“Vitamin D – Hope Or Hype?” German Professor Says Widespread Deficiency Being Grossly Ignored

I’ve always thought I was getting enough vitamin D, but now realize I’ve been wrong. I’ll be boosting my daily supplement intake to 4000 IU/day. 

Often the media and medical establishment spread disinformation about nutrition, the importance of a healthy, balanced diet and supplements.

Neglect of Vitamin D is a public health crisis, says German professor. Image cropped here.

In an excellent video: Vitamin D “Hope oder Hype”, Prof. Dr. Jörg Spitz looks at the importance of Vitamin D. He concludes that there’s an epidemic of Vitamin D deficiency and that public health officials and institutions are doing nothing about it.

The 90-minute video unfortunately is not available in English and due to time constraints I’m only able to provide you here some of the main takeaways:

Status:

1. Claims that most people aren’t really lacking vitamin D are false.
2. You can’t “tank up” on Vitamin in the wintertime by spending time in the sun. It doesn’t work because the sun’s rays at higher latitudes are well below a 45° angle and the needed UVB radiation doesn’t reach the surface.
3. 88% of Germans have vitamin D levels under 30 nanograms per mL, which is far below the target range of 40-60 ng.
4. Only 6% of German women and 1% of German men supplement their Vitamin D intake.
5. More and more people, including kids, have become chronically Vitamin D deficient over recent years due to poor nutrition and indoor sedentary lifestyles.
6. According to a study, only 10% of kids have an adequately high Vitamin D level at the end of the summer, and only 0.9% during the winter! “Catastrophe,” says Spitz.
7. The problem also exists at the sunny, tropical latitudes – people are indoors the whole day.
8. Sunscreen and work clothes block out sun’s needed UVB rays.
9. 30,000 Swedish women were monitored over 20 years. The mortality rate was twice as high for women who avoided sun than those who spent lots of time in the sun. “Those who spend time in the sun, live longer.”

Risks

1.  A lack of sun, Spitz says, is as dangerous as smoking.
2. If you’re below 20 nanograms/milliliter of Vitamin D, your chances of becoming chronically ill are 2 – 3 times greater.
3. You can’t get the needed Vitamin D through food intake alone. You have to synthesize it with sunlight absorbed by the roughly 2 square meters of skin you were given. Don’t use sunscreen too often.
4. Sunscreen lotion even gets absorbed by the body, reacts with sunlight and leads to other dubious chemicals in the body.
5. Obesity leads to reduced Vitamin D levels, as it gets stored in fat.
6. Almost every chronic disease is linked to Vitamin D, e.g. dementia, Alzheimer, depression and other neurological diseases.
7. Athletic performance is lower among athletes with Vitamin D deficiency – much higher risk of injury.
8. Heart attacks, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, etc. are linked to vitamin D deficiencies.
9. Vitamin D is crucial for all organs; all organs have Vitamin D receptors.
10. Vitamin D is key against cancer and tumors.
11. Low levels of Vitamin D linked are to pregnancy diabetes, birth complications, child development issues.
12. Natural biological processes cannot be replaced by medical practices!
13. Children’s health will continue to degrade with lower levels of Vitamin D.
14. Nine life-style factors were determined to be major contributors to heart attacks, each making a person 2.5 times more likely to have a heart attack. Having four of these factors means 40 times greater likelihood.
15. Only 9% of German adults have succeeded at keeping good body weight, not smoking, regular movement, balanced diet.
16. Public health officials have failed miserably on sensible prevention.
17. (53:00) The immune system is highly dependent on Vitamin D. “Supplement, or get sick,” says Spitz
18. Children with normal Vitamin D levels are 70% less likely to get a cold.

And as a number of experts have pointed out, low Vitamin D levels are associated with the severe cases of COVID-19.

How much Vitamin D?

1. Vitamin D levels after exposure to sun much lower among elderly:
2. Recommended supplementation = 4000 IU/day for adults (70kg) – try it for 3 months. 
3. Rule: 1000 UE/day supplement leads to a Vitamin D level rise of about 10 ng (70 kg body weight).
4. Very difficult to have a Vitamin D level that’s “too high” – so don’t worry about it.
5. Three ways to boost Vitamin d levels: 1) supplements, 2) 2-3 times weekly tanning salon, 3) 30 mins. in the midday 3-4times/week. Choose whatever works best for you.
6. Taking Vitamin D is one of the easiest, quickest things you can do to make a huge difference for your health.

Have your doctor check your Vitamin D level and take it from there. If you’re over 30 in the late winter, then you’re alright. If you’re under 30, then you can easily get it back up to par with supplements. If you’re under 20 ng, then you have the opportunity to start vastly improving your physical and mental health.

Of course, consult your doctor – who hopefully understands the importance of Vitamin D..