The blog Primal Wisdom wrote an extensive article titled Practically Paleo Diet Supplementation: How Much Vitamin D? that questions if those of us following a paleo diet should be consuming mega doses of Vitamin D.
I’m naturally skeptical of almost all supplements, but this past winter I started taking a lot more Vitamin D. After reading the Primal Wisdom post, I now think that I may be overdoing my Vitamin D supplementation. During winter months I was taking 6,000-8,000 IU of Vitamin D3. Now I am down to 4,000 IU.
Photo by Dunechaser
Before I get into that article, I want to reference an earlier post called My Super Immunity Project Revisited that talked about how a carbohydrate rich diet will reduce Vitamin C absorption. From Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes:
The vitamin-C molecule is similar in configuration to glucose and other sugars in the body. It is shuttled from the bloodstream into the cells by the same insulin-dependent transport system used by glucose. Glucose and vitamin C compete in this cellular-uptake process, like strangers trying to flag down the same taxicab simultaneously.
Primal Wisdom with help from Whole Health Source alerts us that cereal fiber interferes with Vitamin D absorption. Those evil carbs again! So if you are eating grains, this explains some of why Vitamin D levels are dangerously low for many people in the winter months which leaves them susceptible to sickness. But there is a flip side for us cavemen.
This suggests conversely that people not consuming cereal fiber have a superior retention of vitamin D and would not require the same high doses as people consuming cereal-based diets. Again, people on paleo diets would then have a greater susceptibility to adverse effects of high dose vitamin D.
The article also teaches us that low magnesium levels also impair Vitamin D.
…people who consume more magnesium-rich foods, such as my paleo-dieting patient, require less vitamin D, and may more easily suffer from vitamin D excess.
As someone that no longer consumes grains, my take away lesson is to make sure I am getting enough magnesium (seeds, seafood) and reduce my Vitamin D supplementation.
I just found out from new research that as yet there is no definitive scientific support for the new model of cancer development, the authors of the study say that maintaining adequate levels of vitamin D could potentially halt the growth of cancer at its very earliest stages.
Vitamin D is known to be an important factor in immune system support, which is absolutely essential to the body’s ability to prevent sickness and other types of infections that are common during the winter months.