Vitamin D. Separating Fact from Fiction

Sunshine and Superpowers: Unveiling the Truth About Vitamin D!

Welcome back to this week's edition 8%ers! We hope that you had a wonderful weekend—if you managed to stay cool after a record-breaking start to summer! Remember, the beach is calling, but don’t forget to slather on that sunscreen and stay hydrated. After all, we want you to enjoy those ocean waves without turning into a sun-dried tomato!

When writing last week’s edition where we discussed the good, the bad and the ugly of coffee, we mentioned Vit. D. And we realized that this is a widely misunderstoodnutrient that has an epidemic level of deficiency. So we thought that it may be useful for you, the reader, to understand what it is, how we make it, why it's important to your health and why you may or may not be deficient.

How do we make it?

We know, it seems rather unintuitive to explain this before determining what Vit D is. But hear us out. We make our own vitamin D all on our own. Woah! And what it needs is UV light and the body takes care of the rest. The process is the following:

Our skin produces 7-DHC, a type of cholesterol. When this is exposed to UV light (Sunlight) it turns into cholecalciferol (Vit. D3). Weird names but just hear me out.
That is then transported to the liver where an enzyme called 25-Hydroxylase turns Cholecalciferol into calcifediol.
From the liver calcifediol is transported to the kidneys where via 1-alpha-hydroxylase, another enzyme, it turns calcifediol into calcitriol. Ta-da! We have our activated Vitamin/Hormone D3.

Just like that we made out “essential” nutrients out of a simple cholesterol that everybody has in their skin. The catch is that you need that direct UV light for at least 15-30 minutes per day, otherwise you don't produce enough hence you become deficient. Unfortunately about 4.5 billion people around the globe are deficient in this nutrient meaning that most of us are not getting enough sunlight per day to meet our own needs. Hence we need to eat some extra from our diet to meet the quota.

So… what is it?

Now that we understand that we can make our own let's start by debunking certain myths about this wonder nutrient:

It's Essential: You may have thought that you need to eat the recommended RDI in order to get the Vit. D you need, and the UV light was only needed to activate said vitamin. Right? Well no, as we discussed we are perfectly capable of making our own Vit. D, so unlike every other vitamin, this one we can leave out of our diet and be fine… so long as we have that UV exposure.
Is it a Vitamin? Modern medicine has established that Vit. D is not a vitamin at all, rather a hormone. You may have heard this before but let's go through why:
1. Not Essential: All other vitamins are essential, as they need to be included in our diet. Not the case with this, dropping it from said classification.
2. Functions: Unlike other vitamins that act as cofactors to for enzyme reactions in the body, Vitamin D acts like a hormone: when activated it is responsible for raising calcium and phosphorus levels in the blood by activating cells called osteoclasts and greatly increasing our intestinal calcium absorption. Without it we would be screwed.
3. Lingering Terminology: When scientists were busy discovering vitamins, there wasn't an understanding of the roles that they played in the body. The way that they went about classifying them can be best explained by Scurvy. Arrrr, the pirate disease. When pirates were on voyages they would contract this horrible illness, but they found out through trial and error that oranges/lemons prevented this. What do these fruits have in common? Vit. C. The same thing happened with Vit. D and its role in preventing certain diseases like Rickets. So by applying the scientific method at the time it was determined like the rest of the vitamins this too is essential.

Why do we still call it vitamin D?

Concerned doctors and epidemiologists decided that in order to address the widespread deficiency of this nonessential hormone/vitamin that they would give it an RDI like the rest of the micronutrients. Why? In order to encourage the population to get that extra amount that will keep our bodies properly nourished. And because of this, Vit. D will now and forever be the misunderstood hormone in our body.

Why might you be deficient?

Now that we know how we can get said vitamin, let's discuss the reasons why we may be deficient.

Not enough Sunlight: The best, safest and healthiest way to address this issue is to go get some of those rays of sunshine on our body! Trust us you may even enjoy it a little. For most people 15-30 minutes should be enough but we encourage people to try to enjoy the outdoors more, not merely as a chore but as a hobby: reading under the shade of a tree, going for a hike, biking to work, having a meal with friends or family at a restaurant terrace, etc.

Insufficient Diet: For all of you who aren't able to commit to getting outside everyday, then pay attention because this is very important. Vit. D is one of the most scarce nutrients in our food. Like super scarce. The three main sources in our diets are fatty fish, dairy products (Typically cheeses have more than yogurts or milks) and eggs. Sometimes even when including all of these foods it may still be hard to meet your RDI which is why we think that combining some nice sunshine with some of these foods everyday will do the trick without having to supplement it.

Magnesium Deficiency: Yep, you heard us. You may be noticing a trend by now. Magnesium is essential to just about every single process in the body. So where does magnesium come into play here you might ask? We haven't mentioned it until now. You remember those 2 enzymes that activated all the Vit D whether it be from our diet or from the sun? Well, those enzymes require magnesium. Magnesium is a cofactor in that reaction, this means that magnesium is responsible for “activating” said enzymes to do their job. So without it you can have 1000x the Vit. D you need in supplements that none of it is going anywhere. And when about 50% of the population isn't getting enough magnesium you start to see a trend. Albeit you will still be able to activate some of the Vit. D, but the process becomes inefficient. So if you are like most people and getting the bare minimum of sunlight and dietary intake then this may be the cause of your Vit. D deficiency.

Our products all offer high quality and complete minerals, but if maximizing that Magnesium intake to help address a Vit. D insufficiency is you kinda thing, OmniBlue Original is just right for you. Offering 100% of your daily magnesium RDI in a single serving is perfect for making sure that your enzymes have everything they need to activate as much Vit. D as you can give them.

That’s a Wrap!

We hope you enjoyed this week's edition of the 8%! As we've explored, Vitamin D is a fascinating nutrient with a unique status as both a vitamin and a hormone. It's vital for calcium and phosphorus regulation, which are crucial for bone health, and it plays a significant role in our overall well-being. The ability to produce Vitamin D through sun exposure is remarkable, yet modern lifestyles and dietary choices often lead to deficiencies. Remember, getting enough sunlight, incorporating Vitamin D-rich foods into your diet, and ensuring adequate magnesium intake are key steps to maintaining optimal levels. OmniBlue Minerals are here to support your journey to better health by providing essential minerals that enhance Vitamin D activation. Stay informed, stay healthy, and don't forget to step outside and soak up some sunshine. See you next week, 8%ers!