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Comment by jayess | Hacker News Reader

Totally anecdotal, but I started taking vitamin D supplements at the suggestion of my doctor because of my family history of colon cancer. I noticed that my acne declined significantly. I'm wondering if it has to do with the amount of time one spends outside in the sun.

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Here's the discussion and the paper on vitamin D: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15867918 . TL;DR: make sure to always get at least 8000 IU of vitamin D per day (10 times the RDA) if you want to be healthy and have good bones, skin, mood, sleep, immunity and metabolism.

I have also heard a rumor that recent studies suggest solid vitamin D pills are better than oil capsules. Would be nice if somebody knowing what particular study says this could share a link.

I love taking vitamin D before bed. It passes me right out.

You must be an outlier; the consensus seems to be that it counteracts fatigue: https://www.gwern.net/zeo/Vitamin-D

I think you missed the link to the discussion in your comment.

Would taking 10x the RDA of Vitamin D daily have any side effects? (overdose?)

Max "official" safe daily limit is 4000 IU currently, but the only studies I'm aware of where actual toxicity was reported started at something like 40,000 IU daily for months. Vitamin D is likely pretty safe.

I just wonder how does official data of this kind emerge if not based on any studies.

No, the estimated RDA based on EPIC series of studies is 3000 IU daily and it's suspected to be on the lower side due to old people being bit overrepresented. This based on all cause mortality, various European subjects. Intake estimated by direct multiple blood levels.

Vitamin D intake vs mortality followed a very shallow U curve (almost J) and minimum was between 2000 and 4000 IU.

So the RDAs are about just decreasing mortality rather than improving life/health, right?

Sorry. I've updated the comment and added the link. As far as I understand taking 10x the RDA won't have side effects because that's not an overdose, that's the correct dose and the RDA is a mistake.

I haven't tried this myself yet though. I am taking 1000 IU now (and it makes a difference I can feel already as compared to taking nothing or 1 RDA) while waiting for the 10'000 IU pills to get delivered from eBay. I didn't knew I actually need this much before reading the paper by the link.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26690210 - doses of 1885, 2802 and 6235 IU per day are required for normal weight, overweight and obese individuals respectively to achieve natural 25(OH)D concentrations (defined as 58 to 171 nmol/L)

Vitamin D deficiency is common in Saudi Arabia, especially among women - factors include traditional clothes, avoidance of sun, and inadequate dietary intake

Do they have more acne then?

No one knows

Actually, other women do...

From what I saw in the UAE, Gulf women are naturally beautiful.

Oh, I know this is sad but I found this comment hilariously blunt. So true.

Same.

Steve Gibson did some research on this topic.

https://www.grc.com/health/vitamin-d.htm

Vitamin D is prescribed for several skin conditions I am on 20k IU a week.

And also Anecdotally I am also on imuno suppressants and touch wood haven't had a cold this winter - yay

I started Vitamin D supplements too, after reading several personal accounts of it being helpful. Still have not come across any good studies proving the effectiveness of taking Vitamin D supplements (TBH I also haven't tried finding any such information either).

It seems to rate pretty high (high=credible) on this list, which I often consult because it is easy to understand and easy to click-through to the actual sources: http://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/snake-oil-s...

Snake Oil Supplements?

Scientific evidence for popular health supplements

Showing tangible human health benefits when taken orally by an adult with a healthy diet (Mar 23rd 2017)

"Vitamin D supplementation decreases all-cause mortality in adults and older individuals" http://acpjc.acponline.org/Content/pdf/ACPJC-2008-148-2-030....

(It's a review of randomized control trials of Vitamin D supplementation.)

https://www.vitamindcouncil.org/in-finland-increased-vitamin...

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