VIDEO: Sunshine Makes You Bulletproof

August 23, 2012 · 21 comments

photo by Luca Castellazzi

Most people in the Western World are deficient in vitamin D. Having adequate levels of D may protect against cancer, control inflammation, heart disease, poor mood, and may help regulate the immune system.

Vitamin D is actually not a vitamin at all, it is a prohormone that humans manufacture in their bodies naturally through skin exposure and a cholesterol derivative, to UVB light.

While sunshine is the best way to get your vitamin D, chances are your coworkers might not appreciate you showing up to work in a loin cloth and spending the majority of the day outside, not working.  So eating foods rich in vitamin D, and supplementing with D3 has become a necessary part of life to maintain adequate D levels.  Although it is possible to over do it on the D, and it turns out that the optimal D set point varies from person to person.  Too much may be differently problematic than not enough.

In this video with WellnessFX CEO Jim Kean, we discuss how to find your optimal D set point. I use WellnessFX for my blood testing and arranged a coupon code (use “bpe0812“) for Bulletproof readers who, like me, are working to upgrade their long-term health trends using data.

 

In this video, some of the points we cover are:

  • The role of C-Reactive Protein for determining your optimal D levels
  • The people who benefit most from vitamin D supplementation
  • The impact of too much vitamin D
  • How to determine your optimal D levels

Do you know what your Vitamin D levels are?  What are your hacks for improving your levels?

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  • http://twitter.com/jrudolph17 Mr. Rudolph

    Living in Ohio, I am eagerly awaiting WellnessFX services in my area.

  • sarah

    Interesting…but may i humbly suggest getting a better microphone to record these interviews? The sound is pretty poor.
    But I love the topic, and you’re a great interviewer.

    • A. Bright

      Do you have any suggestions for a good wireless mic that works with an iPhone?

      • sarah

        Hi,
        I’m so sorry but I don’t, mainly because in my business we are forced to use–gasp–blackberrys. Wish I could be more helpful. I hate to criticize and then not offer a better alternative. My apologies.

  • ryan

    Hey Dave-Great blog, side question. How would you get off of tobacco (snuff). I have a nasty habit that I would like to quit. Any advise as far as supplements (activated charcoal, emwave, patches). Thanks.

    • Jacob

      My dad chewed a can of Cope’ a day for 30+ years and had success with one of those step-down nicotine patch systems (Walmart carries them). I think it took him about a month to ease off of the snuff, but he’s been tobacco free for a few years now. Check with your health insurance to see if you get any “prevention and wellness” benefits that might pay for the patches. Also, Swedish snus is cured differently than snuff and has drastically lower rates of cancer (snus is steam cured and snuff is dry cured with saltpeter). My dad said that the snus gave him dry mouth though; so, he did the patches just to be done with it.

  • kalidestroyer

    So the video indicates that we should use c-reactive protein as a proxy for inflammation and when that begins to rise from added vitamin D, we ought use that as the optimal level of vitamin D. The Vitamin D Council recommends a wide range of what is optimal for vitamin D levels of 50-80 ng/mL http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/about-vitamin-d/vitamin-d-deficiency/am-i-vitamin-d-deficient/

    So what’s the bottom line regarding optimal levels, does it vary depending on the individual, do we use any other factors besides C-reactive protein?

  • Efraddoc

    Be aware that vit D can deplete magnesium which is a major cofactor of D. I developed severe night time foot cramping one month into vit 5-10,000u daily. This resolved when I added Mg.

  • Chris L

    Also, there is some evidence (mine :) ) that too much Vitamin D can ruin your sleep http://forum.bulletproofexec.com/index.php?/topic/775-vitamin-d-and-sleep/

    • A. Bright

      That’s why it’s so important to make sure you’re getting optimal levels for you!

  • Gladina Vuletic

    I don’t worry about under or over vit D anymore because I eat fish and seafood as well as sea veggies. Problem is solved right there in terms of minerals and other vitamins. :-) (But…you know I DO love the sun, so I get out in the sun too). I like to gaze at the sun every morning anyway. Doesn’t matter what schedule I’m on, you can always make some time to ‘see the sun’. Don’t stay indoors all day during lunch hour…hehe.

  • Sean

    Could the sleeping impact of D3 be an indirect measure of one’s D3 need? e.g. 5kIUs = worse sleep, then you had enough already… 5kIUs better sleep, then you were deficient?

    I see online, “Vitamin D is inversely related to melatonin” — but I suspect the relationship is complex and not directly causal…

    This guy experimented with his ZEO, and decided to take D only in the morning… I concur…
    http://www.gwern.net/Zeo

    • A. Bright

      In other podcasts, Dave has mentioned he takes D in the morning as more optimal than D at night.

  • Guest

    Hey there. Great blog, great podcasts,
    you’ve taught me heaps and helped multiple family members shed fat with great
    ease. I have some physiology questions perhaps you can assist me with.

    Just quickly, I follow the bulletproof
    fasting principles daily, butter and coffee AM, protein and fat PM. I train
    heavy and intense 3x/week for 30-45 mins. My goal is to get blow 10% for once!
    After one of these workouts per week, I do a carb refeed, 400-650g carbs from
    rice or sweet potatoes. Here are
    my observations and questions.

    1. 1. I took my blood sugar one day
    after my carb reefed. It was exactly 12 hours after my last mouthful of rice and
    my blood glucose was 6.7mmol/L
    (120mg/dl). I understand why this prolonged rise occurs. My questions
    is, if my muscles are so insulin resistant, is their ability to take up glucose
    and manufacture glycogen going to be severely impaired? Wouldn’t this mean
    that, as the body sees such a prolonged rise in blood glucose as a threat, a
    large portion of the carbs I have consumed will be disposed of into my fat
    cells in order to clear this toxic substance?

    2. 2. The day after these carb
    refeeds, if I poke or touch the fat on my abdomen, it is tingly and
    semi-painful. This is not the case with the fat anywhere else on my body, just
    my abdominal and oblique subcutaneous fat after a refeed. Why does this happen?
    Is it an inflammatory based response (there is no way this is in my head, it
    happens every single time I reefed and has for many months, regardless of the
    types of carbs used).

    3. 3. With these carb refeeds causing
    such a prolonged rise in blood sugar, should I be worried about the extent of
    glycation that might be occurring? It doesn’t feel like it’s a healthy
    occurance, particularly with my tingly/sore abdomen!

    Any advice / answers would be greatly,
    greatly appreciated. I have been curious about these things for a while now,
    google has not been able to answer it!

  • Jason

    Hey there. Great blog, great podcasts, you’ve taught me heaps and helped multiple family members shed fat with great ease. I have some physiology questions perhaps you can assist me with.
    Just quickly, I follow the bulletproof fasting principles daily, butter and coffee AM, protein and fat PM. I train heavy and intense 3x/week for 30-45 mins. My goal is to get blow 10% for once! After one of these workouts per week, I do a carb refeed, 400-650g carbs from rice or sweet potatoes. Here are my observations and questions.
    1. 1. I took my blood sugar one day after my carb reefed. It was exactly 12 hours after my last mouthful of rice and my blood glucose was 6.7mmol/L (120mg/dl). I understand why this prolonged rise occurs. My questions is, if my muscles are so insulin resistant, is their ability to take up glucose
    and manufacture glycogen going to be severely impaired Wouldn’t this mean that, as the body sees such a prolonged rise in blood glucose as a threat, a large portion of the carbs I have consumed will be disposed of into my fat cells in order to clear this toxic substance?

    2. The day after these carb refeeds, if I poke or touch the fat on my abdomen, it is tingly and semi-painful. This is not the case with the fat anywhere else on my body, just my abdominal and oblique subcutaneous fat after a refeed. Why does this happen? Is it an inflammatory based response (there is no way this is in my head, it happens every single time I reefed and has for many months, regardless of the types of carbs used).
    3. With these carb refeeds causing such a prolonged rise in blood sugar, should I be worried about the extent of glycation that might be occurring? It doesn’t feel like it’s a healthy occurrence, particularly with my tingly/sore abdomen!
    Any advice / answers would be greatly, greatly appreciated. I have been curious about these things for a while now, google has not been able to answer it!

    • A. Bright

      How much are you eating for your carb refeeds? Have you tried skipping the refeed for a week or two and seeing what happens? (I might try a teaspoonful of raw honey before bed as an alternative, and experiment to see if it works better for me, if nothing or honey does work better there may be something else going on?)

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