficient in Vitamin D. I'm wondering if any of you know what could cause this? I'm out in the sun almost everyday, sitting on my balcony doing hours of homework at a time. I live in Boulder, CO (where it's frequently sunny and 60 degree weather in the winter isn't abnormal). I also spent the whole winter snowboarding, often in the sun (to the point of my freckles emerging from the constant exposure). I have olive skin, and I understand people with darker skin are at a higher risk of D deficiency, but I'm really confused about how I can still be so deficient despite my regular exposure (I love the sun, I'm in it as much as possible) :confused:

Any advice, thoughts, or suggestions of how I could still be deficient despite my sun exposure would be appreciated. :cool:

Oh, and as a sidenote, I even spent a week in late March on the beach in San Diego, with my body fully exposed to the sun (well, minus the parts covered by a bikini :p ).

Thanks!

ETA: My calcium levels were fine...and my diet's pretty much a small amount of fruit, a lot of lettuce/olive oil/seeds (pumpkin & sunflower)/nuts (walnuts & brazil), and sometimes sprouted grain bread. I'm sometimes too lazy to make my own, and do break down and buy Ezekiel 4:9 (which I know isn't truly raw), but this isn't regular. I'm completely vegan, and I'd say I'm about 80-90% raw. I also drink kombucha tea regularly. Just in case any of that helps.

[luckitri]

I did not understand how a resident of central Az (me) could be vitamin D deficient either. But I was. I had an Rx for it and then OTC and it really helped me feel better! Take the pills and if it does not help then you must look at other options (maybe vit D is not the problem.)

Plus lots of people are advocating vit D to fight the swine flu so regardless of wether or not you think the threat is bogus it would be prudent to take it in order to rule out the possibility of deficiency as well as possibly combat the SF.

[luckitri]

Just for laughs I googled chemtrails with vitamin D deficiency and learnt that I am not the only one who has considered that. Lots of reading and hunting though.

Another thing I wonder about is the spraying of organic produce with MSG and who knows what else that can change our digestive/endocrine processes - stuff that gets into the plant and cannot be washed off?

[firefaery]

well, it's not something you ingest it's something you manufacture. What you get from the sun is the precursor. It isn't simply about exposure.

[Raw Angel Mom]

You should get your B12 level check out also.

Sunglasses will limit the absortion of Vitamine D. I try to get my dose of sunshine in the Morning sunrise and Night sun set. This where the UV are less dominant or safe for what i read, but research about this.

[sport]

I try to get my dose of sunshine in the Morning sunrise and Night sun set. This where the UV are less dominant or safe for what i read, but research about this.

My understanding is that this is the worst time to get it.
The level of bad rays is constant all day and the level of good rays follows a bell curve so in the morning and evening you get the same amount of bad rays for a minimum amount of good rays.
You need to spend less time in the sun in the middle of the day to get an equal amount of good rays and you will be minimising your bad rays.

[Colorawdo girl]

I am amused at all the fuss there has been about the sun and its damaging affects.
Now there are a mass amount of people with Vitamin D deficiency. Hype. No listen to hype. Ancient chinese proverb say "one who listen to hype be all hyper"...hahahaha
Be aware ,sensible and in moderation.

[Raw Angel Mom]

My understanding is that this is the worst time to get it.
The level of bad rays is constant all day and the level of good rays follows a bell curve so in the morning and evening you get the same amount of bad rays for a minimum amount of good rays.
You need to spend less time in the sun in the middle of the day to get an equal amount of good rays and you will be minimising your bad rays.

I am not a scientific etc... but i was talking again with someone yesterday. He gets update with science etc... He agreeded that sunset/sunrise are safe for the UV (up to one hour after sunrise and one hour before sunrise). He also talked about when a day is cloudy, this is a good time to get the vitamin D because the good UV kind for the D do cross the cloud and the bad UV that cause cancer is blocked by the cloud.

This is worth to research. I try to go with my common sense and what feels good with me. I don't discredit research but i do take and leave.

I have heard also the same information then you before until i found new evidence. There is a man that live mainly on light and water. He do get the sunlight at sunset and sunrise. He also shared that it was a safe time to get the light you need for your brain/body.

From another source, apparently sunrise will open your chakra and preparre you for the day and at night, it will close them and preparre you for the night. I have noticed my wellbeing feeling much better when i do get some sunshine at those time of day.

I know this sound strange, but i keep an open mind.

[Ilse W.]

For the sun to do you any good at all, you have to expose your body to it WITHOUT sunscreen. All that sunscreen nonsense is what keeps people who spend a lot of time in the sun from actually making enough vit. D. Studies have been done that show that anybody who lives above about the 45th parallel (I believe I got that number right, it's the one just north of Salem, OR) does not get enough sun during the winter, not because of clouds but because of the low angle of the sun.
It's not the sun that causes skin cancer, but the food we eat, which creates the conditions in our body that make our cells susceptible to mutation and keeps our immune system from recognizing them and acting to clean them up. Detox your body and eat raw vegan food, that's your best insurance. Begin exposing a good part of your body to the sun without sunscreen for about 15 minutes around mid-day. You can increase the time, if you want, but 15 minutes may be enough to keep your vit. D levels at an optimum. In the meantime, take Vit. D3 capsules. Take 5,000 I.U. a day to start. You can take the whole 35,000 I.U. for the week all at once, since D accumulates in the body. So far they have not come up with a toxicity level, IOW, it's safe at those levels. Once your levels are up, and they do come up fairly quickly, take 2,000 I.U. for maintenance especially in winter. Vitamin D3 is very inexpensive. I used to take one from Pure Incapsulations, but you have to get it from a doctor who sells their products. Currently I use the NOW Vit. D3 (it HAS to be D3, NOT D2). It costs very little, like maybe $7 for 120 softgels of the 2,000 I.U.
Vit. D is probably the most important vitamin to keep us healthy, but because our bodies make it themselves, if exposed to sufficient sunlight, it never used to be talked about or emphasized much. Since the advent of sunscreen and the overuse of cars instead of feet or bicycles, vitamin D deficiency has risen to epidemic proportions. I think it's still not talked about enough by mainstream media and doctors, but then most of them are just after the money and couldn't care less about health or educating the masses.

[Revvell]

Maybe the diagnosis was WRONG!!!

Revvell (http://Revvellations.com)

[RawHeaven]

For the sun to do you any good at all, you have to expose your body to it WITHOUT sunscreen. All that sunscreen nonsense is what keeps people who spend a lot of time in the sun from actually making enough vit. D.

Yes!

And I'll add this is the biggest misconception with darker-skinned people. We must get out there in the sun for longer periods of time without sunscreen because it takes longer for our bodies to manufacture Vitamin D. Doing so increases one's health. It is not the other way around.

[rawstrength]

You can manufacture vitamin D through your eyes. I recommend watching the sunrise and the sunset as often as possible.

Ditch the sunscreen.

Raw foods that contain vitamin D are nettles, certain types of mushrooms, hen's eggs (not vegan, not endorsed by Alissa, but very high in vitamin D when eaten raw), and pharmaceutical-grade fish oil (also not vegan nor endorsed by Alissa).

If all else fails, go with a supplement. We live in pretty strange, abnormal times and our bodies have been through a lot of trials with all the processed SAD cooked food we used to eat. So sometimes supplementation may be neccesary, because we are so disconnected from life-giving nature.

[violeta]

I have chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia, and I've been reading every thing under the sun for a long time. One interesting thing that I found recently is that if your immune system is infected with some sort of pathogen like nanobacteria or mycoplasma, blood tests will most likely show that you are deficient in Vit D. If that is the case, simply taking in more Vit D doesn't improve the levels. You have find ways to balance your immune system so that it will start to deal with the pathogens.

Eating 100% raw is actually good for the condition. There are other things, too, that you can find by googling Th1 Th2 immunity and balancing the immune system.

Violet

[eatyourbroccoli]

wow guys, thank you for the responses :) so sorry it took me a couple months to offer my gratitude :o .. life comes at me quick sometimes and i get all caught up in it ;)

interesting note violet, i think there could be something to that..and to all who mentioned sungazing in one way or another, i've been considering trying this.

and revvell..that's the perspective i adopted after a week of taking horse-sized chalky pills that i couldnt imagine were doing any good :D

again, thank you. and sorry for the delay in appreciation.

[shashibala]

I read that washing our skin with soaps and cleansers washes off our natural oils. These oils contain vitamin D2. The D2 that is in our skin oils changes to D3 after sun exposure. D3 is the form that can be used by our bodies.
Allow the natural oils to remain on your skin.
I'm sure there are parts of the vitamin D puzzle that we don't yet understand.
I am taking a supplement myself at this point.
Keep us posted as to your progress!

[sprouts2go]

I just had my blood work done and my vit D should be 30 it is only 12 I have to take Vit D and get it back up.

[bsqmurphy]

I've tested VERY low on Vit D & was prescribed high doses of Vit D. Here are a few things I learned (for what it's worth).

- Tablets & caplets of Vit D did me no good - I barely responded to the treatment (most people respond just fine).
- Liquid Vit D (the base is coconut oil) made all the difference for me - i responded extremely well.
- Vit D 3 is the natural form & is generally more effective.
- Vit D production interacts with LOTS of other systems in our bodies and we are just beginning to understand a FEW bits of this... there is still way more unknown at this point.

I hope this helps,
Bri

PS I second the suggestion to check your vit B levels too.

[TaupeRawMan]

I just had my blood work done and my vit D should be 30 it is only 12 I have to take Vit D and get it back up.

Those were my exact levels 3 weeks ago. Then, I started taking a liquid D3 from Pure Encapsulations. One drop is 1000iu. My level has gone up to 24 in 3 weeks. You may also want to get your PTH tested (parathyroid).

bsqmurphy, what brand did you go with for your liquid?

[bsqmurphy]

bsqmurphy, what brand did you go with for your liquid?

Carlson d drops

I chose this one because it was the one available at my local super supplements store :)

Bri.

[Bookish Lass]

Supplementing with Vitamin D has really improved my life. I was just realizing yesterday that since I've been taking the caps the last couple months, I haven't been depressed or grumpy. :)

[sprouts2go]

I started taking My Vit D capsules and had to stop. My face broke out in a rash and it is now healing and is dry and thick and wrinkled. Yuck. I am putting olive oil on my face but i look like I was rubbed hard with sand paper.
I chose a brand with Rice bran oil because I am allergic to fish.