Test Your Vitamin D in Portland Oregon
Vitamin D deficiency seems to be pandemic in the US, our RDA of 400 IU/day is pathetic. I have been testing myself and many of my patients routinely for vitamin D levels and I have been finding widespread deficiencies in my patient population and initially, with regards to my own vitamin D levels. I like to see 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels between 60-100 ng/dL and routinely see levels in the 20′s teens and even a few who had vitamin D levels that were “indeterminable” because they were so low.
Do you want to have your vitamin D levels checked? I can order this test and more at my Portland, OR, chiropractic, nutrition and functional medicine clinic, Optimum Function.
When low, I recommend vitamin D doses of 10,000-20,000 IU/day and when levels increase within my optimal range, I recommend a dose of 5000 IU/day. Generally, levels increase in 1-2 months using these doses. Don’t take my word for it! Come on in and let’s test your levels. For $59 I will have your vitamin D levels tested and give your my full report and recommendations.
Here is an article on the importance of vitamin D: Vitamin D Deficiency Reveals an Instant Health Care Reform Solution
Yours in Health,Tim Irving DC, MS, LMTOptimum Function: 819 SE Morrison St. ste. 215, Portland, OR, 97215Optimum Function = Optimum Health
Is Vitamin D Part of the Health Care Reform Solution?
Well, I certainly think so and I recommend vitamin D to most of my patients. How much? I usually recommend 1000-5000 IU/day; I personally take 5000 IU/day as I test my vitamin D regularly and I have been a little low for a year. Here’s an article dealing with this very topic: Vitamin D Deficiency Reveals an Instant Health Care Reform Solution.
Do you want to have your vitamin D levels tested in Portland, Oregon? If so, contact me at info@OptFunction.com. I can also let you know where you can get 5000 IU of vitamin D a day from one pill!
Yours in Health, Tim Irving DC, MS, LMT, CKTP, GSTM cert, Nutritionist, Hypnotherapist Optimum Function: 819 SE Morrison St. ste. 215, Portland, OR, 97215 Optimum Function = Optimum Health Yours in Health,Tim Irving DC, MS, LMTOptimum Function: 819 SE Morrison St. ste. 215, Portland, OR, 97215Optimum Function = Optimum HealthI Heart Vitamin D….and so Should Athletes!
A new review of the body of research on athletic performance and vitamin D suggests that adequate vitamin D levels in athletes could dramatically improve their performance.
Vitamin D is a steroid hormone that is activated in the kidneys; when activated, it regulates more than 1,000 genetic functions. This number seems to grow, touting the importance of vitamin D with every study published. If you have been reading my blog entries, you know that I have posted many blogs about vitamin D.
Researchers involved in this study reviewed the world’s literature for evidence that vitamin D affects physical and athletic performance. Numerous studies, particularly in the German literature in the 1950s, show vitamin D-producing UV light improves athletic performance. There is also a lot of research indicating physical and athletic performance varies in relation to vitamin D levels; it peaks when vitamin D levels peak, declines as levels decline.
What I found incredibly interesting is that Vitamin D also increases the size and number of fast twitch muscle fibers which could make an athlete more pwerful. It is apparent from this study and others that vitamin D levels are directly associated with musculoskeletal and therefore athletic performance.
The levels needed for these affects seem to be above 50ng/dl. As I wrote about in a previous blog levels may also protect the athlete from several acute and chronic medical conditions. Here’s a link to hat entry (Athletes Like The Rest of Us, Need More Vitamin D).
My last blog entry announced the addition of a fantastic Vitamin D product by Metagenics called D3 5000. Click on the following link and register in my Meta-Ehealth store to purchase yours at a 10% discount (current patients receive 15%) Optimum Function: Meta-Ehealth store
Source: Cannell, John J.; Hollis, Bruce W. et. al. “Athletic Performance and Vitamin D.” Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 41(5):1102-1110, May 2009.
Yours in Health,Tim Irving DC, MS, LMTOptimum Function: 819 SE Morrison St. ste. 215, Portland, OR, 97215Optimum Function = Optimum HealthGet Your Vitamin D Here……
I am SOOOOO excited about Metagenics’ new Vitamin D product. It’s called D5000 and has 5000 IU’s of emulsified vitamin D3. My recommendations for almost all of my patients is 4000-6000 IU’s per day. This product fulfills that recommendation with JUST ONE CAPSULE per day. Each bottle is a 3 month supply and costs around $20.
Click on the following link, register on my Meta-Ehealth site and get yours today!
Optimum Function’s Meta-Ehealth Site
When you register, I will set your account at a 10% discount.
Yours in Health, Tim Irving DC, MS, LMT, CKTP, GSTM cert., Nutritionist, Hypnotherapist Optimum Function: Portland, Oregon, 97214 Optimum Function = Optimum Health Chiropractic, Nutrition, Functional Medicine, Body Fat Testing, Graston, Kinesiotape, Hypnotherapy, Cold Laser, Arthrostim Yours in Health,Tim Irving DC, MS, LMTOptimum Function: 819 SE Morrison St. ste. 215, Portland, OR, 97215Optimum Function = Optimum HealthAthletes, Like the Rest of Us, Need More Vitamin D
Surprisingly, a high prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency has recently been reported worldwide. There has been recent evidence that this occurs even where sunlight is abundant. There have been theories that this is due to the changing atmosphere but no conlcusive evidence exists yet.
Very little is known about vitamin D status among athletes but a few studies suggest that poor vitamin D status exists among them. It is well recognized that vitamin D is necessary for optimal bone health, but many people don’t know that vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of autoimmune diseases and other chronic diseases and can also have a profound effect on human immunity, inflammation, and muscle function. It is likely that insufficient vitamin D levels can affect an athlete’s overall health and ability to train (i.e., by affecting bone health, immunity, and exercise-related pain and inflammation).
Although further research in this area is needed, it is important that athletes have their vitamin D status evaluated. I like to see 25-hydroxy vitamin D between 50 and 100 ng/ml but there is some evidence that it should be in the higher end of this range. I also recommend dietary supplementation with 2,000-4,000 IU vitamin D3 per day. Although this is significantly higher than what is currently considered the adequate intake, recent research demonstrates these levels to be safe and possibly necessary to maintain adequate 25 hydroxy vitamin D concentrations.
If you are interested in having your vitamin D checked, email info@OptFunction.com, The cost of the test is $50 plus an initial and follow-up visit. For the rest of 2009, I am running a special on vitamin D evaluation; $150 includes the initial visit, blood test and follow-up visit. For more information on my other chiropractic, nutrition, hypnotherapy and functional medicine programs, click on the following link; Optimum Function: Portland, Oregon chiropractic, nutrition, hypnotherapy and functional medicine
Yours in Health, Tim Irving DC, MS, LMT, CKTP, Nutritionist, Hypnotherapist Optimum Function: Portland, Oregon, 97214 Optimum Function = Optimum HealthReference:
Willis KS, Peterson NJ, Larson-Meyer DE. “Should we be concerned about the vitamin D status of athletes?” Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2008 Apr;18(2):204-24.
At Home Vitamin D Tests; Here’s How to Get One for $40
As many of my patients know, I am a big proponent of proper vitamin D levels. Vitamin D has been implicated in everything from bone health to cardiovascular disease to resistance to infection, to autoimmune disease to cancer. It’s an INCREDIBLY important vitamin; in fact it acts more like a hormone than a vitamin.
You can search through my blogs to see that I have presented some of the current research on vitamin D in previous entries.
Here is some exciting news. You can now receive an at home vitamin D test from that previously cost over $100 for $40. That’s cheaper than I can charge for a vitamin D test that requires a blood draw. Blood is involved with this test but it utilizes a blood-spot not a vial of blood. You prick your finger, put a few drops of blood on a card, let it dry and send it to the lab.
Is this procedure comparable to the whole blood test?
It seems to be!
What’s the catch? Well, GrassrootsHealth is doing a 5 year study on vitamin D so they need everyone to commit to 2 tests a year for 5 years. I recommend having everyone test their vitamin D levels twice a year anyway so this is very reasonable and clinically sound.
Here’s what you need to do to receive the test for $40:
- Logon to www.ordervitamindtest.org
- Fill in the health questionnaire
- Order your test kit–choose your subscription option; it’s a 5 year project and we need to have vitamin D measurements each 6 months for that period
To learn more about vitamin D, how to get more in your diet or to have a full nutritional work-up including blood work that will include vitamin D and other important markers, go to www.YourOptimumNutrition.com and click on the “Schedule Appointment Online” button or call direct at 503-866-9739
Yours in Health, Tim Irving DC, LMT, Nutritionist, CKTP, MScan. Optimum Function, Portland, Oregon, 97214 Optimum Function = Optimum HealthOptimum Function: Chiropractic, Graston, Kinesiotape, Cold Laser, Functional Medicine, Fucntional Movement, Nutrition
Yours in Health,Tim Irving DC, MS, LMTOptimum Function: 819 SE Morrison St. ste. 215, Portland, OR, 97215Optimum Function = Optimum HealthUniversity of California Experts Suggest 2,000 IU of Vitamin D Per Day.
A group of 18 scientists from the University of California recently recommended that daily intakes of vitamin D should be raised to 2,000 International Units (IU’s), . The “call to action” by the UC scientists, led by Anthony Norman, echoes a number of others including myself who have been recommending at least 2000 IU’s per day, and may increase the need for policy makers to review current guidelines for the vitamin. “Our consensus on vitamin D is intended to support public health action,” said Norman. “The amount of research that is currently available provides us enough information to release such a consensus at this time.”
If you’ve been keeping up with my blogs you will notice that I have written about vitamin D quite a bit. Living and treating patients here in the Pacific NW has determined that I make these recommendations for a higher daily vitamin D intake quite often. To get this level, it’s pretty easy and safe to do so using a Vitamin D supplement.
To run asimple blood test to see what your vitamin D levels are like, call 503-866-9739 or email info@OptFunction.com or go to www.OptFunction.com and click on “schedule an appointment” to schedule an initial Functional Medicine/Nutrition appoontment.
Yours in Health,
Dr. Tim Irving DC, LMT, Nutritionist, CKTP, MScan.
Optimum Function: Portland, Oregon, 97214
Optimum Function = Optimum Health
Source:
Maalouf J, Nabulsi M,et. al. Short- and long-term safety of weekly high-dose vitamin D3 supplementation in school children. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2008 Jul;93(7):2693-701. Epub 2008 Apr 29.
Another Research Paper Showing the Widespread Health Benefits of Vitamin D.
Anthony Norman, an international expert on vitamin D, in a paper published in the August issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, further enforced vitamin D’s potential for contributions to:
- Adequate immune system health
- The secretion and regulation of insulin by the pancreas
- The heart and blood pressure regulation
- Muscle strength and brain activity.
Access to adequate amounts of vitamin D (My recommendation: 1000-2000 i.u/day) is also believed to be beneficial towards reducing the risk of cancer.
Norman also lists 36 organ tissues in the body whose cells respond biologically to vitamin D, including bone marrow, breast, colon, intestine, kidney, lung, prostate, retina, skin, stomach and uterine tissues. Vitamin D acts hormonally in the body which sets it apart from the rest of the vitamins we know of.
According to Norman, deficiency of vitamin D can impact all 36 organs. Vitamin D deficiency is already associated with a reduction in muscle strength, a high risk for falls, and an increased risk for colorectal, prostate and breast and other major cancers.
To find out more about vitamin sources and supplementation or to inquire about an inexpensive way to check your vitamin D status through Quest Labs, email info@OptFunction.com or call 503-866-9739
Yours in Health
Dr. Tim Irving DC, LMT, CKTP, Nutritionist
Optimum Function
Portland, Oregon, 97214
www.OptFunction.com
www.GrastonPDX.com
www.YourOptimumNutrition.com
Source:
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition August 2008, Vol. 88, No. 2, 491S-499S
Death Rate from Cancer Slashed 55 Percent with High Vitamin D Levels
New research has shown that increased vitamin D intake can decrease your risk of dying from cancer by 55 percent. Researchers measured blood levels of vitamin D about 3,300 people taking part in the Ludwigshafen Risk and Cardiovascular Health study:
Click Here to read the whole story
For more information about how you can test for vitamin D and the levels of other important markers click here email me at info@OptFunction.com or call 503-866-9739
Yours in Health Dr. Tim Irving DC, LMT, Nutritionist Optimum Function Portland, Oregon www.OptFunction.com www.FunctionalDetox.com www.YourOptimumNutrition.comYours in Health,Tim Irving DC, MS, LMTOptimum Function: 819 SE Morrison St. ste. 215, Portland, OR, 97215Optimum Function = Optimum Health
Vitamin D deficiency linked to Mortality
Another study touting the benefits of proper vitamin D levels suggests a link between low levels of vitamin D and cardiac risk has been published. This study shows that vitamin-D deficiency is associated with both cardiovascular mortality and all-cause mortality.
The study was published in the June 23, 2008 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine and conducted by a group led by Dr Harald Dobnig (Medical University of Graz, Austria).
The researchers note that an estimated 50% to 60% of people do not have satisfactory vitamin-D levels, and this is probably related to factors such as urbanization, demographic shifts, decreased outdoor activity, air pollution and global dimming, and decreases in the cutaneous production of vitamin D with age.
The minimum optimal serum level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D that I want to see in patients is 50 ng/mL, and levels lower than this are may bey related to compromised bone-mineral density, falls, and fractures and more recently levels lower than this have been linked to cancer and immune dysfunction, as well as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome.
The researchers point out that recent studies have shown an association of low 25-hydroxyvitamin-D levels with important cardiovascular risk factors, supporting previous findings that demonstrated positive effects of vitamin D and its analogs on cardiovascular system health. “Together, these findings strongly suggest that 25-hydroxyvitamin D has beneficial effects, some involving the cardiovascular system, that are independent of calcium metabolism,” they comment.
To find out more about your vitamin D levels, please contact me at info@OptFunction.com or call 503-866-9739; vitamin D levels can be easily tested by a simple blood chemistry test for $45.
Yours in Health, Dr. Tim Irving Optimum Function 819 SE Morrison St. Suite 230 Portland, Oregon, USA, 97214 www.OptFunction.com www.YourOptimumNutrition.comSource
- Dobnig H, Pilz S, Scharnagl H, et al. Independent association of low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D levels with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Arch Intern Med 2008; 168:1340-1349.