Humans evolved to spend our days hunting and gathering in the great outdoors, getting plenty of exercise, excitement, camaraderie, fresh air and sun. Those were the good old days when the best things in life were free, including a flood of summer sunlight that created as much vitamin D as it penetrated our bare skin as we would need all year round. 

But we moved further and further from the equator, where sunlight is most abundant, and began spending more and more of our lives indoors. We adopted a less healthy diet with fewer and fewer fresh fruits and vegetables with their antioxidants that protected us from potential damage by the sun, and medical authorities began recommending sun avoidance and sunscreens, the weakest of which (PF8) block 95% of the sun’s vitamin-D producing UVB rays. 

Vitamin D deficiency is now so widespread that alternative doctors say virtually every new patient comes in with lower than optimal levels.   

There is disagreement about what “deficiency” means, but many experts have suggested a minimal level of 30 ng/ml (75 nmol/L) on the 25(OH)D test, which measures vitamin D levels in the blood, with an optimal range of up to 80 ng/ml (200 nmol/L). By these standards, most Americans are deficient and few have optimal levels.  At Beyond Health, we aim for at least 50 ng/ml (125 nmol/L)—keeping in the upper half of the normal range.

In the past twenty years, studies have linked sub-optimal vitamin D levels with adrenal fatigue, allergies, Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, asthma, autism, autoimmune disease, high blood pressure, cancer, cardiovascular disease, high cholesterol, Crohn’s disease, chronic fatigue syndrome/fibromyalgia, diminished cognitive function, depression, schizophrenia, diabetes, insulin resistance, falls, lowered immunity, chronic inflammation, infertility, metabolic syndrome, multiple sclerosis, muscle pain and fatigue, obesity, osteoporosis, fracture risk, Parkinson’s disease, periodontal disease, premenstrual syndrome, polycystic ovarian syndrome,  preeclampsia in pregnancy, psoriasis, uterine fibroids, and vaginal atrophy.

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