# Vitamin D supplements



## johnnyb47 (8 Jan 2022)

Hi 
I've been doing quite a bit of winging and moaning lately on here about suffering from feeling low, and totally undermotived about life in general.
My mood has been rock bottom and finding the energy and inthusiasm to do anything has been a struggle.
I'm somewhat of a dinosaur when it comes to health matters and rarely take tablets for anything unless it hurts.
Anyway after my online winging here on Cycling Chat a good member privately messaged me. I won't go into details to show the person respect /privacy, but I was told to try Vitamin D supplements.
It got me thinking about this and started doing some research on it.
As said before , being a Dinosaur towards things leaves me somewhat sceptical that a small tablet a day could improve my general health and mental well being, but reading all the problems Vitamin D deficiency causes really ticked all the boxes with me.
So I've started taking them now every day without fail and must say I'm really starting to feel like my old self again.Energy levels have gone up,and I feel so much more positive.
Working outdoors in the cold has not bothered me as half much and my skin seems to be healing up quicker from cuts and grazes I get from work.
Coincidence it may well be ,but I will continue to take vitamin d supplements and see if things continue to improve
All the very best to you good folk here in Cycle Chat


----------



## KnittyNorah (8 Jan 2022)

Definitely worth taking by most people in the UK, at least during the winter months. I would say essential year round in the UK for people with darker-than-fair skin, those who don't (for whatever reason) expose a reasonable area of their skin to the sun on a regular basis and the elderly. As with anything, seek professional medical advice, not mine, and strongly suggest having a listen to this programme if you're wondering, and have a read of this article.


----------



## slowmotion (9 Jan 2022)

I was advised to take some 800IU tablets three times a week by my GP. I bought a five year supply on Ebay for under £6. They may be chalk but I'm relying on the placebo effect.


----------



## dave r (9 Jan 2022)

Try a combined tablet with vitamins D3 plus K2, it seem to be taking the edge of my winter blues and calming my mood swings nicely.


----------



## Tenkaykev (9 Jan 2022)

dave r said:


> Try a combined tablet with vitamins D3 plus K2, it seem to be taking the edge of my winter blues and calming my mood swings nicely.


I used to take that combination a few years ago but didn’t get round to reordering when they ran out. I’ve just ordered some more.


----------



## dave r (9 Jan 2022)

Tenkaykev said:


> I used to take that combination a few years ago but didn’t get round to reordering when they ran out. I’ve just ordered some more.



I normally get mine from here, https://oxfordvitality.co.uk/products/vitamin-d3-k2-tablets but they're out of stock at the moment, I've set up an E-Mail alert for when they come back in stock, but I've got plenty so I'm OK for now.


----------



## Cycleops (9 Jan 2022)

Don’t bother with tablets just come and spend a few weeks down here. I’ll even organise a bike for you


----------



## Tenkaykev (9 Jan 2022)

dave r said:


> I normally get mine from here, https://oxfordvitality.co.uk/products/vitamin-d3-k2-tablets but they're out of stock at the moment, I've set up an E-Mail alert for when they come back in stock, but I've got plenty so I'm OK for now.


I think that’s the place I got a batch from. I’ve ordered from a UK firm that had stock


----------



## oldwheels (9 Jan 2022)

At the start of the pandemic all the ancients in Scotland were prescribed Accrete D3 One a Day 1000mg/880IU tablets. Everyone else was offered a 3 month supply of something similar at the start of last winter.
This is supposed to boost your immunity a bit and help fight the virus if you catch it. 
I still get the Accrete on a repeat prescription.


----------



## alicat (9 Jan 2022)

I went to the doctors about something or other, having not been for a while. They ran some blood tests 'to check for vitamin D'. The result came back as 'insufficient levels heading towards a deficiency and a prescription arrived by post. Since it was the end of the summer and I had just spent a week walking in Spain, I took it as a clue to keep on taking it for ever.


----------



## winjim (9 Jan 2022)

Vitamin D's one of those things where nobody's quite sure exactly what constitutes a deficiency but a lot of people seem to have not very much of it and it's fantastically difficult to take so much of it to be toxic, so you might as well have a supplement. It might do you some good and it's unlikely to do you any harm.


----------



## vickster (9 Jan 2022)

I’ve been taking it for several years since starting to see a rheumatologist, I’m up to 3000IU after a recent blood test was still a bit low (actually a bit more as it’s also in the multi Vit and omega 3 I take). Rheum said .90%+ in U.K. are low on Vit D especially in winter.
I could definitely do with some sunshine!


----------



## Ming the Merciless (9 Jan 2022)

Solution is to go on those naked bike rides to ensure you get enough sun exposure.


----------



## Mo1959 (9 Jan 2022)

I believe through reading that it is one of the supplements that experts agree is really worth taking.


----------



## fossyant (9 Jan 2022)

Jarrows are a respected make - we've quite a few in the 'cupboard'. Definately worth trying, and certainly in winter.


----------



## Tenkaykev (9 Jan 2022)

fossyant said:


> Jarrows are a respected make - we've quite a few in the 'cupboard'.* Definately* worth trying, and certainly in winter.


I think you just outed yourself as "H" from Line of Duty 😁


----------



## Nebulous (9 Jan 2022)

I'm currently working in the NHS, have struggled the last two winters, and am finding increasing numbers of people around me are taking vitamin D. 

It is difficult to get in your diet, although I regularly eat mushrooms and oily fish, both of which are contain some. As temperate creatures living in a climate which is unsuitable for us, we all need to move further South. 

I cracked just before Christmas and bought some. We're both taking a tablet every day. Vitamin D tablets can cause some problems and need to be taken with food. So far it seems okay, I've perked up a bit, but its hard to separate the vitamin D out from everything else.


----------



## Ming the Merciless (9 Jan 2022)

According to NHS page

In the UK, sunlight doesn't contain enough UVB radiation in winter (October to early March) for our skin to be able to make vitamin D.

During these months, we rely on getting our vitamin D from food sources (including fortified foods) and supplements. 

Using sunbeds isn't a recommended way of making vitamin D.


----------



## Cycleops (9 Jan 2022)

Imagine living in places like Iceland and places near the Arctic circle.
What do people do there?


----------



## winjim (9 Jan 2022)

Cycleops said:


> Imagine living in places like Iceland and places near the Arctic circle.
> What do people do there?


Eat whale.

Or more recently, cod liver oil.


----------



## vickster (9 Jan 2022)

Take supplements?


----------



## PaulSB (9 Jan 2022)

It's always interesting when the world catches up. We've taken 1000 iu/day for 12-15 years. Vitamin D is important to pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers, the research is well established. Vitamin D supplements are especially important to Asian women who wear traditional dress as they don't have sufficient exposure to the sun at any time.

Says the man who's married to an infant feeding specialist!!


----------



## glasgowcyclist (9 Jan 2022)

I get mine from Lidl; 180 for £1.99.


----------



## welsh dragon (9 Jan 2022)

I read somewhere that vitamin D could help regarding Covid19. Not sure but I think it was in a newspaper.

I take vitamin D every day.


----------



## Ming the Merciless (9 Jan 2022)

Cycleops said:


> Imagine living in places like Iceland and places near the Arctic circle.
> What do people do there?



Eat blubber


----------



## Ming the Merciless (9 Jan 2022)

welsh dragon said:


> I read somewhere that vitamin D could help regarding Covid19. Not sure but I think it was in a newspaper.
> 
> I take vitamin D every day.



Reduces inflammation from immune response, dampens it was the phrase I seem to remember.


----------



## Cycleops (10 Jan 2022)

winjim said:


> Eat whale.
> 
> Or more recently, cod liver oil.





Ming the Merciless said:


> Eat blubber


CCers should be well protected then judging by the amount of blubbering I see on here.


----------



## winjim (10 Jan 2022)

Cycleops said:


> CCers should be well protected then judging by the amount of blubbering I see on here.


Balanced out by all the rays of sunshine surely?


----------



## Ajax Bay (11 Jan 2022)

4000IU with a tad of K2 cost £10 for 180 13 months ago.
I did some research having decided to supplement, and these were the best around (and far cheaper than from (say) Tesco).
I've just started my third bottle (daily for 380 days minus fails). Price has come down:
https://www.fruugo.co.uk/vitamin-d3...nes-400-premium-tablets/p-53344461-113382285?
to £12 for 400.
Don't muck around with tiny doses: just get 4000IU down your neck daily, best with food with some constituent fat to aid absorption.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5g9AVqRsjo


----------



## presta (11 Jan 2022)

winjim said:


> Vitamin D's one of those things where nobody's quite sure exactly what constitutes a deficiency


These guidelines from the Endocrine Society are the reference that the NHS cite for the limits quoted on the blood test results.
The normal range they're recommending is 40-250nmol/L, with deficient given as <30nmol/L.
Mine was 22nmol/L.


----------



## winjim (12 Jan 2022)

presta said:


> These guidelines from the Endocrine Society are the reference that the NHS cite for the limits quoted on the blood test results.
> The normal range they're recommending is 40-250nmol/L, with deficient given as <30nmol/L.
> Mine was 22nmol/L.


ITYFIABMCTT


----------



## dan_bo (12 Jan 2022)

winjim said:


> ITYFIABMCTT


What


----------



## Rocky (12 Jan 2022)

dan_bo said:


> What


I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.......or something like that


----------



## winjim (12 Jan 2022)

Rocky said:


> I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.......or something like that


Indeed. In the case of Vit D it's complicated because there is no 'normal range' as such and different guidelines and studies recommend different levels for deficiency, optimum levels and excess.

Do bear in mind that when I said it was 'fantastically difficult' to achieve toxic levels of Vit D, that's with normal supplementation and fortification. It's perfectly possible given therapeutic doses, and mandatory food fortification was abandoned in the mid 20th century after an outbreak of hypercalcaemia linked to food manufacturers overfortifying their products in order to prolong shelf life.





(Also it's... not a vitamin)




Edit: I've now read, albeit briefly, those guidelines and I can't find mention of the 'normal range' quoted by @presta above, nor of deficiency at 30nmol/l. Are you sure you have the units right and you're not confusing deficiency and insufficiency? The focus of the guidelines appears to be on maintaining a serum Vit D over 75nmol/l which is 30ng/ml. I note they acknowledge that 'The blood level of 25(OH)D that is defined as vitamin D deficiency remains somewhat controversial.'


----------



## Ajax Bay (12 Jan 2022)

I am surprised that there has not been more of a push by central agencies on (not a) Vitamin D. But I guess if you've nailed your policy to the mast with a daily 400IU recommendation then stepping up to a decent level (ie 2000IU or double) likely to have an effect takes institutional effort and more time than it takes to design, produce at scale and vaccinate billions. The current recommendation seems mainly focused on the benefit to bones (anti-rickets iirc).

Studies take a long time and there no financial dividend to incentivise industry. I'm not pushing any conspiracy theory here: at Easter 2020 we could be sure that one or (amazingly) many more would be part of the route out. Vit D is known to contribute to the normal function of one's immune system. But Vitamin D supplementation benefits to improve resistance to COVID-19 could be surmised but not assured. Longitudinal studies take time. And you'll get people rightly shouting correlation not causation until those studies report, into the knarly teeth of an endemic infectious disease.

Sunny this morning down here, but it'll be dark by the time I get out for a ride: so no natural synthesis of 'Vit' D today for me.


----------

