Too Much Vitamin D3?

The amount of vitamin D from all sources has long been at issue. The amount required for health as well as to treat disease has plagued us since the 1920s. Yes, that is right; for about 100 years now, we have been struggling on the amount of vitamin D that is needed for health. The main struggle was the toxicity discovered when vitamin D­­2 ­entered the picture. Large amounts were given to test subjects, as high as a 1,000,000 IU per day. This sounds like a lot, but is actually only 25 mg. Twenty-five milligrams is a small amount when comparing to other things that we consume (like aspirin at 325 mg). However, when comparing to steroids in the body, it is a huge amount. So why is it that we can’t seem to balance the benefit with the risk of supplementing or spending time in the sun? It is about the money involved in the largest segment of the US economy – healthcare.

It is amazing to me how many people still think that the normal amount of D3 that you make in the summer sun is too much. With most of your skin exposed, you will typically make about 10,000 IU (only 0.25 mg or 250 micrograms) of vitamin D3 in about twenty minutes in the mid-day summer sun. Of course this varies with skin type, body size, and the lack of production of cholesterol in the skin (if you are taking statins, you may be seriously affecting your health). We owe this misinformation directly to our medical industry. The last blow to health for our God-given source of natural vitamin D3 can be attributed to a mathematical error by the Institute of Medicine (IOM). They only got it wrong by more than a factor of ten. They stated that 600 IU per day was adequate intake for a ten pound baby as well as a three hundred pound man. Two different groups have now published papers saying that to get the population to a healthy level (20 ng/ml as described by the IOM) should be more like an average of 7,000 to 8,000 IU per day of vitamin D3 from all sources.

We typically get about 2,000 to 4,000 IU equivalent per day of vitamin D3 from the sun, natural diets, and food fortification. This means to achieve a level above 20 ng/ml of 25(OH)D, you would have to supplement (on average) with about 4,000 IU of D3. Again, this depends on body weight and personal absorption of supplemented vitamin D3. But the bad news is that the IOM stated they were only concerned about bone health which they believed that 20 ng/ml was adequate because this prevents rickets. So, what about heart disease, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, and a host of autoimmune diseases? Most doctors and scientist now believe that a healthy level of 25(OH)D is 50 to 70 ng/ml.

  • Bone Health to prevent rickets – Above 20 ng/ml.
  • Healthy level to prevent disease – 50 to 70 ng/ml.
  • To treat disease – 70 to 90 ng/ml.
  • Above the normal range is exceeding 100 ng/ml.
  • Toxicity starts at about 200 ng/ml – that is a huge safety factor! Typically you would have to supplement with 50,000 IU of vitamin D3 per day for months without missing a day to reach this level.

How do we know that 70 to 90 ng/ml will treat disease? There was a medical practice that decided to take all of their patients to 70 to 90 ng/ml. The office visits went from an average of four per patient per year to one visit per patient per year. Here is the video by Vitamin D Wiki that describes this as well as the need for vitamin D3. Take the time to watch it as it is very informative – “Vitamin D in Five Minutes”

Can you just imagine what that would do to the medical economy in America if all people were at an average of 60 ng/ml (at this level, we should be able to reduce our health insurance and health visits by huge amounts – Oh, sorry, medical-industrial complex)? Can you imagine how healthy everyone would be? The key to being healthy is not how much you take; it is a healthy level of vitamin D3 as 25(OH)D.

Please note that if you are using the typical prescription form of vitamin D as vitamin D2, do not exceed a 25(OH)D level of 50 ng/ml (test for 25(OH)D include a sum of D2 and D3). If you do, then your health will decline. This has been the conundrum since the medical profession declared that vitamin D3 was equal to vitamin D2 in the 1930s. If your doctor prescribes vitamin D2, then request a change to vitamin D3.   Fifty thousand IU capsules are readily available from BioTech Pharmacal. Believe it or not, a 100 count bottle is only $30. This would be a two year supply if you take one per week for an average of 7,140 IU per day.

How much should you supplement? It depends on your time in the sun, how much grass fed meat you eat (sun exposed animals have significantly higher levels of vitamin D as 25(OH)D, particularly in the summer months and lower latitudes – give me Texas and Florida beef), and how much you are getting from fortified food. As a rule of thumb, you may want to start supplementing at about 40 IU/lb. body weight/d. If you weigh 100 lb. then about 4,000 IU per day, 150 lb. about 6,000 IU per day, and 200 lb. about 8,000 IU per day. You can go to Grassroots Health and use their chart to adjust to reach your 25(OH)D goal. Of course this means serum testing. It is a small price to pay for health. I should add that the practice that adjusted their patients to 70-90 ng/ml of 25(OH)D, also suggested their patients get about three grams of vitamin C and about four mg of absorbable magnesium (not magnesium oxide) per pound body weight per day. Here is Krispin’s take on magnesium to help you understand. We are also significantly deficient in magnesium. Magnesium is the positive ion that is responsible for over 300 enzymes in the body. If you do not get enough magnesium, then you can expect diseases states as described by Krispin even with an adequate amount of vitamin D3. Heart arrhythmias with magnesium deficiency are of particular concern.

An adequate amount of all natural vitamins and minerals are necessary for health. It looks like we cannot depend on the IOM to get this right. You will have to explore on your own to determine, what an adequate intake of all vitamins and minerals is. Natural vitamins A, B, C, D, and E are all important. Minerals include: magnesium, potassium, sodium, calcium, zinc, selenium, iodine, sulfate, iron, and many other minor minerals like boron, chromium, and manganese – and many others. Our health authorities have gotten this wrong on so many levels. The folic acid debacle is an example of a man-made molecule that has now become the standard of supplementation for folate (eat your greens). There is about one third of the population that cannot convert folic acid into a bioactive form.   I personally have to be careful with foods (primarily grains) that are fortified with folic acid to keep my intake below 600 mcg/d. Otherwise, I just feel miserable.

Spend a reasonable amount of time in the sun this summer. The goal is to not get burned. If you start your sunning experience with a small amount of time and then increase, you will allow your skin’s melanin to adequately develop (tanning) so as to shield you from burns. When you have spent a responsible amount of time in the sun then cover yourself with clothing and hats that will stop the UV rays. If that is not possible, then sunscreens with zinc oxide or titanium dioxide will block and reflect the rays (similar to a mirror).

The dangers of standard sunscreens are enormous. They are better than they used to be as now sunscreen has to block both UVA and UVB or state otherwise on the label (before, they typically only blocked UVB which was reradiated in the UVA range). But what happens to the incident energy of both UVB and UVA? It typically is absorbed at other wavelengths that may not be beneficial to health. The greatest danger of sunscreen is to put it on before any sun exposure, thus blocking the formation of vitamin D3. Why is there not a warning label on all sunscreen products stating this hazard? First sun, after an adequate amount of time before burning, then apply sun reflecting products, put on clothing, or get out of the sun.  – Pandemic Survivor

Clarification of Vitamin D Studies

There has been much concern recently by the champions of vitamin D because of the cautionary peer reviewed publications about the dangers of vitamin D. Described have been J shaped curves and U shaped curves that say the effect of vitamin D improves health and then as the level gets higher causes worse conditions of disease. I believe that this is solely because of not distinguishing between the effects of vitamin D3 and vitamin D2.

The publication listed that has been of most concern is a study that was done in Norway. Norway has long used only D2 as a supplement. I am not fully sure of the reason, but have found that to be the case in my thousands of hours of reading. As an example, please find below a study (1) that was done on children to determine if supplementation of vitamin D would improve the serum level in children. This study was done in Norway in 2008. As you read through the paper, you will find the reason that they used vitamin D2 and not vitamin D3 for supplementation was vitamin D3 was not available in Norway. At least this paper distinguished between D2 and D3 in serum testing.

The huge mistake that has been made in medicine is that vitamin D2 is equal to vitamin D3. This was okay as long as you’re simply trying to prevent rickets of serum 25(OH)D at 20ng/ml or lower. I have written about this many times. Vitamin D2 at the levels within serum normal is significantly more toxic to the human body than vitamin D3. The problem was brought to light by Moon and Reich in their 1975 paper “The Vitamin D Problem.”   I wrote about this many times and you can find a link below to describe this concern. The Vitamin D Debacle. (5)

I do believe that the concerned expressed by the IOM in their 2010 publication is correct when considering D2. They stated that serums levels should not go above 50 ng/ml 25(OH)D. I do believe that this is because they did not separate data and published papers that they used for vitamin D3 versus vitamin D2. Many times the published papers do not show the difference between vitamin D2 and vitamin D3. They simply state the serum level is 25(OH)D. This study was exceptionally muddled as they seem to have gotten the amount of vitamin D required to bring the population above 20 ng/ml 25(OH)D wrong according to Canadian researchers (9).

All of this confusion has been about slowing down the use of vitamin D as a supplement. The stated concern is about toxicity. This is founded in the way science has been practiced. Not as science, but as an economic advantage to keeping you using vitamin D3 in an amount less than beneficial to health. Please note that the recent publication (4) describing a concern for health at higher levels of vitamin D was done in Norway and is a republication of a study that was originally published (3, 2) in 2012. Add to this the weight that the American press has not published any articles about the findings of Dr. Paul Veugelers (9), Canadian researcher, that the IOM was wrong. This has been hotly debated in the Canadian press (6, 7) in addition to advertisements discussing the issue placed by a wealthy Canadian, Allan Markin (8). We were cosponsors of the IOM study with Canada. What is going on with the American press? Could it be about at least twenty percent of their advertising revenue comes from the healthcare industry? And a better question, where is our Department of HHS on this issue. Are they caught up in their principle of “markets before mandates” or the economy is more important to your health?

Your take away from all of this confusion should be simple. Get an adequate amount of vitamin D from all sources so that you achieve a serum level above 50 ng/ml 25(OH)D. If you are sick, then try to maintain your serum level above 80 ng/ml. All of these serum levels are within the normal expected ranges of 30 to 100 ng/ml. Minimize the amount of vitamin D2 that you are getting. Sources may be in your multiple vitamin/mineral and may be through the amount of sun (UV light) exposed fungus like mushrooms.   As you know, mushrooms are grown in the dark or low light. Also if you are taking the prescription form of vitamin D, it is most likely D2 in 50.000 IU dose taken once per week. Talk to your doctor about this. Vitamin D3 is readily available as a prescription form and over the counter as 50,000 IU capsules produced by BioTech Pharmacol. Live long and be healthy. – Pandemic Survivor


  1. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2009) 63, 478–484; doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602982
  2. Perpetuating the myth.
  3. Original Publication J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2012 Aug;97(8):2644-52. doi: 10.1210/jc.2012-1176. Epub 2012 May 9
  4. Republication doi: 10.1210/jc.2014-4551 J Clin Endocrinol Metab
  6. Glove and Mail March 29
  7. Globe and Mail March 12
  8. Advocacy Letter Allen Markin,
  9. IOM Recommendations Wrong

Lay Off the Mega-Doses of Vitamin D?






News Medical:
Vitamin D- A Conflict of Science
Vitamin D for Profit 1923-1946:
IOM Got it Wrong, Grassroots Health, January 2015:
Secretary Michael Leavitt, Principles HHS:
Conflict of Interest at National Academy of Science, December 2010:
Nobel Prize:

Vitamin D — A Conflict of Science





  • Vitamin D2 is equal to vitamin D3
  • Vitamin D is only useful for bone health
  • Improper interpretation of findings in vitamin D research






Vitamin D Recommendations by the Institute of Medicine are WRONG!

When the Institute of Medicine for the amount of vitamin D for health was published in December of 2010, they were off by over a factor of ten. The vitamin D experts at the time wrote extensively about this, but no one found the error in the IOM’s calculations. I also wrote about it extensively in December that year and you can find links from my posts of the many comments. A news article published in November 2014 by News Medical has this lead-in for Canadian health: Increasing vitamin D intake could prevent 37,000 deaths annually and save taxpayers billions. The study at the IOM was paid for by the US and Canada.

If we extrapolate this number for the US, it is 370,000 deaths and tens of billions (about ten times the population of Canada) that an adequate intake of vitamin D would prevent. Savings would not be as great as in Canada because the insurance companies would keep the savings. That is of course until their sales cost went down and they would have to adjust pricing for medical insurance. In Canada, the medical cost are taken from their taxes and paid directly to medical providers. The cost per capita for medical care is already about half of what it is in the US. This is also true for the EU as well. If you include the cost of medical insurance as taxes, then our tax rates is exceptionally high. The Supreme Court has ruled that medical insurance is a tax as health insurance is required by the government. Are we really funding 18% of our economy off of the illness and fear of illness of the population?

The discoverer of the error is Paul Veugelers, PhD of the University of Alberta. He found by statistical methods that around 8000IU is necessary to keep 97.5 percent of the population at or above 20 ng/ml for 25(OH)D. This is based on the same data that was used by the IOM. The IOM stated at the time that only 600IU of vitamin D was needed to keep the population at 20 ng/ml. This recommendation was for a ten pound baby as well as a three hundred pound adult. So much for common sense. Here is a link to the Grassroots Health Newsletter on the matter. TAKE ACTION! Click the link on to the Grassroots Health Newsletter and follow the instructions in the middle of the page to sign the petition to have the IOM review their findings. Or just click here sign this petition. To sign, just put your name and email address and make any comments that you would like. Grassroots Health through their testing of thousands of people have found that it will actually take about 7000IU per day.

Also, it would be great if you would share this information with friends and social media to avoid this continuous health disaster.  Or better, contact  your local congressman and raise h*ll! – Pandemic Survivor

VITAMIN D reduces 42 health problems




banner_ad_long5company posting

Keep Them out of the Sun!








Wellness from the Sun has Changed Forever


Highlights of the video include:

  • Diseases from low sun exposure
  • How food sources from decades ago were higher in vitamin D
  • How much vitamin D to take to get started


Vitamins and Minerals or Not

“There are two kinds of charlatan: the man who is called a charlatan, and the man who really is one. The first is the quack who cures you; the second is the highly qualified person who doesn’t.”  G. K. Chesterton Illustrated London News 2-15-1908 from

There has been a flurry of news articles during December about vitamins and minerals.  It was started by an editorial in the Annals of Internal Medicine, “Enough is Enough: Stop Wasting Money on Vitamins and Mineral Supplements.” – E. Guallar, et. Al. The editorial ended with the words of total authority, “case closed” and “enough is enough”.  Following the large gathering crowd movement or jumping on the “bandwagon” of lemmings, there were also many negative articles about vitamin D, like “Vitamin D Fails to Ease Winter Colds and Coughs” New York Times Blog.   Of course the study represented was using only 1000 IU of vitamin D.  Not nearly enough to adequately boost your immune system.  Why do a study to determine if one to five minutes in the midday summer sun will stop a cold?

Toward the end of the month and even today you can find articles that are refuting the negative news about vitamin and minerals.  Doctors and writers site case after case of where vitamins and minerals are necessary to heal and prevent disease.  It is a war of seeming experts explaining how the interpretation of the research is invalid and the research is also flawed.  But what are you to do if you cannot read the research and make a decision on your own?  You can choose to trust the experts, but which experts?  You can do nothing and not assure you are getting enough vitamins and minerals and you have followed the expert’s advice by default.  You can wait until you get a very life threatening disease and when allopathic medicine has failed you, start looking for a solution.  I am sorry that I waited until I was almost dead before evaluating the research myself.  I know that most of you do not have the means, time, or understanding necessary to make these decisions on your own.  How are you going to believe the quack that wants to cure you?

Unfortunately for you, the articles refuting the earlier articles are mostly being ignored by the main stream press and the population in general.  First in is really a big deal in a marketing war.  You become immune to the rhetoric and just skip over the article even if it did make it to your consumed media.

Many of you do not realize that there is a large marketing campaign happening on both sides to get your money.  Whether it is the “experts” that practice allopathic medicine or the “alternative” group that also wants to get your money, a marketing war is being fought hard in the press.  In earlier times, especially in a time of manipulation of the world’s population, this type of action was called propaganda.  Propaganda is a word that you don’t see much anymore because of the negative connotation, but its practice and techniques are deluged on you every day.

Consider the various types of propaganda techniques as listed by Oracle ThinkQuest Education Foundation:   Assertion, Bandwagon, Card Stacking or selective omission, Glittering Generalities, Lesser of Two Evils, Name Calling, Pinpointing the Enemy, Plain Folks (this is my favorite technique), Simplification or Stereotyping, Testimonials, and Transfer or viewing one item the same way you view another item.  Are you dizzy yet?  The marketers depend on that.  We have all used these techniques to persuade people to come around to our viewpoint.  Politics, marketing, and marketing passing itself off as science are thrown at us every day from our many media sources. Experts are paid handsomely to present confusing facts as “case closed”.  All of these propaganda techniques were tossed at you in December.

Your health is important to you.  Health insurance is not the solution.  Becoming informed is the solution and don’t throw away the advice of quacks just because some expert used name calling to try to get you away from their understanding.  Don’t always trust the information from experts without confirming what is being said.  This is a life-long task of hard work to sort through marketing versus fact, truth versus relative truth, and what is it really that gives you health.  To not do this deadly – Pandemic Survivor

“There are two kinds of paradoxes. They are not so much the good and the bad, nor even the true and the false. Rather they are the fruitful and the barren; the paradoxes which produce life and the paradoxes that merely announce death. Nearly all modern paradoxes merely announce death.”  G.K. Chesterton ILN 3-11-1911,

Find the comment balloon to the right of the title.  You may have to move your cursor over it for it to show.  I would like to know your thoughts.

Worshiping at the Vitamin Church

An Open Letter to Margaret Wente; from her profile: “Margaret Wente is one of Canada’s leading columnists. As a writer for The Globe and Mail, she provokes heated debate with her views on health care, education, and social issues. She is winner of the National Newspaper Award for column-writing.”

Re: Why I’m Leaving the Vitamin Church – Globe and Mail, Canada 

Dearest Margaret,

I am extremely sorry for your demise.  I assume you’re writing from the grave.  Anyone taking 1000 mg of vitamin D (forty million IU per day for years?) for as long as you suggest would certainly be dead.  At your autopsy, your death was stated to be idiopathic.  In plain English that means the idiots did not know the cause.

The study from the Lancet that you refer to suggested that vitamin D does not improve bone density.  If you had read the abstract closely, you would have noted that they did not use more than 800 IU of vitamin D.  Simple logic would suggest that the study was devised to keep researchers employed as everyone knows that two minutes of mid day summer sun, the equivalent of 800 IU of vitamin D, would not improve bone density.

What are worse than flawed science research papers are extremely flawed opinion articles by renowned authors.  You used the weight of your public face to express an opinion that really means nothing even though it is beautifully written.  At some point the realization that process and content are both important must infuse your vitamin deprived soul.  The cutback in advertising for your publication must have got the technical editor.  Or worse, maybe your publication was given more advertising for the writing of this article by the pharmaceutical/medical insurance industry.

A simple interview with anyone that has recovered from serious disease by the use of nutrition would have rendered your heart so that out of love you would not have written such an error riddle article.  Without knowing it, you may have caused the deaths of thousands of people.  You should heed the words of the nutrition evangelist, Dr. Randy Jirtle, renowned genomic researcher and Time Magazine Person of the Year 2007; “Food is Medicine”.

Judging from your photo showing your ashy white pallor, I suspect you are already starting to get your first cold of the season.  Given the half life of vitamin D is only three weeks, you should expect to get your second cold or the flu about Christmas since you have stopped taking vitamin D.  If you had truly been keeping up with the vitamin D science, you would know that it is not how much you take, but how high your serum level of 25(OH)D.

Worshiping at any church other than a church of God is nothing more than idolatry.  I really am glad that you have decided to give up the vitamin church and free yourself of this evil. Perhaps you should help others in this effort.

To your good health,
Pandemic Survivor