Vitamin D Prescription [Paperback]

[2012 WARNING: None of the books on the benefits of Vitamin D3 warned about the need to also take vitamin K2! I have to wonder how all these self-claimed vitamin D3 experts, who also claimed so many successes, were ignorant that vitamin A (it seems most of us are deficient in this vitamin too), vitamin D3 and vitamin K (in the form of K2) must come together in balanced proportions. If you take calcium and vitamin D but are deficient in vitamin K, you may be increasing the risk of a heart attack.

Vitamin K is essential not only for preventing potentially deadly blood clots but also for bone building (including delaying tooth decay) and maintenance. Perhaps most important - K has powerful anti-cancer effects. It is known to be helpful for cardiovascular disease, varicose veins, brain health problems, including dementia and even prevents infectious diseases such as pneumonia. Some claim that most people need daily vitamin D3 of at least 2000 IU with 3000 IU of vitamin A and 100mcg of vitamin K2. The synergy between them is vital as there is evidence that the safety of high dose vitamin D is dependent on vitamin K, and that vitamin D toxicity (although very rare with the D3 form) is actually caused by vitamin K2 deficiency.]

Of the several books on vitamin D I read in 2009, this one has perhaps the best combination of practical advice and thorough detail (although several of the other books are good too). What a shame this book is so hard to get over here that I had to order mine via Amazon.com.

I had long been aware that the further north you live, the worse health problems you are likely to suffer from but for decades we have been told we get all the vitamin D we need from sunshine, that supplementation does not work very well, and anyway deficiency is rare. Until recently, no one seems to have been aware of how common vitamin D deficiency is, nor the severe health problems it creates.

Now, it turns out that most doctors use the wrong blood test. (Curiously, I found this to be the case for EVERY SINGLE supplement I have researched, including thyroid, adrenals, magnesium and vitamins B12 and K2. Could this be evidence of a conspiracy to keep us sick? But of course not.... it's all just coincidence.)

It also turns out that the importance of vitamin D for health can't be stressed enough: it can apparently cure cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, bone density issues, arthritis, flu, muscle pain, chronic pain, fatigue, seasonal (and other) depression and various autoimmune disorders.

And, it turns out, it's almost impossible to overdose - only one or two cases are known and they had been unknowingly taking truly extreme doses of over 100,000 IUs daily (versus the officially recommended 400 IUs) - and that vitamin D3 is the most effective type. (Why then, all those almost hysterical commonly repeated warnings against overdosing on Vitamin D?!)

Madrid provides dozens of thumbnail conclusions of medical studies on health benefits of specific vitamin D levels based on standard blood tests. There is a whole section covering the protective effect of vitamin D on many forms of cancer. Many other health problems are covered too.

The summaries distill years of medical research into a simple statement; in every case, both chronic and degenerative diseases are clearly associated with a vitamin D deficiency. Case histories give you good insights about real-world situations. Despite a high level of information provided, the book is easy to read and lightened by the author's personal anecdotes.

Although the medical profession does not regard the various study results as irrefutable proof, the author wisely recommends a regimen of vitamin D supplementation while studies continue, since there is much to be gained and little, if any, risk. Specific and clear dosage advice is given.

The book is accessible to both the lay person and the medical practitioner. Madrid explains the numerical data simply, with graphically appealing charts, maps, bulleted lists, and boxed excerpts that make it easy to scan. He briefly cites clinical research, which gives the work credence for other physicians. At the same time, his comfortable writing style and various stories make the data easily accessible for anyone wishing to learn more and improve his/her health.

There are more and more books - and a great deal of media fanfare - on the recently discovered almost miraculous properties of vitamin D. It's also worth noting that over a decade ago several books were already lauding the much-overlooked benefits of sunshine, the best way to get vitamin D, although the further away from the equator, the less effective. Anyone living above the 35th parallel (England runs from the 50th upwards) is highly likely to have a sunshine/vit D deficiency that can also lead to many common symptoms. (Those who react badly to Vitamin D and/or sunshine may have a rare disease called sarcoidosis.)

According to most of the books on vitamin D, the vast majority of us are deficient in vitamin D whereas adequate levels can alleviate chronic pain, stroke, osteoporosis, heart disease, cancer, autoimmune diseases, depression, arthritis, diabetes, gum disease, psoriasis, fibromyalgia, autism and much more. Perhaps it's just my cynicism from decades of reading endless books singing the praises of so-called miracles such as DMSO, MMS, DHEA, vitamin C, magnesium, iodine, omega 3 EFAs, breathwork, oxygen therapy, hydrogen peroxide, water, thyroid hormone, adrenal hormone, liver cleanses, detoxes, fasts, exercise, neutralising electromagnetic stress, juicing, mangosteen, noni juice, superfoods, organic foods, wholefoods, celiac diets, dairy-free diets, veggie diets, protein diets, carb diets, food combining, acid-alkaline balancing diets, Glycaemic Index diets, high fibre diets, raw food diets, candida/fungus elimination, parasite cleansing - oh dear, the list of my gullibility seems endless.

Yes, I've tried all of these; yes, thoroughly and sometimes repeating them in various combinations and on each occasion with enthusiasm and bright-eyed hope but I saw no measurable benefits. "Trick and Treat" by Groves explains in detail just why so many of my efforts were doomed. Nowadays, when I read about health wonders, I wonder how many claims of success are made up or at least tweaked - and I wonder what proportion of actual patients were successful in any way, much less miraculously so, as is always claimed by books touting miraculous benefits.

P.S. I've now read 8 books in all and my favourite pick is "The Vitamin D Solution: A 3-Step Strategy to Cure Our Most Common Health Problem" by Holick, published in 2010. It is a practical and easy read. At 300 pages I also found it thorough. I liked that it straightforwardly explained that sunshine, when it shines strongly enough, is always better than supplementing with Vitamin D.

"The Vitamin D Revolution" by Soram Khalsa was the one I preferred until I read the Holick book. "Power of Vitamin D" by Zaidi and "Vitamin D" by Rona, both published in 2010, are both brief but quite good. "The Vitamin D Cure" by James Dowd is not basic, comprehensive or practical. Then there is "Vitamin D" by Michael Merrill which was too brief and simply inadequate. At the other extreme is the comprehensive but somewhat technical "Sunshine and Vitamin D" by Frank Murray - mainly brief compilations of hundreds of studies but no practical guidelines, so not really suitable for the layman who wants to experiment with high-dose vitamin D.

When I read the Holick book months after this one, I was startled to learn that about a third of the population has kidney disease (which never gets diagnosed until too late and allegedly little can be done for it apart from horrible treatments like dialysis) and that about the same number are obese (hello... anyone making a connection here?) and that their bodies may not be able to produce enough activated vitamin D: as compared to the non-obese, vitamin D levels rose only 50% as much in the blood levels of the obese when using a tanning bed or getting a dose of 50,000iu of vitamin D. The obese get a lot of blame for what is not actually their fault: studies now show that calcium also plays a key role in reducing obesity (elsewhere I have seen studies showing large weight loss in about 30% of obese women who take both calcium and vitamin D).

Holick's book is the only one that recommends the activated vitamin D form (called calcitriol) for those whose bodies have difficulty converting vitamin D into the active form, such as older people and those who have a wheat/gluten intolerance (much more common than realized). Based on my personal experience of taking 10,000iu daily of vitamin D3 for 6 months (but Rona's book mentions Norm Shealy, a physician who has taken 50,000iu per day for 18 months), I'm not convinced that vitamin D supplementation of the non-prescription kind is a panacea, as so many of the books are claiming - and I am not convinced that all these authors got the unanimously fantastic results they allege. While I believe that vitamin D supplementation at 5,000ius daily is beneficial, too many such books have a way of sounding a little overzealous, attributing every malady to whatever deficiency they're tackling and proposing it as the magic solution across the board.

[Later notes: I feel it's important to mention the new mental/emotional healing process explained in "The Healing Code" by Loyd/Johnson/Eble. There are hundreds of personal successes listed in the reviews on Amazon.com. Read more ›

I purchased the Kindle edition of this book and am happy to say that it displays beautifully.

While I was already well versed in vitamin D prior to reading, I was intrigued by how a couple of books consolidated this information for 'newbies' and this one is the polar opposite of Dr. David Grimes's weighty (but preferred) 'Vitamin D & Cholesterol'.
Madrid's book is most certainly the book for those with moderate or little technical medical understanding as it is both practical and relays conclusions of studies than forcing the reader to choke on large paragraphs of 'waffle' (for want of a better word!).

I probably would recommend reading more after this if this is to be your first introduction to the benefits of vitamin D, but as it is, this is a great book, perhaps not securing full marks because it doesn't delve that deep in some areas. Plus the studies referenced are not linked to numbers in the main text which would disappoint people who want to look up the evidence for themselves with ease.