Vitamin D3 Misdirection

Posted on October 16, 2018 by Mark Pegram

“Misdirection is a form of deception in which the attention of an audience is focused on one thing in order to distract its attention from another.” -Wikipedia

Misdirection is a phrase normally used to describe magic and pick pocketing. Over the decades, since the discover of vitamin D for the use in medicine and health, misdirection of vitamin D has been the order of the day. Certainly, a lot of the misdirection is a poor understanding of all the benefits that vitamin D3 provides in very small quantities.

Also, the lack of understanding of how toxic higher levels of some sterols can be, like vitamin D2. When ergosterol is irradiated with UV light it is almost impossible to not form a toxic substance called toxisterol. Ergosterol was first isolated from ergot fungus. If you recall, ergotism or St. Antony’s Fire is the burning pain in limbs and manic behavior, sometimes with hallucinations. The ergot is found on mushrooms and fungus on grains like rye and corn when harvested after long periods of rain.

I believe the warnings about vitamin D that were identified during the last IOM study for vitamin D and calcium were all related to studies that were performed with vitamin D2. Vitamin D2 is not safe with a serum 25(OH)D2 higher than 50 ng/ml, and the IOM board said as much. However, they did not distinguish between D3 and D2 which is a huge mistake. There does not appear to be any toxicity with vitamin D3 under 200 ng/ml of 25(OH)D3. So, staying under the upper range of 100 ng/ml of 25(OH)D3 for treating chronic disease should be reasonably safe. During the first attempt of using vitamin D, there were no toxicity incidents reported until vitamin D2 started to be substituted for vitamin D3.

In the early 1900s, it was assumed that ergosterol occurred naturally in humans. From Moon and Reich in 1975, The Vitamin D Problem An Important Lesson.. “We know today that this interpretation is not correct. It is specifically 7-dehydro-cholesterol which is activated by ultraviolet radiation to have antirachitic properties, and the plant steroid, ergosterol, does not occur naturally in humans or other animals. By the time this mistake was discovered in the mid-30’s, it was too late to turn the tide and rather than recognize the nonidentity of irradiated ergosterol and the natural antirachitic factor, it was proposed that “vitamin D” is represented by a large number of activated sterols which constitute the ‘vitamin D-group.’” “Prior to the advent of irradiated ergosterol there is a paucity of information regarding possible toxicity of cod liver oil vitamin D.” “Within months after the introduction of Vigantol—one of the first commercial preparations of irradiated ergosterol —reports of toxicity began to appear.” “From that time to now, these reports on the toxicity of the “vitamin D group” have literally flowed from laboratories and clinics throughout the world at a phenomenal rate of more than one per month.”

With this understanding about the difference in vitamin D2 and D3 from the 1930s, why have we continued to use vitamin D2. If intentional to not correct the problem, then it is simply about the money in health. This type of error goes on even today with the use of folic acid as equal to methyl folate. At least half the population cannot covert folic acid, a manmade molecule. Last year, it was suggested by the FDA that the word folate not be allowed on vitamins. Many mothers continue to have babies with neural tube defects. This is to say nothing of the harm done to the general population by using folic acid as a nutritional additive in processed grains. The science is clear, it is the “money lords” that are the problem with health.

This type of error of either using natural compounds that are foreign to humans or synthetic compounds causes side effects. In either case, the side effects can be very serious to health. The fear in following the science is that the population could become extremely healthy. People would live longer. Very few over the county remedies, especially for colds and the flu, would no longer be necessary. The number of doctor visits could be reduced by as much as seventy-five percent as one medical practice discovered when adding necessary vitamins and minerals to their routine treatments. If you were a congressman in the US, what would you decide. A Social Security system that would fail because people live ten years longer, and the medical segment of the economy being reduced by fifty percent (medical industry is now twenty percent of GDP, approximately, which would cause a ten percent reduction in the total economy) or a large ill population to maintain the status quo? Would there be more deaths and hunger as the economy failed? A true dilemma. I do believe that acting to sustain an institution without regard to the wellbeing of the people it serves is pure evil. If the science had been allowed to come forward as it was discovered, we would not be in this situation of poor health and declining life span. –Pandemic Survivor

Vitamin D3 Obfuscation

Posted on September 13, 2018 by Mark Pegram

As I have not written in many months, I would like to apologize for my absence. I had an injury in the spring that has taken many months to recover. I am now nine weeks since surgery and three weeks into rehab. In any case, I have recovered from my incapacitation enough to write. I would like to say that the American medical institutions have the best diagnostic capability in the world.

The attack on vitamins and minerals continues. The mere suggestion that a vitamin or mineral might help with a chronic disease will bring outrage from the “medical community.” Typically, it is not from your doctor, although he may have fallen into the allure of medical propaganda. Also, your doc must follow medical guidelines as defined by AHRQ. Obfuscation is more likely from research that is less than adequate—manipulated—or from a news outlet that gets a large portion of its advertising from the medical industry.

Just recently there was an article in the New York Times suggesting that people are unnecessarily taking more vitamin D. Dr. JoAnn E. Manson is quoted in the article as saying, “A lot of clinicians are acting like there is a pandemic” of vitamin D deficiency. There is a pandemic, as in the US alone, Dr. William Grant has shown there are 400 thousand premature deaths just from cancer, diabetes, and heart disease that could be eliminated if serum vitamin D was raised to 45 ng/ml. Grant has done similar studies for other countries with similar results. The article goes on to say that it is about the money that the vitamin D promoters are getting. Wow, I haven’t received any money for writing this blog. The amount that I have received does not even cover the cost of the domain.

This leads us to many studies done to show that vitamin D has no effect in the treatment of the same diseases stated above. It should be interesting to note that in these studies, they always talk about dose and not what the serum vitamin D is. One study suggested that “large doses” of vitamin D had no effect on cancer. It turns out that their large dose was 100,000 IU (2.5 mg) given once per month. This works out to an average 3,300 IU per day. The body operates better with a daily dose instead of one large dose in a month. This amount is not near enough to get the population to a serum level above 40 ng/ml. It would take a daily dose of well over 10,000 IU per day to get ninety-five percent of the population above 40 ng/ml. Also, taken one time a month instead of once per day is not the same affect. Here is a story of one cancer survivor.

So, what does go on about vitamin D and other minerals for that matter? It is about the money. The money that the medical industry makes from a chronically ill population. Researchers have hidden the benefits of vitamin D so that they could make vitamin D analogs for large incomes from the sale of these drugs. At the 2010 Food and Nutrition Board on vitamin D and calcium, there was a consultant and a member of the board that owned patents on vitamin D analogs and were promoting the manufacture of such drugs. (Links from this post are now broken as that was eight years ago.) This conflict of interest is in strict violation of the National Academy of Science policy for ethics.

The holding out of benefits, of vitamins and minerals in adequate amounts, by the medical industry is a slap to the face of the Americans that have paid for the research. One of my pet peeves are biologic drugs or biosimilar drugs. Biologics are made by taking a known cell line, adding large amounts of vitamins and minerals in a reactor, and extracting the desired protein or amino acid. This then becomes a patented drug that is sold for large amounts of money. The drug my have serious side effects. Why not just give the patient the vitamins and minerals and let the body make its own repair compounds? “it’s the economy stupid.” –Pandemic Survivor

Climate Change Deniers vs Nutrition Deniers

Posted on December 6, 2016 by Mark Pegram

jailed Medicine has denied the science of nutrition since the earlier 1900s. This because there is not a lot of money to be made from non-patentable nutrients. Science has shown that nutrition or getting enough vitamins and minerals will treat and prevent chronic disease. Doctors are trained in medical school to ignore this science. This has allowed the “great invisible hand” of economics to create the largest segment of our gross domestic product (GDP) as the healthcare sector (about 18% of GDP or almost one in five people in the US derive their income from healthcare). The government has continued to allow this growth in the medical economy because wealth creating manufacturing jobs have been moved out of the country and healthcare has been adopted as a poor substitute.

There is not settled science on manmade global warming. The climate change appears to be more coordinated with the intensity of the sun than with what humans are doing. There does appear to be a move afoot to go after people that do not agree about the science. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse has said, in comparing how the tobacco industry treated science, “Under President Clinton, the Department of Justice brought and won a civil RICO action against the tobacco industry for its fraud. Under President Obama, the Department of Justice has done nothing so far about the climate denial scheme.” Attorney General Loretta Lynch has responded, “This matter has been discussed. We have received information about it and have referred it to the FBI to consider whether it meets the criteria for which we could take action on.” If there is so much upset over science that is not settled, how can we deny the science of nutrition without acting? Shouldn’t all people responsible be held accountable. If we are allowing over 1,000 deaths per day from just vitamin D deficiency per Dr. William Grant, then shouldn’t the Secretary of Health and Human Services be charged? What about all the doctors, scientist, and medical insurance people? Shouldn’t they be charged for fraud and criminally negligent manslaughter?

Criminally Negligent Manslaughter : It seems that responsible parties could be charged with criminally negligent manslaughter because of the “taking of an unreasonable and high degree of risk.” The risk (denial of the science of nutrition) is being taken, to prevent a perceived failure of the economy if there was a sudden rush of health with proper nutrition. What an interesting and destructive conundrum. What a great opportunity to take away much misery and pain in the population. Proper nutrition for general wellness and treatment of chronic disease with nutrition could resolve opiate abuse and spur a surge in every day effectiveness. When I think of the suffering, pain, and death it breaks my heart. We have all been victims of power brokers.

The lack of agreement on the science of medicine is being allowed with the understanding that medicine is not science but art. At least that is the weak excuse that is being used. The population is being played like ping pong balls for the benefit of the medical/medical insurance industry. The propaganda about nutrition that happens in medical school is then relayed to the general population by doctors. Our smartest and best educated are being used like puppets. Power centers pull the doctors strings and the marionette plays for the general population. If you do not agree with your doctor, then you must be an idiot. It was such stage craft when Obama was trying to get Obamacare approved. He dressed a bunch of people in lab coats and put them on the White House lawn. How can I be wrong, look at all these people in lab coats—you’ve got be kidding me! And the politicians wonder why the population is so upset.

Doctors mostly are victims also. Duped into believing that patented medicine is the only way, they eventually just become a part of the system. Like a kidnapped victim begins to become assimilated to a kidnapper after a significant amount of time in captivity. We, as the medical consuming public, fall into lock step and believe that there is no other way than what the doctor tells us.

This is a very complicated problem with many power centers and with a century of misdirection. It will take strong leadership to break us free of this downward spiral. A large healthcare sector of GDP means that we are headed for a significant downfall. To keep and maintain a large market for a large healthcare sector means that there must be a lot of illness, suffering, and pain. I was a victim of the suffering for three decades of my life. As an engineer, I read research papers and determined the vitamins and minerals needed to heal from chronic disease. There should be no problem with doctors doing the same if it were not for the forced assimilation. Only when the government reaches consensus of how nutrition should be delivered in food and medicine will we begin to heal and our economy improve. Perhaps the better solution would be for government to just get out of the way. The government that is to protect us from criminals has become the criminal actor. I am more than willing to forgive all the manipulation and propaganda if our leaders will make policies that gives us health. –Pandemic Survivor

A Specialist in General Wellness?

Posted on September 30, 2016 by Mark Pegram

Where have all the generalist gone, long time passing. When will they ever learn? There are over two hundred specialties in the AMA master list of medical professionals. The question becomes, how can a specialist function with a chaotic physiology? When the worldview of the medical specialist suggests that just one thing will heal a disease, has he considered the side effects of his remedy? It does not matter if there is a drug, a vitamin, a mineral, or a medical procedure; they all must interact with human physiology in complex ways.

This idea of promoting one thing for health or even just one thing for repairing a malady of the body is less than desirable. The vitamin D community that is promoting health through just one purposeful necessity is a huge error. This has been the mistake in the understanding of vitamins and minerals for healing of disease. Think of the confusion brought about by Linus Pauling in promoting vitamin C, or the legal battles fought over magnesium deficiency. Now, we have the Vitamin D Revolution. All are needed, none should be left out. The interactions of vitamins and minerals is very important to wellness.

Don’t get me wrong. vitamin D3 is a master prohormone that is necessary for a healthy life. This necessity has developed through our relationship with the sun. As we have moved indoors out of the sunshine, the argument has become not that we need vitamin D3, but how much and from what source. If we raise the level of vitamin D in our body, the need for other vitamins and minerals will show itself in other side effects. For example, if you don’t have an adequate amount of magnesium with increased vitamin D, you may have heart arrhythmias. This problem becomes even worse when applying drugs to a disease. In particular for drugs that are analogs of what the body expects. Think about how many times the physician prescribes one drug and then many others for the side effects. The problem then becomes do we apply drugs or nutrition first for chronic disease? The body normally is deficient in nutrition and not deficient in drugs. The money–is in medical procedures, drugs, and medical insurance.

There is some hope as we have moved in the direction of nutrition for the treatment of chronic disease. Consider the number of facilities that now offer integrative medicine. Integrative medicine is where conventional Western medicine is combined with nutrition, exercise, and other medical arts. You cannot define the human body with one illness, thus separating its wholeness. This reminds me of the movie where Jack Palance tells Billy Crystal that the secret of life is just one thing. Jack then tells Billy he will need to figure it out. Does Billy need to find a specialist? We have spent inexpressible amounts of money and effort to find this one thing for one disease. It does not exist unless you point toward God, or whatever reality you wish to define in our superhuman existence.

It’s time for the world of medicine to accept the fact that complexity cannot be resolved through specialty. It takes both specialist and generalist to reach healthy solutions for healing disease. There should be more generalist than specialist. M. Scott Peck wrote about how specialties lead to evil. Think of an institution where the individuals it serves are not given any empathy and only the survival of the institution is the important thing. Peck’s “People of the Lie” is an important read in understanding of how evil presents itself through specialization.

hammer Just in the last two weeks, I’ve had three different people tell me how much better they have felt by replacing drugs with nutrition and exercise. One lady who was taking twelve different drugs has replaced all but one. Now, she is looking for what is missing in her life experience to eliminate the last drug. Why does an individual have to spend the effort of doing their own research when solutions could be delivered by the medical profession? What has happened to the consultant who suggest a drug for a short term solution and nutrition required for a long term solution? We seem to have the drugs and surgery worked out. A man with a hammer will always look for nails. When will they ever learn? –Pandemic Survivor

Fish Swimming in a School – The Vitamin D Revolution

Posted on May 11, 2016 by Mark Pegram

What do fish swimming in a school and the vitamin D revolution have in common? Through signaling a direction (quorum sensing), the school swims together as one group. It is very difficult for one fish to cause a change in direction of the school. So imagine a school made up of the medical industry, medical insurance industry, and government all swimming together. To be more accurate, fish swimming together for social reasons are defined as shoaling. The social reason that the stated institutions swim together is about the health of the medical economy and not about the health of the population. From Wikipedia, “The oddity effect posits that any shoal member that stands out in appearance will be preferentially targeted by predators. This may explain why fish prefer to shoal with individuals that resemble themselves. The oddity effect would thus tend to homogenize shoals.” Schools are usually fish of the same species while shoals are made up of fish with similar goals. I will simply use schools for this discussion.

Does the invisible hand act as a predator to the oddity effect?

I once asked a scientist in the Vitamin D revolution how change in the medical industry could be brought about to improve the health of the world’s population. His answer was simple, “It will take leadership.” Leadership is one of those words that is hard to define in social groups. We often mistake management for leadership. This brings to mind a business consultant’s description of the difference in leadership versus management. A group was asked to build a road across an island to the other side. The bush clearers did their job extremely well. The road builders followed in a coordinated manner. The guards spent their time keeping the predatory alligators away. At some point the manager climbed a tree and told the group what a great job they were doing and that they were about half way across the island. The leader climbed up a tree next to the manager and looked about. “Wrong island,” he stated simply.

This is the state of the present medical industry. The medical professionals are doing a great job with allopathic medicine. This island is the wrong island. Gradually we are approaching an island of holistic health, but no leader in government has stepped up to take on the responsibility of making the course change happen. The fear is that the health of the population would decimate the medical economy and could even cause a worldwide recession. The school of allopathic medicine for economic reasons has been the dominant school since the intervention of funding for this purpose that started in the early 20^th Century. The reason the US is the leader in allopathic medicine is for the economy which commands more than eighteen percent of GDP. That is, groups not working together in a great conspiracy of keeping a sick population that uses large amounts of money for everyone involved, but action as a group for economic purposes for each institution.

At some point the realization must come that the economy would be better with a healthy population. If holistic instead of allopathic medicine is practiced, the population would be able to produce more than a population that is ill. Dollars spent on healthcare could be directed to more beneficial efforts for the population like building the infrastructure. This of course would take a great deal of training as the jobs lost in the medical industry in the US could exceed eight million.

Our leaders in government are focused on elections and the money needed to stay in power. Their empathy for the illness of the population is amoral. This is defined as evil in M. Scott Peck’s book “People of the Lie.” When an institution acts for the purpose of maintaining the institution instead of concern for the individuals that it serves, the institution’s acts are evil.

It has now been sixteen months since the IOM’s error in the average amount of vitamin D required for bone health. The IOM (renamed the National Academy of Medicine–most likely for fear of liability, since it is not a government agency it can be sued) stated that individuals only need 600 IU of vitamin D3 per day. The error was discovered by the University of Alberta and later confirmed by UCSD and Creighton University. The correct amount should have been over 7,000 IU of vitamin D3 per day. The number of deaths because of this error since 2010 is in the millions. Victims of the medical economy have suffered pain and died simply to maintain the medical economy. Governments and the medical industry continue to ignore the science.

In a recent article, I wrote about pain in the population. This great amount of pain is being treated as a symptom with pain meds. The cause is a lack of nutrients. This lack of nutrients and the associated diseases could be treated using holistic medicine. That is “food has caused our illness, it is food that will heal us.” Dr. P. R. Raghavan. I take a significantly larger amount of vitamins and minerals than is recommended by our institutions. Through this higher intake, I have recovered from degenerative disc disease, severe sleep apnea, high blood pressure, three decades of pain, and a heart that was failing. Doctors were telling me I didn’t know what I was talking about. This included the eleven members of the medical profession in my own family. After my cartilage healed and my metabolic processes reached homeostasis, I was free of pain and happy.

Presently, the school of allopathic-medicine fishes are swimming in the strong currents of the Niagara River. As a group, we are headed toward the falls. As leaders try to announce to the group of the danger, they are picked off one-by-one. If the group tries to change direction, the strong currents of the economy works against their efforts. Will we plunge down the falls into the abyss, or will we be strong enough to overcome the strong currents of the economy. Truly, a strong leader is needed. One of position and power that can overcome the “quorum sensing” of the economy and who can avoid the oddity effect. Swimming against the currant and pointing to holistic healing –Pandemic Survivor

“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” –F. Scott Fitzgerald. Does intelligence displace morality?

US Institutions Have Lost Their Moral Compass

Posted on May 18, 2015 by Mark Pegram

They called it a near miss, but I called it immoral. The FBI agent laid down her gun to prevent the terrorist from shooting the hostage. The problem is truly one of ethics and morals. She had violated the number one rule of the FBI – Do not surrender your weapon. The terrorist escaped to continue on his mission of releasing a deadly virus in multiple locations. (From an episode of “Blacklist”)

The issue with all government decisions is whether to have empathy for each individual that it serves, or for the masses. It now appears that the government has lost its moral compass in trying to maintain its institutions. M. Scott Peck in his book “People of the Lie” (better known for “The Road Less Traveled”), describes two poles of evil. We all recognize individual evil as narcissism. That is to have no empathy for others. The second pole of evil is institutional evil. This is when the institution maintains its position without empathy for those it serves.

We have now entered an era when institutions remain whole for safety without empathy for the individual. The Patriot Act was legislated to keep us safe. Is it worth the loss of freedom? Many would say yes, including you for your own personal desire of safety.

However, what about healthcare? We have now legislated rules and agencies that exist for the sole purpose of maintaining the healthcare economy without empathy for the individual. With healthcare as the largest segment of the economy, one in five people derive their livelihood from this sector. Is your health worth sustaining your income? Maintaining and sustaining the largest segment of the economy from the illness of the population is immoral.

Would a head shoot have been the right thing to do to prevent more acts of terrorism? Would you have had empathy for the hostage? How about your health, is it worth your income?

Daunting questions. Your take away is that your health is your responsibility and you should not give it to institutional sustainability. – Pandemic Survivor

Too Much Vitamin D3?

Posted on May 14, 2015 by Mark Pegram

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 D₂entered 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”

https://vimeo.com/92747342

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

Posted on April 1, 2015 by Mark Pegram

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

References

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2009) 63, 478–484; doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602982 http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v63/n4/full/1602982a.html
Perpetuating the myth. https://pandemicsurvivor.com/2012/05/30/too-much-too-little-negative-studies-for-vitamin-d-keep-coming/
Original Publication J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2012 Aug;97(8):2644-52. doi: 10.1210/jc.2012-1176. Epub 2012 May 9 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22573406
Republication doi: 10.1210/jc.2014-4551 J Clin Endocrinol Metab http://press.endocrine.org/doi/pdf/10.1210/jc.2014-4551?utm_source=No+U+Shaped+Curve&utm_campaign=March+18+2015+Newsletter&utm_medium=email
https://pandemicsurvivor.com/2012/03/13/the-vitamin-d2-debacle/
Glove and Mail March 29 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/the-vitamin-d-dilemma-how-much-should-we-be-taking/article23672033/
Globe and Mail March 12 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/vitamin-d-supplements-arent-all-sunshine-and-lollipops/article23482364/
Advocacy Letter Allen Markin, http://www.purenorth.ca/?page_id=1356
IOM Recommendations Wrong https://pandemicsurvivor.com/2015/01/22/vitamin-d-recommendations-by-the-institute-of-medicine-are-wrong/

Your Money or Your Health?

Posted on February 24, 2015 by Mark Pegram

– By Mark Pegram

“The problem with vitamin D is it’s cheap and not patentable.” Dr. Robert Heaney in a recent interview with Dr. Joseph Mercola

Dr. Robert Heaney has delivered a half truth. The real truth: the problem is not how inexpensive vitamin D; it is about the population getting well and the healthcare economy collapsing. Vitamin D is the number one most important nutritional item for health and wellness as science has shown since the 1930s. The government now has funded the largest segment of the US economy from the economics of illness without empathy for the pain and suffering. You can call this what you like, but the proper terms are immorality and corruption. Our leaders have given themselves over to the payments by the health insurance/education/pharmacy/provider complex to maintain their positions in government and lavish life styles.

The proponents of vitamin D are now frustrated with their efforts over the last fifteen years. The frustration comes from all the medical evidence and science based medicine that is not being put into medical practice. Again, the reason is economics. It is not how inexpensive vitamin D; it is about all of the money flowing from less than science based treatments. Think about what was declared as settled science on nutrition and wellness in the 1970’s versus what we are now being told is healthy. Stay out of the sun – now sun is beneficial because of vitamin D and also what happens when we are exposed to full spectrum light; don’t eat saturated fats – now saturated fats are much better for us. I remember the study well, published by two time Nobel Prize winner, Linus Pauling, which said sugar drove cholesterol and not saturated fat (the study was done on prisoners for complete control, published in the early 70’s). So what are we to believe? An advancement in science or the lying cheating b*&t#$ are using our illness to fund their lavish life styles. I do get really excited when I think about this because I almost died in 2004. If not for my faith and my ability to reason through the medical science, sleep apnea and heart disease would have been my end.

This delusion has worked so well in the healthcare industry that the new idea was to move it to atmospheric science. The sky is falling and the polar bears are dying because there is global warming. What will happen when the real catastrophe shows up? All the false concern about polar bears is just unbelievable when thousands of people are needless suffering and dying because of the money. The climate was not cooperating with the lies of Gore and his likes so bring on Obama and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Patient protection and affordable – you’ve got to be kidding! Have we again given up freedom for security? When this insurance bubble collapses because health has returned, the economy will go down the toilet in a grand Coriolis swirl. I hear “da Boss Man” calling us to continue to live in a state of health slavery. There we are, caught in the scope of Kyle’s riffle as the enemy. Pickin’ it dup here boss!

Yes, healthcare is complex and our leaders have used this to “pull the wool over the eyes” of the ill. I remember the words of Congressman Howard Coble well when I went to meet him ten years ago. “You can’t just be accusing us of killing people because of our policies.” Yes, I am accusing you of killing people because of government policies to protect the economy. I am sure it is a tough decision to make, economy versus health. The tyranny of government to use the collections of the population to fund science and then to bury the findings in obfuscation is evil. So, says the politician, it does keep the economy going. Aren’t we grand? I think I am hearing the sounds of the Beatles singing Little Piggies from their White Album.

In their styes with all their backing
They don’t care what goes on around
In their eyes there’s something lacking
What they need’s a damn good whacking

Everywhere there’s lots of piggies
Living piggy lives
You can see them out for dinner
With their piggy wives
Clutching forks and knives to eat their bacon

(one more time…)

Vitamin D — A Conflict of Science

Posted on January 31, 2015 by Mark Pegram

“Science in the modern world has many uses; its chief use, however, is to provide long words to cover the errors of the rich.” And more – “Truth, of course, must of necessity be stranger than fiction, for we have made fiction to suit ourselves.” – G.K. Chesterton

Chesterton was all about words and expressions of truth. This early 20th Century writer, philosopher, and humorist used words with great skill in debate and general discussions. I am sure he would be appalled at vitamin D science. Has science and allopathic medicine developed into some form of fiction to enhance the rich? Worse, has the largest sector of the US economy been sustained through production off the illness of the population?

Perhaps you should pause and take the time to read this article from Hank Campbell, published in the Wall Street Journal – The Corruption of Peer Review is Harming Scientific Credibility. There have been thousands of peer reviewed published papers on Vitamin D and its benefit to health. And, our greatest bastion of science, National Academy of Science and its Institute of Medicine, has allowed an error for the RDA for vitamin D to escape into the public domain. They were only off by over a factor of ten too low. Is this a mistake like the crash of the Martian Lander that went down because the conversion from miles to kilometers was in error? The only harm was the cost to the taxpayers. Because of a factor of ten for vitamin D intake, hundreds of thousands die prematurely in North America each year. Here is the recently published paper by Paul J. Veugelers, A Statistical Error in the Estimation for the Recommended Daily Allowance for Vitamin D. Grassroots Health has confirmed the error through testing of thousands of participants in their health initiative for vitamin D.

Many other errors have been made in vitamin D science over the years since its discovery:

Vitamin D2 is equal to vitamin D3
Selling vitamin D as a supplement in only 50 IU tablets that resulted in conspiracy charges of seventeen multinationals during WW II by the US (this sounds just like the error(?) made by the IOM)
Vitamin D is only useful for bone health
Dr. Cook’s description of birth defects from vitamin D in the 1960’s during the thalidomide scare
There is no warning label on sunscreen for the product preventing the body’s most significant steroid hormone from forming in your skin with exposure to the sun
Years of warnings by medical professionals about the dangers of the sun
Improper interpretation of findings in vitamin D research

It makes me wonder if it is just bad science, incompetence, idiopathic delusion, or orchestrated intention.

The only thing that I can tell you is from my own personal experience. Grassroots Health has it right. Have your serum 25(OH)D tested and then use the chart on Grassroots Health home page to achieve a level above 50 ng/ml. For more guidance on what level of vitamin D, take the advice of Dr. Mercola through his many years of practice.

And if you want to be proactive, sign the petition for Health Canada and the IOM to reevaluate its findings. – Pandemic Survivor

Okay, so maybe you are into a more poetic description: “Through epigenetic action of nuclear receptors as an orchestra, life is properly conducted by the vitamin D receptor. userprofiletile In this auditorium, the microbiome listens and sustains life through applause.” Mark Pegram—inspired from discussions with Dr. P.R. Raghavan, developer of policosanol as a nano-emulsion, Metadichol®, a natural nuclear receptor agonist/inverse agonist when animals cannot get enough sunshine.

“Idolatry is committed, not merely by setting up false gods, but also by setting up false devils; by making men afraid of war or alcohol, or economic law, when they should be afraid of spiritual corruption and cowardice.” – G.K. Chesterton ILN, 9/11/1909

Vitamin D Deficiency Survivor

Changing the Face of Health with Vitamin D

Category Archives: Vitamin D Battle