How To Use Vitamin D3
Take vitamin D by mouth as directed. Vitamin D is best absorbed when taken after a meal but may be taken with or without food. Alfacalcidol is usually taken with food. Follow all directions on the product package. If you have any questions, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
If your doctor has prescribed this medication, take as directed by your doctor. Your dosage is based on your medical condition, amount of sun exposure, diet, age, and response to treatment.
If you are using the liquid form of this medication, carefully measure the dose using a special measuring device/spoon. Do not use a household spoon because you may not get the correct dose.
If you are taking the chewable tablet or wafers, chew the medication thoroughly before swallowing. Do not swallow whole wafers.
If you are taking the rapidly-dissolving tablets, dry your hands before handling the medication. Place each dose on the tongue, allow it to dissolve completely, and then swallow it with saliva or water. You do not need to take this medication with water.
Certain medications can decrease the absorption of vitamin D. Take your doses of these medications as far as possible from your doses of vitamin D . It may be easiest to take vitamin D at bedtime if you are also taking these other medications. Ask your doctor or pharmacist how long you should wait between doses and for help finding a dosing schedule that will work with all your medications.
What Other Factors Can Lead To Vitamin D Deficiency
- Age: The skin’s ability to make vitamin D lessens with age.
- Mobility: People who are homebound or are rarely outside are not able to use sun exposure as a source of vitamin D.
- Skin color: Dark-colored skin is less able to make vitamin D than fair-colored skin.
- Human breast milk: A woman’s breast milk only contains a small amount of vitamin D. Often infant formulas also only include a small amount of D also. Therefore infants are at risk of not receiving enough vitamin D. This is especially true for infants who are only fed breast milk.
One Study Estimates That Around 20% Of The Population In The Uk Has A Profound Vitamin D Deficiency
Few doubt the role that vitamin D plays in our bone health to regulate calcium and phosphate in the body, which is why those who have a vitamin D deficiency are particularly encouraged to address it. And that may be more people than you think: one study estimates that around 20% of the population in the UK has a profound vitamin D deficiency, for example.
A third of UK adults who supplement their diet with vitamins take vitamin D
But some experts say that people with healthy levels have no need of vitamin D supplements which would be most people. In other words, they argue that in healthy people, vitamin D is not, as some have hoped, a way to prevent disease.
So whats the reality?
The basics
Despite its name, vitamin D is not a vitamin. Instead, it is a hormone that promotes the absorption of calcium in the body. The challenge is that, aside from a few foods like oily fish, vitamin D is hard to find in the average diet. But in the presence of “ultraviolet B” rays, our skin can produce its own from a common cholesterol.
Vitamin D is found in only a few foods, like oily fish
There are two main types of D. The first is vitamin D3, which is found in animals including fish and is the kind the skin makes when exposed to sunlight. The second is vitamin D2, which comes from plant-based foods including mushrooms. Studies have found that D3 is more effective, and the conclusions of a 2012 meta-analysis argue that D3 is the preferred choice for supplementation.
Broken bones
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Why Should I Be Getting The D
The sun doesnt shine all the time, and its possible you dont always get enough vitamin D from food. If you live in a place where it rains, sleets, and snows, its not always possible to get enough vitamin D from the sun.
Certain individuals and populations are also at greater risk of vitamin D deficiency, including:
- older adults
- people with higher body weight
- people in nursing homes or hospitals
- people with higher skin melanin
Another challenge: Your body needs UVB radiation in order to absorb sunlight and convert it to usable vitamin D3. UV radiation is considered a carcinogen and is one of the biggest reasons for skin cancer. Using sunscreen blocks UV exposure, which reduces your risk of cancer but also blocks some vitamin D-producing UV rays.
Designs For Health Hi
The Designs for Health website says that this supplement is highly concentrated and bioavailable, meaning that it is easy for the body to absorb. It contains 2,000 IU of vitamin D in each drop, and the drops quickly disperse in liquid.
A person can add this product to drinks or put it on their tongue. However, because it is high strength, it is important not to take too much. A doctor can advise on the right amount to take.
All Designs for Health facilities have one or more certifications from organizations such as the Natural Products Association, which enforces strict quality standards for supplements.
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There Are Dietary Sources Of Vitamin D But They’re Somewhat Limited
“If you’re eating a balanced diet people who don’t get any sun exposure it should be perfectly fine to take a supplement of 1000 to 2000 IUs a day. However, many people can get the vitamin D that they need if they get the major dietary sources of vitamin D, such as dark fatty fish, fortified dairy products, fortified cereals, and some people will take a multivitamin that will give them a little extra, so that is often enough,” Dr. Manson told INSIDER.
For vegans, mushrooms and fortified orange juice are some of your best food options for significant sources of vitamin D, according to Healthline.
Review: Vitamin D3 Oral Sprays
Oral sprays are another popular way to obtain vitamin D3. A quick squirt inside the cheek, or under your tongue, allows the vitamin to rapidly cross the lining of your mouth for direct absorption into the blood stream. You can also adjust the dose based on the number of squirts you use.
BetterYou DLUX 3000 Daily Vitamin D Oral Spray provides vitamin D3 sourced from lanolin and is suitable for vegetarians. It has a natural peppermint flavour and provides 3000 IU vitamin D3 per squirt. A BetterYou DLUX spray that supplies 1000 IU per dose is also available.
Dr Mercola Sunshine Mist Vitamin D This spray provides 1000 IU vitamin D3 per metered dose. It is available in natural orange flavour, is sweetened with stevia extract, and has no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives.
Vitamin D3 supplements are also available from Boots.com and from healthspan.co.uk.
Image credits: pixabay
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If You Take Vitamin A
Watch the amount of whatâs called preformed vitamin A. If youâre pregnant, doses over 10,000 IU a day can cause birth defects. High levels of both A and the usually safe beta-carotene may raise your chances of having lung cancer if youâre a smoker, and maybe even if youâre a former smoker.
Vitamins And The Digestive System
When you look into how to absorb vitamins better into your system, so they reach the systemic circulation stage, it is vital to understand how vitamins are broken down and absorbed by the body. The first step in vitamin digestion begins with chewing and the introduction of saliva. After swallowing, the food moves to the stomach where stomach acids and gut bacteria break the food into easily digested particles. Finally, these particles move to the small intestine where the vitamins and other nutrients are absorbed, with some nutrients metabolizing in the liver.. After the nutrients are absorbed, the remaining particles pass on to the large intestine. Individuals with digestive and malabsorption syndrome disorders and individuals with low stomach acid, or have had bariatric surgery can have a difficult time absorbing vitamins and minerals from food and supplements. No two digestive systems are alike, and each system has its idiosyncrasies and challenges. If you have digestive problems and take a digestive enzyme regularly to speed vitamin digestion, learning how to absorb vitamins better is essential to your gut health. You may need to switch to a vitamin supplement formulated with small particles for best results.
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Advice For Adults And Children Over 4 Years Old
During the autumn and winter, you need to get vitamin D from your diet because the sun is not strong enough for the body to make vitamin D.
But since it’s difficult for people to get enough vitamin D from food alone, everyone should consider taking a daily supplement containing 10 micrograms of vitamin D during the autumn and winter.
Between late March/early April to the end of September, most people can make all the vitamin D they need through sunlight on their skin and from a balanced diet.
You may choose not to take a vitamin D supplement during these months.
What To Consider With Timing Your Vitamin D Supplement
Since vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, it strongly prefers a source of fat in order to be properly absorbed in the body. According to integrative dietitian Whitney Crouch, RDN, CLT, vitamin D supplements are “best absorbed when taken with food containing avocado, olive oil, flax, or other sources of beneficial fats.”* So, popping your standard D supplement on an empty stomach probably isn’t the best idea.
There’s one important exception here, though. “If your supplement is already packaged with adequate fats included, there’s no need to take it with food,” Crouch adds. This is a rare feature among vitamin D supplements offered today, so it’s important to check product labels to make sure yours contains some kind of fat or oil to foster absorption, Holick says.
If that is the case, though, you can feel free to take your vitamin D sans food. And if not, you’ll still absorb some vitamin D. “We’ve done studies and shown that vitamin D with oil can be taken with a full meal, on an empty stomach, with additional fat or without it,” says Holick.
To be sure you’re maximizing the fat-soluble bioavailability of this critical nutrient, that’s exactly why mbg uniquely and expertly formulated our vitamin D3 potency+ with three built-in, high-quality organic oils .* With this absorption support, you can get the most out of your vitamin D, regardless of when you take it .*
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How Much Vitamin D Do I Need
From about late March/early April to the end of September, the majority of people should be able to make all the vitamin D they need from sunlight on their skin.
Children from the age of 1 year and adults need 10 micrograms of vitamin D a day. This includes pregnant and breastfeeding women, and people at risk of vitamin D deficiency.
Babies up to the age of 1 year need 8.5 to 10 micrograms of vitamin D a day.
A microgram is 1,000 times smaller than a milligram . The word microgram is sometimes written with the Greek symbol followed by the letter g .
Sometimes the amount of vitamin D is expressed as International Units . 1 microgram of vitamin D is equal to 40 IU. So 10 micrograms of vitamin D is equal to 400 IU.
Is Vitamin D Deficiency An Epidemic No Its Not
Thomas Carpenter, MD, Yale Medicine pediatric endocrinologist and director of the Yale School of Medicines Center for X-Linked Hypophosphatemia
Based on the United States Dietary Association and National Health and Nutrition Surveys , the bulk of the population is not vitamin D-deficient. The population we tend to see vitamin D deficiency inand its typically in wintertimeare breastfed infants. Breast milk doesn’t have much vitamin D in it. That’s what spurred a recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics that every breastfed infant be given vitamin D . But if infants aren’t given multivitamin drops, they need to be given 200 IU a day of vitamin D for the first two months of life and 400 units a day afterwards until theyre drinking formula or milk, which are each fortified with vitamin D.
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Ways To Increase Your Body’s Vitamin And Mineral Absorption
Learning how to absorb vitamins better for your specific needs may require a change of diet and a change in the supplements you take. Read on to learn about the 9 ways to boost vitamin and mineral absorption from the supplements you’re taking and the foods in your diet.
1. Take Fat-Soluble Vitamins with Oils or Fats
Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble vitamins that are stored in our body’s tissues.These vitamins are critical because they support many healthy functions in the body and may even prevent certain diseases. You should take these essential micronutrients with fats or oils so they can be solubilized for absorption.
Nutrients that cannot be dissolved are less likely to be absorbed, so you have to consume them with a solution that can dissolve them. To maximize nutrient absorption, consume your fat-soluble vitamins with fats or oils that can help with absorption. For example, when taking your multivitamin in the morning, consume it with a nut butter, such as almond butter, cashew butter or peanut butter. If you have eggs in the morning – cook them in olive, coconut or avocado oil. You can also add avocado to your whole grain toast or as a side fruit. If you are taking your multivitamin at lunch or dinner, add some avocado slices or add a handful of nuts or seeds to your sandwich or salad, or add olive or avocado oil to roasted vegetables.
2. Spice It Up!
3. For the Best Absorbing Vitamins, Ditch the Pills
Micronutrients that should be taken together
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Avoiding Vitamin D Deficiency
Were big fans of vitamin D because most people fall into one of 2 categories:
The problem is that vitamin D usually comes from 2 sources: the diet and the sun. Were living on worse diets and less sun than we should, which leaves many of us well below the optimal intake.
By neglecting vitamin D you leave yourself open to lost muscle gains, health, and wellbeing. Just as one example, the lower mood many people experience in winter isdirectly related to lower vitamin D levels.
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If You Take Mineral Supplements
Large doses of minerals can compete with each other to be absorbed. Donât use calcium, zinc, or magnesium supplements at the same time. Also, these three minerals are easier on your tummy when you take them with food, so if your doctor recommends them, have them at different meals or snacks. Donât take any individual mineral at the same time as an MVM or an antioxidant vitamin formula, like one with beta-carotene and lycopene. Also see: What is silicon dioxide and how is it used in supplements?
What Is The Ideal Time To Take It
Taking vitamin D with a meal can enhance its absorption and increase blood levels more efficiently.
However, theres limited research on whether taking it at night or in the morning may be more effective.
The most important steps are to fit vitamin D into your routine and take it consistently to ensure maximum effectiveness.
Try taking it alongside breakfast or with a bedtime snack as long as it doesnt interfere with your sleep.
The key is to find what works for you and stick with it to ensure youre meeting your vitamin D needs.
Summary
Taking vitamin D with a meal can increase its absorption, but studies on specific timing are limited. For best results, experiment with different schedules to find what works for you.
Supplements can be an effective way to boost your blood levels of vitamin D, which is crucial to your health.
Taking vitamin D with food can enhance its effectiveness, as its fat-soluble.
While the best timing has not been established, scientific data to confirm anecdotal reports that supplementing at night may interfere with sleep is unavailable.
Current research suggests you can fit vitamin D into your routine whenever you prefer.
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Ways To Supplement With Vitamin D
On the supplementing front. you have options. You can swallow a little every day, as a pill or get a mega-dose, in a jab from your health care provider, every now and again.
Many people opt for option number 2.
Hell, its SO MUCH EASIER !
Granted its not pain less, but its a case of set it and forget it.
Vitamin D2 Vs Vitamin D3
Many people arent aware that thereare actually 2 types of Vitamin D:
- Vitamin D2
- Vitamin D3
Vitamin D2 is mainly derived fromplant sources exposed to UV light , whereas Vitamin D3 is onlyfound in animal sources .
As far as this article is concerned,Vitamin D3 appears to be more effective at raising your Vitamin D levels.
Now lets look at the why
Our liver metabolizes Vitamin D2 into25-hydroxyvitamin D2 and Vitamin D3 into 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 both of whichare referred to as Calcifediol.
However, Vitamin D3 seems to yield more calcifediol per unit than Vitamin D2 .
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