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Wagamaga OP t1_itug62v wrote

It’s the vitamin that we get from the sun, yet despite its ample availability, one in three Australian adults still suffer from mild, moderate or severe vitamin D deficiency.

Now, new research from the University of South Australia gives strong evidence that vitamin D deficiency is associated with premature death, prompting calls for people to follow healthy vitamin D level guidelines.

Published in Annals of Internal Medicine, the study found that the more severe the vitamin D deficiency, the greater the risk of mortality.

Vitamin D is an important nutrient that helps maintain good health and keep our bones and muscles strong and healthy.

First author and UniSA PhD candidate, Josh Sutherland, says while vitamin D has been connected with mortality, it has been challenging to establish causal effects.

“While severe vitamin D deficiency is rarer in Australia than elsewhere in the world, it can still affect those who have health vulnerabilities, the elderly, and those who do not acquire enough vitamin D from healthy sun exposure and dietary sources,” Sutherland says

https://www.newswise.com/articles/vitamin-d-deficiency-linked-to-premature-death

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amadeus2490 t1_itw6jeh wrote

> one in three Australian adults still suffer from mild, moderate or severe vitamin D deficiency.

Which is probably because Australians are, for the most part, genetically English and they're fair skinned. They can't handle a lot of direct sun light, so they're covering up and wearing sun screen.

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RetirementIsSweet t1_itw9957 wrote

But doesn't fairer skin also mean less sun is needed for vitamin D production?

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778899456 t1_itwj0sw wrote

It's true but the sun here is so strong that we end up getting less of it than you would in Europe because we have to cover up so much.

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amadeus2490 t1_itwrizi wrote

Yes, but this research is showing us that a lot of them arent getting their RDA there anyways.

Life has also evolved - in the past couple of years especially - for everyone to be indoors, nearly 24/7. Reddit is full of people saying they haven't had to leave the house at all for weeks, because of working and studying at home, and getting food and supplies from Doordash and amazon.

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ChemicalAssignment69 t1_itzvuz3 wrote

And it's truly af there compared to England. England is all lush, green, and rainy. Not Australia.

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bishpa t1_itwykq1 wrote

Also, apparently the Vitamin D that our skin makes absorbs slowly into our bodies over time. Bathing daily washes it away before it can be effectively absorbed. According to my kids’ pediatrician, anyway.

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DrDumDums t1_itwsjys wrote

For all the people in this thread saying they now need vitamin D supplements, please read:

“But it's not essential to take a supplement. And overall, aside from some high-risk groups, most people do not need a supplement. The high-risk groups include patients in nursing homes who may have restricted diets and limited time out of doors. For people with malabsorption conditions such as Crohn's disease, celiac disease, post–gastric bypass surgery, and those with osteoporosis who are on medications for osteoporosis, it's still quite reasonable to prescribe calcium and vitamin D. Recommendations for vitamin D in the generally healthy population really should focus on a healthy diet. The United States has a fortified food supply. Vitamin D is added to many foods, dairy products, and cereals, as well as beverages. Natural sources of vitamin D include fatty fish and wild mushrooms.”

source

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merlinsbeers t1_ityapqp wrote

This is not something you can self diagnose.

The ability to absorb vitamin D from the sun and from food declines with age. Most people will need to take large amounts in supplements every day.

Next time you're at the doctor ask to have a vitamin panel done.

Being nutritionally deficient is a dumb way to live.

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agovinoveritas t1_ityssbn wrote

I did. I was low and checked. Increased it and now I have just a bit on the higher side of normal after 6 months and steady. I have a health condition that limits my absorption and live north of the 25th, which is not the best if you are not white and you don't don't have a lot of sun where you live.

I take 4,000IU with some K2 as well, daily.

Doing a panel is something everyone should do. Since a high % of people are low these days. Ironically, some people may be low in hot weather because they spend most of their time indoors due to air conditioning.

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DrDumDums t1_itzucni wrote

How does ability to absorb nutritional vitamin D decline with age? My understanding is that nutritional intake (older people eat less, and less varied foods) generally decreases with age but not absorptive capacity for fat soluble vitamins.

The article I linked specifically advises against large dose vitamin D supplements.

The article also mentions why widespread vitamin d monitoring without a diagnostic indication is a poor idea with limited benefit.

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merlinsbeers t1_iu02ddo wrote

Not sure of why. It just stops being absorbed in the gut as much, and sunshine becomes less effective at producing it even with high exposure.

Doc gave me 10000-unit pills to take weekly for a few weeks then told me to keep taking 2-5000 units a day forever.

D is involved in the chickpea that produce energy, and if I miss several days I can feel it. When I'm on target the fog and malaise go away and I feel like a normal person.

Everyone past their early 40s should get their vitamin panel checked, especially if they feel like they're run-down for no good reason.

I'm not scaling the paywall to verify the article, but if it doesn't talk about the decline with age or it says these dosages are not the medicine for it, then it didn't do its homework.

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DrDumDums t1_iu06x7e wrote

It’s not a paywall, signup is free. You should read the article, it’s the largest ever study conducted on vitamin D levels. Your opinion does not align with that of the physician researchers who conducted that study.

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merlinsbeers t1_iu0or67 wrote

My time isn't free nor is my email address. They may have asked the wrong questions.

Feel free to use your access to the article to excerpt quotes from it that contradict what I've said.

In particular, they need to say that vitamin D absorption and creation do not decline with age, and that daily doses in the 2000 to 5000-IU range are too high to fix that.

If they don't say that, then my opinion does not conflict with their study, or you didn't understand the study.

And even if they do say that it doesn't mean that they're right and I'm wrong. My opinion conflicts with a lot of "physician researchers" on a lot of topics. Quacks publish, too.

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__Osiris__ t1_itxbby1 wrote

Arabic country’s massively suffer from it too. If your covered up and indoors, there’s not much sunlight for your skin.

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