D: Vitamin or Hormone? GWilkerson11/04/2014 Plant Based Nutrition
Vitamin D and Neurologic Disorders In an article by Stasha Gominak, M.D., a neurologist in Tyler, Texas, Sleep, Chronic Pain, and Headaches Vitamin D is not a vitamin: We’ve been taught that Vitamin D is the “bone vitamin”, but it is really more of a sun hor¬mone. The word “vitamin” means “something my body needs that I can’t make, so I must get it from the food”. D hormone is instead, a chemical that we make on our skin from sun exposure. It is a hormone like thyroid, estrogen or testosterone. Using the proper word “hormone” reminds us that it affects multiple parts of the body and that it is not “extra”. It is essential to every cell in the body and it is not in the food. It is supplemented in milk but as a cup of milk has only 100 IU of vitamin D you would have to drink 100 cups of milk a day to keep from being D deficient. It’s a long article, worth the read.
Vitamin D is one of two supplements that most of us, even vegans and Whole Food, Plant-Based consumers, may need to be taking. The other is B-12. I have both of these here available. Even though I get lots of sunshine in this New Mexican High Desert, I will likely start taking more Cholecalciferol now, at least until my next Lab draw at Veterans Affairs tells me whether I am good or not. On MedPageToday.com we find this post Vitamin D Blog: Nutrient or Hormone? By Kristina Fiore, Staff Writer, MedPage Today saying: Few people view their vitamin D supplement as hormone replacement therapy, but that’s exactly what it is, experts told MedPage Today. Few people view their supplement as hormone replacement therapy, but that’s exactly what it is, experts told MedPage Today. The weight of the literature suggests that vitamin D is indeed a hormone, not a nutrient, said
Michael Holick, MD, PhD, of Boston University. “By definition, vitamin D is a hormone,” Holick told MedPage Today. “The body synthesizes it after sun exposure, and it’s activated by the liver and kidneys. That activated form again acts like a hormone to regulate calcium metabolism.” Vitamin D is actually a hormone rather than a vitamin. The body makes most of the vitamin D it needs; only about 10% comes from our food. The action of sunlight on our skin produces a substance called cholecalciferol, which is converted by the liver to calcidiol. This is further converted in the kidneys by the enzyme 1α-hydroxylase to calcitriol, the active form of vitamin D. Calcidiol is considered a good indicator of vitamin D levels and is the form that is usually measured by doctors. The active form of vitamin D is produced primarily by the kidneys, but there are also a number of other tissues in the body that activate vitamin D. So, what is it? Mark Rifkin states: As a supplement, it is never a vitamin, but a pre-hormone. Once metabolized by the liver and kidney, it becomes a hormone. Society of Endocrinology posts this short read under Hormones – Vitamin D Vitamin D is essential for bone health. Recent research suggests it may have other benefits, too, such as protecting against colds and fighting depression. National Institutes of Health has this article on the matter: Vitamin D Introduction Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is naturally present in very few foods, added to others, and available as a dietary supplement. Vitamin D obtained from sun exposure, food, and supplements is biologically inert and must undergo two hydroxylations in the body for activation. The first occurs in the liver and converts vitamin D to 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], also known as calcidiol. The second occurs primarily in the kidney and forms the physiologically active 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH)2D], also known as calcitriol. The article includes Table 3, sources of vitamin D. Many are non-vegan and most I consider nonhealth promoting as well. From Janice Stanger, PhD. herself: D is always a hormone. It is not correctly named. It gets added to food but it is still a hormone, and the supplements do not have the same effect on the body as making it yourself Dr. Michael Greger talks about Changing Vitamin D Recommendations in this short video Conclusion If interested, you may wish to take the time and effort to determine if it is vitamin D and when it is a hormone, and if it ever is both. Naturally there are conflicting studies and articles on the matter, as well as on any other subject, whether nutrition related or not. As for me, I will go with the idea that it’s primarily a hormone that may act as both at different stages in its making. If you do this, then consider becoming a contributor to this blog. More important is learning whether we need this supplement. I hear that most of us do.
http://www.plant-strong-health-blog-by-gary.com/d-vitamin-hormone/