Researchers found that a higher intake of vitamin D is associated with a lower risk of rheumatoid arthritis in older women. The study was relatively poorly done as they only used dietary forms to determine vitamin D intake. They found that higher intake of total daily vitamin D, both dietary and supplemental, was associated with the risk of RA. They did not measure vitamin D blood levels, which is critical as sun exposure, not diet, is the most important source of vitamin D. In fact, in breast feeding women, the only vitamin that is given to infants in the winter is vitamin D, as it is not transferred in breast milk. To me that is powerful evidence that God planned us to receive our vitamin D from the sun, not from food.
While the researchers in this study have not measured vitamin D levels, I have seen several hundred patients with rheumatoid arthritis in the last two years, and I have measured their levels. I have yet to analyze the results but I cannot recall any RA patients who had normal levels of vitamin D. In fact, it is so consistent that any new patient who comes in with RA I immediately start on supplemental vitamin D, in addition to vitamin D in cod liver oil. Everyone starts on cod liver oil, which is a source of both necessary omega-3 fats and vitamin D. But in RA patients I use up to an additional 10,000 units per day on top of the vitamin D in the cod liver oil to bring their levels up.
RA is an autoimmune disease, just like MS, and both conditions are thought to occur when the body's immune system turns against itself. Most all RA patients at this time of year have blood levels of vitamin D below 20. When using vitamin D doses this high it is critical to measure vitamin D levels to prevent vitamin D toxicity. Normalizing vitamin D levels, starting omega-3 fats, and eliminating sugar are, without question, the three most important physical elements of normalizing autoimmune diseases like RA and MS.
Neurology January 2004 Vol 62 pages 60-65
Arthritis & Rheumatism January 2004 pages 72-77