Top 5 Signs of Vitamin D Deficiency – and What You Can Do About It

Contributing writer for Wake Up World

Vitamin D deficiency. What are the risks? How can you determine if you’re deficient? And what are the benefits of raising your vitamin D level?

Vitamin D deficiency is incredibly common around the world, but many mistakenly believe they aren’t at risk because they consume vitamin D-fortified foods, such as milk. Few foods have therapeutic levels of vitamin D naturally, and even fortified foods do not contain enough vitamin D to support your health needs.

Despite its name, vitamin D is actually a steroid hormone that you obtain primarily through sun exposure, not via your diet. Since most dermatologists and other doctors recommend avoiding the sun and using sunscreen before venturing outdoors, vitamin D deficiency has reached truly epidemic proportions around the world.

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Unfortunately, while the justification for sun avoidance is that it may reduce your risk of skin cancer, by avoiding sun exposure you risk vitamin D deficiency, which in turn raises your risk for many cancers — not only internal ones but also skin cancer, as well as a whole host of chronic diseases.

Considering the importance of vitamin D for disease prevention, strict sun avoidance is likely doing far more harm than good. The major problem with sun exposure is burning, not overall exposure. And, the easily treatable forms of skin cancer — squamous and basal cell carcinomas — are the ones most likely to form.

Definition of Vitamin D Deficiency

According to research¹ published in June, 2018, an estimated 40 percent of Americans are profoundly vitamin D deficient, defined as having a serum (blood) level of vitamin D below 20 ng/mL (50 nmol/L). Sufficiency is defined as having a level of 20 ng/mL or higher.

Calling someone with a vitamin D level of less than 20 ng/ml vitamin D deficient is like calling someone over 400 pounds simply overweight; in both cases a grossly serious understatement.

Seventy-five percent of American adults and teens are deficient in vitamin D when a sufficiency level of 30 ng/mL is used.² If the sufficiency cutoff were to be moved to 40 to 60 ng/mL, sufficiency rates in the U.S. would likely be in the high 90 percent bracket.

It’s important to realize that 20 ng/mL has repeatedly been shown to be grossly insufficient for good health and disease prevention and, really, anything below 40 ng/mL (100 nmol/L) should be suspect. For example, research has shown that once you reach a minimum serum vitamin D level of 40 ng/mL, your risk for cancer diminishes by 67 percent, compared to having a level of 20 ng/mL or less.³

Most cancers occur in people with a vitamin D blood level between 10 and 40 ng/mL (25 to 100 nmol/L), and the optimal level for cancer protection now appears to be between 60 and 80 ng/mL (150 to 200 nmol/L).

Several studies also show that these higher vitamin D levels are protective against breast cancer specifically. Importantly, a 2005 study⁴ showed women with vitamin D levels above 60 ng/mL have an 83 percent lower risk of breast cancer than those below 20 ng/mL! I cannot think of any other strategy that can offer that kind of risk reduction.

More recently, a pooled analysis⁵ published in June 2018 of two randomized trials and a prospective cohort study came to a near-identical conclusion. The objective was to assess whether there are any benefits to having a vitamin D level above 40 ng/mL, as most studies do not venture into these higher levels.

Indeed, mirroring the 2005 findings, women with vitamin D levels at or above 60 ng/mL had an 82 percent lower incidence rate of breast cancer than those with levels of 20 ng/mL or less. Published research by GrassrootsHealth reveals as much as 80 percent of all breast cancer incidence could be prevented simply by optimizing vitamin D and nothing else.

Top 5 Signs of Vitamin D Deficiency

The only way to definitively identify vitamin D deficiency is via blood testing. However, there are some general signs and symptoms to be aware of as well. If any of the following apply to you, you should get your vitamin D levels tested sooner rather than later, and take proactive steps to boost your level into the 60 to 80 ng/mL range:

1.Ongoing musculoskeletal pain and achy bones — According to vitamin D researcher Dr. Michael Holick, many who see their doctor for aches and pains, especially in combination with fatigue, end up being misdiagnosed as having fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome.

“Many of these symptoms are classic signs of vitamin D deficiency osteomalacia,⁶which is different from the vitamin D deficiency that causes osteoporosis in adults,” Holick says. “What’s happening is that the vitamin D deficiency causes a defect in putting calcium into the collagen matrix into your skeleton. As a result, you have throbbing, aching bone pain.”⁷

2.Frequent illness/infections — Vitamin D regulates the expression of genes that influence your immune system to attack and destroy bacteria and viruses, so frequent illness and infections of all kinds, including colds and flu, is a tipoff that your immune function is subpar, which likely means you’re low on vitamin D.

3.Neurological symptoms — This includes depression, “feeling blue, cognitive impairment, headaches and migraines. In 2006, scientists evaluated the effects of vitamin D on the mental health of 80 elderly patients and found those with the lowest levels of vitamin D were 11 times more prone to be depressed than those who received healthy doses.⁸

The same study also found low vitamin D was linked to poor cognitive performance. Several other studies⁹ have also linked vitamin D deficiency with poor mental function, confusion, forgetfulness and difficulty concentrating. Headaches and migraines are also associated with low vitamin D.^10,¹¹

4.Fatigue and daytime sleepiness — Studies have linked low vitamin D to persistent fatigue.^12,¹³ In one case, a woman struggling with chronic fatigue, daytime sleepiness (hypersomnia), low back pain and daily headaches was found to have a vitamin D level below 6 ng/mL.

Her symptoms resolved once she raised it to 39 ng/mL.¹⁴ Another study¹⁵ found women with vitamin D levels below 29 ng/mL were more likely to complain of fatigue than those with levels above 30 ng/mL.

5.Head sweating — According to Holick, a classic sign of vitamin D deficiency is a sweaty head. In fact, physicians used to ask new mothers about head sweating in their newborns for this very reason. Excessive sweating in newborns due to neuromuscular irritability is still described as a common, early symptom of vitamin D deficiency.¹⁶

Top 5 Risk Factors for Vitamin D Deficiency

Several factors will influence your risk for vitamin D deficiency, including the following:

Rarely spending time outdoors and/or always wearing sunscreen — Researchers have noted that vitamin D deficiency is prevalent in adults of all ages who always wear sun protection (which blocks vitamin D production) or limit their outdoor activities.¹⁷ The ideal time for sun exposure is between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., when the UVB rays are present.
Darker skin — Your skin pigment acts as a natural sunscreen, so the more pigment you have, the more time you’ll need to spend in the sun to make adequate amounts of vitamin D. If you have dark skin, you may need as much as 10 times more sun exposure to produce the same amount of vitamin D as a person with pale skin.
Being 50 or older — As you get older, your skin doesn’t make as much vitamin D in response to sun exposure. At the same time, your kidneys become less efficient at converting vitamin D into its active form. Older adults also tend to spend more time indoors (i.e. getting even less sun exposure and therefore vitamin D).
Obesity — Because vitamin D is fat-soluble, body fat acts as a “sink” by collecting it. If you’re overweight or obese, you’re therefore likely going to need more vitamin D than a slimmer person. In one recent study,¹⁸ vitamin D deficiency was three times more prevalent in obese individuals.
Gastrointestinal problems — Vitamin D is fat-soluble, which means if you have a gastrointestinal condition that affects your ability to absorb fat, you may have lower absorption of fat-soluble vitamins like vitamin D as well. This includes gut conditions like Crohn’s, celiac and nonceliac gluten sensitivity and inflammatory bowel disease.

Health Benefits of Vitamin D Optimization

Optimizing your vitamin D levels has been shown to have a powerful effect on health, helping protect against a wide variety of diseases. Among them:

Dry eye syndromes.^19,²⁰

Macular degeneration,^21,²² which is the No. 1 cause of blindness in the elderly.

Autoimmune diseases — Vitamin D is a potent immune modulator, making it very important for the prevention of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease and psoriasis, just to name a few.

Gastrointestinal diseases.²³

Infectious diseases, including influenza and HIV.^24,²⁵

Inflammatory rheumatic diseases²⁶ such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Osteoporosis and hip fractures.

Cardiovascular disease — Vitamin D is very important for reducing hypertension, atherosclerotic heart disease, heart attack and stroke, as it plays a vital role in protecting and repairing damage to your endothelium.²⁷

It also helps trigger production of nitric oxide — which improves blood flow and prevents blood clot formation — and significantly reduces oxidative stress in your vascular system, all of which are important to help prevent the development and/or progression of cardiovascular disease.

According to Holick,²⁸ vitamin D deficiency increases your risk of heart attack by 50 percent, and if you have a heart attack and you’re vitamin D deficient, your risk of dying from that heart attack is virtually guaranteed.

Indeed, a Norwegian study²⁹ published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism found “a normal intake of vitamin D” significantly reduces your risk of death if you have cardiovascular disease.³⁰

Neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease^31,³² and epilepsy — In one study,³³ epileptics given a one-time megadose of vitamin D3, ranging from 40,000 IUs all the way up to 200,000 IUs, followed by a daily dose of 2,000 to 2,600 IUs a day for three months to bring each individual’s vitamin D status to at least 30 ng/mL, resulted in significant improvements.

Ten out of 13 had a decrease in the number of seizures, five of which experienced more than a 50 percent reduction. Overall, the group had a 40 percent reduction in the number of seizures.

Lupus — According to researchers in Cairo,³⁴ most patients with systemic lupus erythematosus have some level of vitamin D deficiency, defined as a level of 10 ng/mL or less, or insufficiency, a level between 10 and 30 ng/mL.

Obstructive sleep apnea — In one study, 98 percent of patients with sleep apnea had vitamin D deficiency, and the more severe the sleep apnea, the more severe the deficiency.³⁵

Bone health, falls and fractures — A 2006 review³⁶ looking at vitamin D intakes and health outcomes such as bone mineral density, dental health, risk of falls, fractures and colorectal cancer, found “the most advantageous serum concentrations of 25(OH)D begin at 30 ng/mL, and the best are between 36 to 40 ng/mL.”

Obesity and diabetes — Research³⁷ has shown vitamin D supplementation (4,000 IUs/day) combined with resistance training helps decrease your waist-to-hip ratio, a measurement that is far better at determining your risk for Type 2 diabetes and heart disease than body mass index.

Type 1 diabetes — Data from GrassrootsHealth’s D*Action project to prevent Type 1 diabetes³⁸suggests maintaining a vitamin D level between 40 and 60 ng/mL (100 to 150 nmol/L) may prevent Type 1 diabetes, and stop the progression of the disease, which is a growing problem.

Neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis (MS)^39,^40,⁴¹— Research shows MS patients with higher levels of vitamin D tend to experience less disabling symptoms.⁴² Vitamin D deficiency is also common among patients with Parkinson’s⁴³ and seniors with severe vitamin D deficiency may raise their risk for dementia by 125 percent.⁴⁴

DNA repair and metabolic processes — One of Holick’s studies⁴⁵ showed healthy volunteers taking 2,000 IUs of vitamin D per day for a few months up-regulated 291 different genes that control up to 80 different metabolic processes, including DNA repair and autoxidation (oxidation that occurs in the presence of oxygen and/or UV radiation, which has implications for aging and cancer).

Preterm birth — A level of 40 ng/mL has also been shown to offer powerful protection against preterm birth if you’re pregnant.⁴⁶ Women with a vitamin D level of at least 40 ng/mL may lower their risk of preterm birth by as much as 62 percent, compared to having a level of just 20 ng/mL. Women with a history of preterm birth gain even greater protection — an 80 percent reduction — when raising their vitamin D level above 40 ng/mL.

Pregnancy complications — Having a vitamin D level above 40 ng/mL also protects the mother by reducing her risk of preeclampsia, gestational diabetes and prenatal infections by approximately 50 percent.⁴⁷

All-cause mortality — Studies have also linked higher vitamin D levels with lowered mortality from all causes.^48,^49,⁵⁰

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Check Your Vitamin D Level Twice a Year

Regular, sensible sun exposure is the best way to optimize your vitamin D status, but many will need to take an oral vitamin D3 supplement, especially during winter months.

The only way to gauge whether you might need to supplement, and how much, is to get your level tested, ideally twice a year, in the early spring, after the winter, and early fall when you level is at its peak and low point. This is particularly important if you’re pregnant or planning a pregnancy, or if you have cancer.

Again, the level you’re aiming for is between 60 and 80 ng/mL, with 40 ng/mL being the low cutoff point for sufficiency to prevent a wide range of diseases, including cancer.

GrassrootsHealth makes testing easy by offering an inexpensive vitamin D testing kit as part of its consumer-sponsored research. By signing up, you are helping further vital health research that can help millions in coming years. (All revenues from these kits go directly to GrassrootsHealth. I make no profit from these kits and only provide them as a service of convenience to my readers.)

All women are also encouraged to enroll in the Breast Cancer Prevention project,⁵¹ to track your vitamin D level and help prevent an initial cancer occurrence, or, if you’ve already had it, to help prevent a recurrence. In addition, anyone affected by Type 1 Diabetes is invited to enroll in the Type 1 Diabetes Prevention Project.

Required Dosage Is Highly Individual

Research⁵² suggests it would require 9,600 IUs of vitamin D per day to get 97 percent of the population to reach 40 ng/mL, but individual requirements can vary widely, and you need to take whatever dosage required to get you into the optimal range.

As noted by Carole Baggerly, director and founder of GrassrootsHealth, a nonprofit public health research organization dedicated to moving public health messages regarding vitamin D from research into practice:⁵³

“Our first paper, published in 2011, showed the dose response relationship. You can easily see that two people taking the same dose (e.g., 4,000 IU/day) could have very different results. That’s why testing … is so important.”

If you’ve been taking a certain amount of vitamin D3 for a number of months and retesting reveals you’re still not within the recommended range, then you know you need to increase your dosage.

Over time, with continued testing, you’ll find your individual sweet spot and have a good idea of how much you need to take to maintain an ideal level year-round. GrassrootsHealth also has an online vitamin D calculator you can use to estimate your vitamin D3 dosage once you know your current serum level.

Additional Guidelines When Using Oral Vitamin D3

Aside from determining your ideal dose of vitamin D3, you also need to make sure you’re getting enough vitamin K2 (to avoid complications associated with excessive calcification in your arteries), calcium and magnesium.

Research^54,⁵⁵ has shown that if you’re taking high doses of vitamin D while having an insufficient magnesium level, your body cannot properly utilize the vitamin D you’re taking. The reason for this is because magnesium is required for the actual activation of vitamin D. If your magnesium level is too low, the vitamin D may simply get stored in its inactive form.

This may actually help explain why many need rather high doses of vitamin D to optimize their levels. According to this scientific review, as many as 50 percent of Americans taking vitamin D supplements may not get significant benefit due to insufficient magnesium levels.

On the other hand, when you have an optimal magnesium level, your vitamin D level will rise even if you’re taking a much lower dose.⁵⁶ In fact, previous research⁵⁷ has indicated that higher magnesium intake helps reduce your risk of vitamin D deficiency — likely by activating more of it.

The Role of Vitamin D in Disease Prevention

A growing body of evidence shows that vitamin D plays a crucial role in disease prevention and maintaining optimal health. There are about 30,000 genes in your body, and vitamin D affects nearly 3,000 of them, as well as vitamin D receptors located throughout your body.

According to one large-scale study, optimal Vitamin D levels can slash your risk of cancer by as much as 60 percent. Keeping your levels optimized can help prevent at least 16 different types of cancer, including pancreatic, lung, ovarian, prostate and skin cancers.

How Vitamin D Performance Testing Can Help Optimize Your Health

Is it any wonder then that no matter what disease or condition is investigated, vitamin D appears to play a crucial role? This is why I am so excited about the D*Action Project by GrassrootsHealth. Dr. Robert Heaney is the research director of GrassrootsHealth and is part of the design of the D*action Project as well as analysis of the research findings.

GrassrootsHealth shows how you can take action today on known science with a consensus of experts without waiting for institutional lethargy. It has shown how by combining the science of measurement (of vitamin D levels) with the personal choice of taking action and, the value of education about individual measures that one can truly be in charge of their own health.

In order to spread this health movement to more communities, the project needs your involvement. To participate, simply purchase the D*Action Measurement Kit and follow the registration instructions included. (Please note that 100 percent of the proceeds from the kits go to fund the research project. I do not charge a single dime as a distributor of the test kits.)

As a participant, you agree to test your vitamin D levels twice a year during a five-year study, and share your health status to demonstrate the public health impact of this nutrient. There is a $65 fee every six months for your sponsorship of this research project, which includes a test kit to be used at home, and electronic reports on your ongoing progress. You will get a follow up email every six months reminding you “it’s time for your next test and health survey.”

Internet Resources Where You Can Learn More

Where Do We Go From Here?

GrassrootsHealth is now undertaking a new project entitled the Protect Our Children NOW! (POC) project. The aim of this project is to acquire participation of at least 500 pregnant women in a community, and to increase their serum levels to the suggested level of at least 40 ng/ml based on a clinical trial by neonatologist Carol Wagner and vitamin D researcher Bruce Hollis.

In addition, the project will take these results in two years and “march” on the various institutions in the states and government to the March of Dimes, to demand that action be taken to protect the world’s next generation.

Among other items, the projects’ expected impact is likely to be a reduction in preterm births (in some cases up to a 50 percent reduction). The project already has the blessing of scientists and physicians at the Medical University of South Carolina (who are implementing it in their practices) and even from insurance companies.

Any community can implement this and make a difference for themselves and others. For further information contact Jen Aliano, Project Manager, at [email protected].

Sources and References:

¹ Cureus 2018 Jun; 10(6): e2741
² Archives of Internal Medicine 2009;169(6):626-632
³ PLOS ONE 2016; 11 (4): e0152441
⁴ European Journal of Cancer 2005 May;41(8):1164-9
⁵ PLOS ONE June 15, 2018
⁶ US Pharmacist March 18, 2009
^7, ^28, ⁴⁵ Mercola.com December 22, 2013, Interview with Dr. Michael Holick
⁸ American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry December 2006; 14(12): 1032-1040
⁹ Vitamin D Council, Cognitive Impairment
¹⁰ J Clin Neurol. 2018 Jul; 14(3): 366–373
¹¹ Health.com January 6, 2017
¹² Glob J Health Sci. 2015 Nov 17;8(6):196-202
¹³ Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2010 Jan; 119(1): 111–118
¹⁴ J Clin Sleep Med. 2010 Dec 15;6(6):605-8
¹⁵ J Endocrinol Invest. 2013 Sep;36(8):622-7
¹⁶ Mayo Clinic Proceedings June 21, 2013
¹⁷ Am J Clin NutrMarch 2004 vol. 79 no. 3 362-371
¹⁸ British Journal of Nutrition 2018 Apr;119(8):928-936
¹⁹ International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases August 13, 2015
²⁰ Endocrinology Advisor August 24, 2015
²¹ JAMA Ophthalmology August 27, 2015;133(10):1171-1179
²² Epoch Times September 2, 2015
²³ News.cn August 28, 2015
²⁴ Greensboro.com July 27, 2015
²⁵ Scidev.net July 24, 2015
²⁶ Medpage Today August 20, 2015
²⁷ International Journal of Nanomedicine January 19. 2018; 2018(13): 455-466
²⁹ Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism January 9, 2018, jc2017-02328
³⁰ Medicalxpress.com March 1, 2018
³¹ The Journals of Geriontology 2012 Nov;67(11):1205-11
³² Vitamin D Council, April 23, 2012
³³ Epilepsy and Behavior 2012 May;24(1):131-3
³⁴ Healio September 4, 2015
³⁵ Bel Marra Health May 3, 2016
³⁶ American Journal of Clinical Nutrition July 2006: 84(1); 18-28
³⁷ Clinical Nutrition September 3, 2012
³⁸ GrassrootsHealth, D*Action Project to Prevent Type 1 Diabetes
³⁹ Greenmedinfo.com Multiple Sclerosis
⁴⁰ PLOS Medicine August 25, 2015 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001866
⁴¹ Community Voices December 3, 2014
⁴² Reliawire December 31, 2015
⁴³ Parkinsonsdisease.net, Vitamin D Deficiency and Parkinson’s
⁴⁴ Neurology August 6, 2014
⁴⁶ PLOS One July 24, 2017
⁴⁷ J Bone Miner Res. Oct 2011; 26(10): 2341–2357
⁴⁸ Institute of Medicine, Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium and Vitamin D (2011)
⁴⁹ J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2013;98:2160-2167
⁵⁰ PLOS One 2013: 8(12); e82109
⁵¹ Grassrootshealth, Breast Cancer Prevention Project
⁵² Anticancer Research 2011 Feb;31(2):607-11
⁵³ Mercola.com August 7, 2018, Interview with Carole Baggerly
⁵⁴ Journal of the American Osteopathic Association March 2018; 118: 181-189
^55, ⁵⁶ Eurekalert February 27, 2018
⁵⁷ BMC Medicine 2013; 11: 187

Recommended articles by Dr. Joseph Mercola:

About the author:

Born and raised in the inner city of Chicago, IL, Dr. Joseph Mercola is an osteopathic physician trained in both traditional and natural medicine. Board-certified in family medicine, Dr. Mercola served as the chairman of the family medicine department at St. Alexius Medical Center for five years, and in 2012 was granted fellowship status by the American College of Nutrition (ACN).

While in practice in the late 80s, Dr. Mercola realized the drugs he was prescribing to chronically ill patients were not working. By the early 90s, he began exploring the world of natural medicine, and soon changed the way he practiced medicine.

In 1997 Dr. Mercola founded Mercola.com, which is now routinely among the top 10 health sites on the internet. His passion is to transform the traditional medical paradigm in the United States. “The existing medical establishment is responsible for killing and permanently injuring millions of Americans… You want practical health solutions without the hype, and that’s what I offer.”

Visit Mercola.com for more information, or read Dr. Mercola’s full bio and resumé here.

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