74 replies to this topic

[sie]

I just want to report that after only 1 week with vitamin D and calcium, I have no new spots and am starting the healing process. Skin is the best its been in 3 months. (And some of my hypocalcaemia symptoms are subsiding.)

Anyone living in the North, or who doesn't receive adequate UV exposure or nutritional/supplemental vitamin D (such as cod liver oil) might want to look into it.

[LiliVG]

I've been taking vitamin d for the last 3 days or so. So no break out from it, which I'm really glad about.

Right now I'm experimenting with a mild topical acid for the treatment of non-inflamed acne. But the first day I tried it, about a weak ago, I made the mix too strong, and it wasn't pretty . I have noticed an improvement in the healing of that since I started the vitamin d. Seems good so far. But I don't know for sure if it's the acid or the vitamin d that's improving the overall texture of my skin.

[Adam82]

What dosage?

What form/brand?

[alternativista]

I just want to report that after only 1 week with vitamin D and calcium.

Could you explain your reasoning here? I think so far, it's scattered throughout DIM and Taurine discussions.

[sie]

I just want to report that after only 1 week with vitamin D and calcium.

Could you explain your reasoning here? I think so far, it's scattered throughout DIM and Taurine discussions.

I have done tons of research in the scientific reports. Most of the vit d studies of any consequence were either decades ago...or just last year (and this year). It is quite impressive. First, my problem is periodical (couldn't pinpoint at first, sometimes menstrual, sometimes seasonal,sometimes just for no explicable reason) so I started thinking of hormones. Vit D is not a vitamin, but a hormone that can only be manufactured by the body through UV irradiation. In office jobs and wintertime, etc we are likely deficient. The USRDA is way too low. Plus where I live, not even milk is fortified...so this winter I had obviously depleted all my stores from the Summer/Fall. Previous BAD skin times began when I was in grad school and working all year round without any vacation or sunshine time. My skin improved when I was pregnant--hormonal right? Well, I took cal/vit D while pregnant. CLICK!!

Vit D shares receptors with vitamin A. The receptors, independent of their ligands, do things...but the vitamin itself is very important and terribly underrated. Its not just for bones. Vit D may help guard against or improve many different cancers. In fact Vit D deficiency could cause far more cancer than sun exposure. Research is still being done. Most importantly is the anti-proliferation and pro-differentiation effect it has on epithelial cells (basal skin cells). These cells must differentiate slowly as they make their way up to the top layer of cornified skin. I believe my skin cells were transitioning from basal layer to top layer too fast. All those young uncornified (undifferientiated) cells were coming to the top and scaling off (proliferating) but because they were young "sticky" cells they clogged my pores. Now with the vit D,, they proliferate much slower and are given the chance to differentiate and cornify. I can finally keep up with my skin. Before, I would look in the mirror a couple times per day and every time something new "Where'd you come from?" Now, its just skin. No new cloggers or spots.

Besides I had symptoms of deficiency for vit D and for Calcium (tingling fingers).. It all just made sense. In the summer my skin was great. The winter TERRIBLE. I am just glad the D works inlieu of sunshine.

OH, also vitamin D is related to sex hormones. In fact, vit D and calcium has been used to treat things such as PMS, PMD migraines and is believed to be related to the hyperandrogenism of PCOS. It deviates when Testo is administered or estro. Its all in the research. I'm going to be experimenting with whether I have to adjust my dosage at certain times of the month...but I hope not. So far so good.

BTW, I started with D3 but ran out quick and can't get more til Tuesday (2nd world countries suck), so starting today I am taking D3 + A. I didn't want to do that but it was all I could get in this silly country. If I had realized it was D3 + A before I left the store, I just would have gotten fish oil with omegas. . Anyway, I think I have enough evidence for now to say that it is the D3...or the D3 + calcium. I won't be separating the two, as I was calcium deficient.

[AlexGF]

is the calcium important when taking vitamin D?

[sie]

is the calcium important when taking vitamin D?

For acne, I'm not sure yet. I was calcium deficient due to my vitamin D being depleted (without vitamin D, calcium was not being adequately absorbed in digestion...so my body was taking calcium from my bones in order to keep the homeostasis of the blood). That is a really bad situation. I could probably have done vitamin D with yogurt and cheese and other calcium rich foods, but I was in a bad state and wanted to fix it properly. Plus, my pregnancy regimen was D+calcium and I wanted to recreate it because I was so clear at the time. I think that if someone has acne due to vitamin D deficiency, that would probably mean that they are deficient enough to be already in or working toward a state of hypocalcaemia, so the calcium supplement would be a good precaution at first...gently weaning it until calcium is gotten from food sources.

I started D with about 4000 IU per day and over a week's time worked up to about 5400 IU per day (calcium starting about 1200 mg, now at 1800 mg). I am doing this to try to correct my situation. Eventually I will start to back off the calcium to only 600mg per day + calcium rich foods. I will try to keep vitamin D around 4000-5000 per day in poor UV months. When the Winter breaks and the sun starts to shine more at my latitude, I will start to back off the vitamin D until I take none through the Summer. And, as I said, I will play with dosage for my monthly (studies show vitamin D changes with sex hormones and fluctuates with a woman's cycle).

Sorry I can't say much for sure, but the guinea pig rarely writes history. I am hoping some keen scientist will take this up as a study . I believe there is something to it...unfortunately it is unprofitable (supplements/tanning is cheap and the sun is free) so I don't expect much. I have seen some recent research trying to create vitamin D analogues without the calcemic effects. I'm fearing someone may attempt to reduce it and maybe try to come up with something for skin disorders (D is already used for psoriasis) that is different from the supplement so that you have to get a doctors prescription -- so the doctors can get theirs ($$) and the pharmas can get theirs ($$)--from something that the body makes naturally . But actually most of the research right now is in breast and prostate cancers...so there's alot of good being done out there with vitamin D.

Still, I honestly believe this may be the natural accutane...as mothernature intended. Not vitamin A....vitamin D. No risky high doses...just moderate doses to keep you healthy.

Pre-modern times people spent alot more time in the sun in the warm months and built up vit D stores to last all year. Northern indigenous peoples ate heavy vitamin D, like fish, salmon, seal. The average modern person today gets no UV. House to garage to car to garage at work to office. Glass in windows doesn't allow enough UVB light thru. If you wear SPF, you are not allowing your body to make vitamin D. If you don't make enough in the Summer, you won't last all Winter. Its an epidemic right now and it is contributing to cancers. I believe the body's design is to warn of this by showing it on the skin in the form of psoriasis or acne. "Hey, I'm your skin. I make vitamin D when exposed to UV light. You've not been in the sun...so look at me....JUST LOOK AT ME! HELLOOOOOO." (thats the voice of my angry skin)

Okay, end of sermon.

[Glennart]

For good information regarding Vitamin D visit:

http://www.vitamindcouncil.com/

Vitamin D Council | Understanding Vitamin D Cholecalciferol

[rakbs]

Vitamin D is involved with immunosuppresion, so it makes sense how a deficiency would contribute to acne, and supplementation would help acne improve.

I think I'm going to start supplementing it.

Does anyone recommend a good brand/form?

[sie]

For good information regarding Vitamin D visit:

http://www.vitamindcouncil.com/

Vitamin D Council | Understanding Vitamin D Cholecalciferol

The info there is good. I was in contact w/Dr. Cannell of the council but he asked if acne is a seasonal disease...obv'ly it is not...but it s a modern disease and modrn ppl avoid sun.. so........I hope he will follow up to me again. Although, there is too much work to b done re: cancer to be thinking of acne I think.

Vitamin D is involved with immunosuppresion, so it makes sense how a deficiency would contribute to acne, and supplementation would help acne improve.

I think I'm going to start supplementing it.

Does anyone recommend a good brand/form?

Yes, I believe it can help w/inflammation in that way.

I can't say a brand. Where I live I just have to take what I can get. I think I have Solgar (?) now. Just get D3: cholecalciferol.

[alternativista]

Did you see this in the Mother Earth News article?

Shiitake mushrooms can be an exceptional source of vitamin D, as noted in research published in Paul Stamets’ book, Mycelium Running. Shiitake mushrooms grown and dried indoors have only 110 IU of vitamin D per 100 grams. But when the shiitakes were dried in the sun, the vitamin D content rose to 21,400 IUs per 100 grams. Even more surprising, when the mushrooms were dried with their gills facing up toward the sun, their content rose to 46,000 IU!

They aren't hard to grow.

[Adam82]

Did you see this in the Mother Earth News article?

Shiitake mushrooms can be an exceptional source of vitamin D, as noted in research published in Paul Stamets’ book, Mycelium Running. Shiitake mushrooms grown and dried indoors have only 110 IU of vitamin D per 100 grams. But when the shiitakes were dried in the sun, the vitamin D content rose to 21,400 IUs per 100 grams. Even more surprising, when the mushrooms were dried with their gills facing up toward the sun, their content rose to 46,000 IU!

They aren't hard to grow.

They sound like little vitamin D, solar batteries.

[jodiat]

Calcium is tricky, infact calcium is very easy to obtain in the diet for most people but magnesium (which is harder to obtain for some) can be used to increase calcium intake without increasing calcium as they work together in a 1:1 ratio. Modern diet ratio of Calcium - Magnesium is more 2:1 or more and this is why pain management can be controlled with supplementing with Calcium or magnesium, especially PMS and headache/Mirgranes, the larger the difference in this ratio the more problems with pain imo. I can see how vit - D is improving acne but calcium, im really not sold on the idea on how calcium is helping.

[sie]

Calcium is tricky, infact calcium is very easy to obtain in the diet for most people but magnesium (which is harder to obtain for some) can be used to increase calcium intake without increasing calcium as they work together in a 1:1 ratio. Modern diet ratio of Calcium - Magnesium is more 2:1 or more and this is why pain management can be controlled with supplementing with Calcium or magnesium, especially PMS and headache/Mirgranes, the larger the difference in this ratio the more problems with pain imo. I can see how vit - D is improving acne but calcium, im really not sold on the idea on how calcium is helping.

I'm not sold on the idea of the calcium/acne link either. Mainly its the vitamin D IMO...but I was clearly calcium deficient, with symptoms so I am supplementing for now (and not messing with a good thing). I'll phase it out later, since I eat alot of calcium rich foods anyway. I think I eat a fair amount of magnesium and will try to find more dietary sources as I don't want to supplement anything I can get from food.

Did you see this in the Mother Earth News article?

Shiitake mushrooms can be an exceptional source of vitamin D, as noted in research published in Paul Stamets’ book, Mycelium Running. Shiitake mushrooms grown and dried indoors have only 110 IU of vitamin D per 100 grams. But when the shiitakes were dried in the sun, the vitamin D content rose to 21,400 IUs per 100 grams. Even more surprising, when the mushrooms were dried with their gills facing up toward the sun, their content rose to 46,000 IU!

They aren't hard to grow.

I didn't see that article, but knew about it when researching dietary sources. Unfortunately, where I live I could more easily find a moonrock than shitake shrooms. And I wouldn't eat anything grown on my balcony--I live in a filthy, polluted city. (Indoors wouldn't work either...there's already 3 of us + 2 cats in a 1BR apt...no way I'm adding a garden hahah) Thanks for the informational post...its good for vegetarians/vegans I think.

[jodiat]

Yeah I see your point Sie.

Im interested in Vitamin D recently aswell. I take a small fish oil pill daily but its a small amount of vitamin A and D and England is piss poor for sun, even in summer I dont get enough light on me to get all my vitamin D imo. Im interested in whats the best Vitamin D supplement and hows best to absorb it?

[jodiat]

http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/84/4/694

No problems I found what I needed above,

[LiliVG]

There's a lot of great research on this, thanks for posting it!

About mushrooms. Mushrooms produce D2, not D3. D3 is several times more effective than D2, and the mushrooms have to be exposed to UV light for it to start producing vitamin D2. For those who do this on purpose, they expose the mushrooms to a UV light for 15 minutes after harvest, and end up with tens of thousands IU of D2. I don't know much about the differences between the different forms of vitamin D other than that D3 is considered the most effective one out there, and also the one that is produced by our skin in response to sun exposure.

I'm going to increase my vitamin D, as sun exposure usually results in tens of thousands of IU of D3, and I've often wondered by D3 supplements were so low. The one I have has only 400 IU of vitamin D per gelcap.

[AlexGF]

well I'm considering in taking vitamin D as well since I don't go out too much ( since I started college, and I have spent one week inside my house... is winter and IT'S VERY COLD)
I will try to buy cod liver oil for vitamin D
also I don't drink any milk for 2 weeks, so my calcium is probably low.
I eat spinaches.. it says it has calcium.. oh well I just found out that if I cook the spinach it will have a lot more calcium than raw. =( what other food besides diary have Calcium? almonds?

[calla lily]

So basically, Vit. D (and calcium) has slowed down hyperproliferation and improved your noninflamed acne?

[rakbs]

Even small amounts of vitamin D, about 500 IU, lowered inflammation by more than 25 percent in a small group of critically ill patients. Another marker of inflammation (IL-6) was reduced even more. The researchers also found that critically ill patients were profoundly deficient in vitamin D.

In another study, researchers found that vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased inflammation in otherwise healthy people. Increased inflammation in the body can increase the risk of chronic inflammatory conditions, including coronary heart disease (CHD) and diabetes. Further, the researchers found that inflammation was lowered by simple vitamin D.

Various studies show that vitamin D deficiency is widespread among the critically ill and suggest that that vitamin D deficiency may contribute to the inflammatory basis of various illnesses.