Vitamin D, aka the sunshine vitamin, is assumed to be filled up in your body by time the sun – but that isn’t necessarily the case.   There are a lot of things that affect your absorption, and a rainy day isn’t the worst of them.

Why Vitamin D is Such a Big Shot?

When your wish list includes a resilient immune system, low insulin levels, a grin from ear to ear (reflecting your mood), robust lungs and cardio and super strong bones (and teeth) – then Vitamin D is your BFF.

Good to know, a bunch of super smart researchers have been looking at vitamin D and they’ve found a few (not as talked about benefits) such as it influences the expression of genes in cancer, can reduce the risk or severity of autoimmune disease, and delay or prevent osteoporosis, as well as be protective with viruses, and reduce allergies. If anyone else could do all that, they’d make them President!

First Stop on the Vitamin D Train: Sun!

Being in the sun helps! However, it depends on where you live, the time of day you are in the sun and if you are slathered in sunscreen. These factors all affect how much, if any, Vitamin D you get absorbed. 

If you are looking for an idea of what you might get from the sun, I like this app D-Minder, which if you have your baseline test can give you a pretty accurate picture of where you are at. 

About 20 minutes of sunshine on your exposed face and arms will stimulate about 200IU per day, while a sunburn generates about 10,000IU. It’s not quite as much as you may have thought!

Next Stop Food!   

Many governments around the world understand that their populations run low on vitamin D and fortify the most commonly eaten foods to add in more Vitamin D for health benefits. 

In North America these foods include: fortified orange juice, cow & goat’s milk, margarine, as well as some unsweetened (but fortified) plant-based beverages such as soy beverage.   

It’s also naturally found in some foods. While, I’m not much of a sardine girl, but that’s one place. Click here for a foods high in Vitamin D.

Wait, Didn’t You Say My Gut Might be an Issue?

Yep! Not absorbing and doing all the stuff above, this can be a gut issue! Our gut is responsible for absorbing vitamin D and moving it into our bodies in a usable form. 

Vitamin D is absorbed in the small intestine, after food leaves the stomach, and it relies on the pH of gastric acid (stomach juice), pancreatic enzymes (amylase, lipase and protease) as well as protein digestive enzymes (pepsin and trypsin) to breakdown and absorb it. 

Once it gets into the intestine and is broken down, it needs bile to help absorb this fat-soluble vitamin into the blood stream. If your gallbladder isn’t functioning optimally this may be impacted. Additionally, if you take stimulating laxatives absorption may be decreased.

If you see food in your stool, you’re seeing Vitamin D wipe through too. 

This absorption process can be interrupted or disrupted by bacteria and parasites or intestinal damage such as ulcerative colitis, Celiac or Crohn’s disease. Vitamin levels are also often low in SIBO and IBS. The quality in the intestinal wall plays a role in the amount of vitamin that is absorbed.

Is It Chicken or Egg?

There are even some studies that show gut health improvements with good levels of Vitamin D in the system. 

Which could have us asking is it chicken or egg, what comes first the deficiency or the gut problem?

One Vitamin D drop/pill is about 1000IU. 

Goal Lab Value of Vitamin D measured as 25-OH is 125-150 nmol/L || 50-90 ng/mL

source

What Can I Do About My Vitamin D Levels When My Gut Is Bad, It Sounds Like It Might Be Helpful?

• Test don’t guess! Check your level regularly to figure out your nutrient status
• Track it, at least for 2 weeks! Use the D Minder app to see where you get your vitamin D from
• Improve absorption – If you supplement. Take Vitamin D with fat containing meals (it helps absorption)

Think the gut might be at the root of your problems? Download our Gut Health Checklist and start your own investigation.

Research:

• ^{Canadian Society of Intestinal Research, https://badgut.org/information-centre/health-nutrition/vitamin-d/}

• Harvard Medical School: https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/9-things-that-can-undermine-your-vitamin-d-level

• Maislos M, Shany S. Bile salt deficiency and the absorption of vitamin D metabolites. In vivo study in the rat. Isr J Med Sci. 1987 Nov;23(11):1114-7. PMID: 2830204.

• Maurya VK, Aggarwal M. Factors influencing the absorption of vitamin D in GIT: an overview. J Food Sci Technol. 2017 Nov;54(12):3753-3765. doi: 10.1007/s13197-017-2840-0. Epub 2017 Sep 23. PMID: 29085118; PMCID: PMC5643801.

• Silva MC, Furlanetto TW. Intestinal absorption of vitamin D: a systematic review. Nutr Rev. 2018 Jan 1;76(1):60-76. doi: 10.1093/nutrit/nux034. PMID: 29025082.