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Comment by worker767424 | Hacker News Reader

Considering how relatively safe Vitamin D is, why aren't governments pushing really hard on it?

Same with N95 masks. At this point, if there was a push, we could have had plenty of them, and they're significantly more effective, but there's no push.

It's weird. But the US is botching vaccine distribution, too, so at least it's consistent.

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One angle is that since no one owns a patent on Vitamin D, there is no one who lobbies for it.

The US also botched testing quite a bit, keep your expectations low and you’ll never be disappointed/surprised

and now they're just over testing, especially with PCR with 40+ amplification cycles. The false positives combined with positives from minor infections are blowing up case numbers out of proportion.

Also include suppressing antibody tests, see below podcast:

https://lexfridman.com/michael-mina/

N95 masks are only really effective when people wear them properly.

I wouldn't be surprised if they were less effective than the regular masks when worn improperly, because the higher resistance of the N95 filter material means more air goes through the gaps (whereas the regular masks are breathable enough that air still mostly flows through them). I would also expect acceptance to be much lower due to higher breathing resistance.

The NHS in the UK now recommends all adults suppliment vitamin D, not because of COVID, but because a large part of the population is deficient due to the low levels of sunlight we get.

> Considering how relatively safe Vitamin D is

Vitamin D (like Vitamin A) accumulates in the body and is dangerous in high doses.

It's pretty mild compared to A, with a large gap between the UL and getting sick.

Healthy adults need a few months on a dose two orders of magnitude higher than the typical recommendation to see overt toxicity. All known cases of toxicity stem from people going ten times the UL.

Still, don't handle this like a water soluble vitamin. Never think about bulk powders, since the IU-to-weight conversion ratio is crazy potent.

What is the meaning of UL?

Tolerable Upper Intake Level, as set by the Institute of Medicine in the US or the European Food Safety Authority. Currently 100 µg/d (4000 IU) for vitamin D.

I ramped up to 60k IU's per day. No issues thus far. It's been a few years to get to this point. I also take a lot of K2 MK-7, Magnesium, C, Zinc. Well, a bit of everything. AMA.

There is little hard evidence for the benefits of it. The cited paper is very very soft

You should read all of the other papers. The evidence is now quite strong. https://vitamin-d-covid.shotwell.ca/

So like hydroxychloroquine...

Except it's a lot safer already produced in large amounts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroxychloroquine#Adverse_eff...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D#Excess

As long as you aren't pregnant and don't overdo Vitamin D, you'll be fine.

They should fortify commonly consumed food products with Vitamin D. Like milk.

I know you're joking, because they do, but the amount they fortify it with is very small. If they would 10x it, then maybe it would make a difference.

Not all countries do this.

Milk isn't that commonly consumed. It's not like salt. You also don't want to overdo vitamin D.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00220...

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/jan/06/us-dairy-indust...

In Finland drinking milk is quite normal, however the sunlight might be a factor here as well..

The US and some other countries DO set minimum levels for D in milk. Fortification is allowed if it's too low naturally.

The same stuff is required in the US for skim milk and plant "milks" too. Occasionally all-natural believers get into trouble with the FDA for not having enough D in their skimmed milk.

My understanding is that it can take years for measurable benefit from supplements to be realised for this

I have no reason to believe this is true. It can take years to fully remedy a serious backlog of nutritional deficits, but that's a completely different metric from "years for measurable benefit...to be realized."

For seeing an overall mortality benefit in normal times, maybe.

But it's the D-related-compound levels in your body right now (or seasonally) that have a noticeable effect on fighting current viral infections.

It takes about 7 days for ingested Vitamin D to be fully converted into calcifediol, an important active form measured in the blood, and with good results as a treatment preventing ICU admission in serious COVID cases.

So if you'd like a better chance of fighting off a COVID infection over the next few months with only mild effects, ensure you're on a daily regimen of Vitamin D now.

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