As we know that naturally human skin generates between 10.000~20,000iu vitamin D3 given full body non burning sun/uvb exposure it is a reasonable assumption that amounts under the level naturally acquired should be within the capacity of our DNA to manage safely.

5000iu ~10,000iu Vitamin D3 supplements are cheaply and easily obtained from the USA.
Grassrootshealth Banner shows most people can attain and maintain a 25(OH)D level around 60ng/ml ~ 150nmol/l with 6000iu/daily D3.

I maintain my 25(OH)D at 64ng/ml with 5000iu/daily + regular full body sun/uvb exposures.

I have put a copy of Vieth's paper
How to Optimize Vitamin D Supplementation to Prevent Cancer, Based on Cellular Adaptation and Hydroxylase Enzymology
online as understanding the importance of keeping a HIGH but STABLE 25(OH)D is extremely important.

One of the main objections to using Ergocalciferol is it's potential for speeding up the catabolism of vitamin D as shown in Vitamin D2 Is Much Less Effective than Vitamin D3 in Humans

Comparison of Daily, Weekly, and Monthly Vitamin D3 in Ethanol Dosing Protocols for Two Months in Elderly Hip Fracture Patients This paper shows that there was little difference in the results of the different regimes however they were only seeking to raise 25(OH)D to 30 ng/ml (75 nmol/liter) and as some people don't achieve optimum bone mineral density until 44ng/ml that is too low a level for safety. Similarly human only store D3 when daily needs for Vitamin D have been met and we only start to have significant D3 reserves when 25(OH)D is above 50ng/ml and Circulating 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Levels in Fully Breastfed Infants on Oral Vitamin D Supplementation shows Vitamin D3 replete human breast milk is only available approaching 60ng/ml, the level human bodies naturally attain and maintain living near naked outdoor lives. (60~80ng/ml)

So if daily supplementation and/or regular sun/uvb exposure isn't practicable the nearest equivalent regime to daily would be weekly usage of 50,000iu.
Fortnightly use of 100,000iu or 200,000iu every 28 days.

Biotech pharmacal supply 50,000iu dry powder filled capsules. If you are buying for your personal use then PHONE your order using one of the cheap prefix call rates (1899 ~ 18185) remembering the time difference and ask for the Wholesale order value to be declared on the outer label. Otherwise you get stung for Tax and £8 Post office handling charge.

For best results these should be taken with the largest meal of the day ideally with butter, or coconut oil. Vitamin D3 is a fat soluble vitamin.

Ideally daily supplement use will keep levels most stable and it's relatively easy to catch up if you miss a day or so.
These are what I use.
Country Life, Vitamin D3, 5,000 IU, 200 Softgels"

I prefer Medium Chain Triglyceride oil as the carrier, it's easily and quickly metabolized and because it encourages fat burning is helpful for weight loss and improved mitochondrial function.

I do not recommend omega 6 oil based vitamin D capsules, There is too much omega in the diet so adding supplemental sources only makes matters worse.
The fish oil based D3 are fine but expensive and the amount of omega 3 they provide is so small as to be insignificant for the extra cost involved.
There are some in olive oil that work out a cheap option but it's not a huge saving and the MCT is far less likely to go rancid as MCT is extremely stable and has a 2 yr shelf life.

I've provided examples from IHERB as their $4 shipping to the UK is cheapest(allow 10 days). $5 discount code WAB666. UK readers keep order value below £18 or pay take + £8 handling charge. USA/Canadian readers may find Amazon/Swanson's/Vitacost etc cheaper depending on local shipping charges.

Diabetes Type 1 incidence Finland in relation to Vitamin D3 intake

This blog is in response to Dr Briffa's post here. as I keep having problems commenting on his blogs.

While 44ng/ml is sufficient to not only maximize uptake of calcium (>32ng/ml) and ensure maximum bone mineral density (>42ng/ml), pregnant and nursing mothers should be aware that in order to maximize the amount of vitamin D3 in human breast milk 6400iu/daily was found to be necessary to raise (>58ng/ml) at latitude 32.
This is detailed in the Taylor, Wagner and Hollis paper.
Vitamin D supplementation during lactation to support infant and mother.
Although 4000iu/daily met the mothers daily needs in full it left babies being born with lower 25(OH)D status than required for optimum calcium absorption

They also found DAILY use of supplements was required by pregnant and nursing mothers to ensure an even daily Vitamin D3 supply to the foetus & baby.
It makes virtually no measurable difference for everyone else if you supplement daily or weekly.

While Dr Briffa will not be lactating he may be interested seeing in the
Grassrootshealth chart showing disease incidence by 25(OH)D status.
this may encourage him to go just another 10ng/ml higher and a bit nearer to the natural level at which human breast milk flows replete with D3.

Although 5000iu cholecalciferol capsules are now available online in the UK may I remind readers these are cheaper from USA discount providers like IHERB providing you don't order more than £18 in any single order as you then have to pay VAT on import + £8 Post Office handling fee.
WAB666 Introductory discount code WAB666.

These recent papers make me think the recent move to encourage mothers to take the "official" prenatal Vitamins available will do little or nothing to reduce MS or other disease incidence.

Developmental vitamin D deficiency causes abnormal brain development

Vitamin D, a neuro-immunomodulator: Implications for neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases

If we are going to ensure babies come into the world vitamin D replete then we have to ensure vitamin D is getting to the foetus and via breast milk to the baby. As Dr Briffa has discover getting anywhere near 55ng/ml requires a lot more vitamin D3 than is "officially" regarded as sufficient.

Vitamin d-directed rheostatic regulation of monocyte antibacterial responses.
the active form of vitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, Calcitriol, enhances innate immunity by inducing the cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide (hCAP).

In monocytes/macrophages, this occurs primarily in response to activation of TLR, that induce expression of the vitamin D receptor and localized synthesis of 1,25(OH)(2)D from precursor 25-hydroxyvitamin D(3) (25OHD) Calcidiol.

To clarify the relationship between vitamin D and innate immunity, we assessed changes in hCAP expression in vivo and ex vivo in human subjects attending a bone clinic.

Of these, 38% were vitamin D-insufficient (<75 nM 25OHD) and received supplementation with vitamin D (50,000 IU vitamin D(2) twice weekly for 5 wk). Only morons spend $185 on Drisdol Ergocaciferol when they can buy the same strength Vitamin D3 Cholecalciferol FOR $30 the form human use best, most efficiently and most reliably. I sometimes wonder if they use the synthetic form in the hope it is more likely to fail.

Baseline 25OHD status or vitamin D supplementation had no effect on circulating levels of hCAP.
Therefore, ex vivo changes in hCAP for each subject were assessed using peripheral blood monocytes cultured with 10% autologous serum.
Under these vitamin D "insufficient" conditions the TLR2/1 ligand 19 kDa lipopeptide or the TLR4 ligand LPS, monocytes showed increased expression of the vitamin D-activating enzyme CYP27b1 (5- and 5.5-fold, respectively, both p < 0.01) but decreased expression of hCAP mRNA (10-fold and 30-fold, both p < 0.001).
Following treatment with 19 kDa, expression of hCAP:
1) correlated with 25OHD levels in serum culture supplements (R = 0.649, p < 0.001);
2) was significantly enhanced by exogenous 25OHD (5 nM); and
3) was significantly enhanced with serum from vivo vitamin D-supplemented patients.

These data suggest that a key role of vitamin D in innate immunity is to maintain localized production of antibacterial hCAP following TLR activation of monocytes.

Diabetes Vitamin D.

We know from articles such as this
Diabetes: Incidence of childhood type 1 diabetes: a worrying trend that there is an increase in incidence of Type One.

In an earlier blog Vitamin D Diabetes prevention I link to Frank Garland explaining the science showing the Type I incidence could largely be prevented if the vitamin D status of pregnant and nursing mothers and their offspring was brought up to the level that allows human breast milk to flow replete with vitamin D3.

But it isn't just the evidence in that video.
Since then The geospatial relation between UV solar radiation and type 1 diabetes in Newfoundland.
has shown that in those areas of Newfoundland where they get the least UVB reaching the ground


we find the greatest incidence of Type One Diabetes.


However the only way the general public will come to hear about the relation between Increased incidence of Type One Diabetes in Children with lowest levels of vitamin D is if the online forums dedicated to Diabetes information are prepared to carry it.

Diabetes Daily have once again banned me for mentioning that Vitamin D is associated with all forms of Diabetes. In this case the trigger was the research
Low serum adiponectin predicts 10-year risk of type 2 diabetes and HbA1c independently of obesity, lipids, and inflammation: Whitehall II study.
Nephropal has a blog on the topic of adiponectins that shows What raises adiponectin levels?
resveratrol - wine, mulberry, cacao
calorie restriction
niacin
Vitamin D
and if we connect that with the fact that the risk of incident diabetes decreased by 11% for 1 microg/ml higher adiponectin levels, it should be obvious that anyone interested in reducing Diabetes Incidence would want to know how to raise vitamin D status safely, how to be sure you have a safe level of 25(OH)D, and where to obtain vitamin D and testing from as cheaply as possible.

But that kind of information is not welcome on a site that is dedicated to maintaining diabetes incidence and simply isn't interested in prevention at all. I just don't understand why they are so unwilling to allow people with diabetes to have access to this information.

I've learn't how to put PDF files online so I've put a copy of

How to Optimize Vitamin D Supplementation to Prevent Cancer, Based on Cellular Adaptation and Hydroxylase Enzymology REINHOLD VIETH
here
At Slideshare

So you can all read it and look at the diagrams I think you will also be able to download it from that link as well. It's an important hypothesis as it explains why it is better to use daily, weekly supplements rather than rely on large doses at extended intervals.

While I don't want to put anyone off having a winter sun holiday in the tropics I think anyone considering doing this would be best advise to take a higher level of vitamin D3 before they go (rather than think I'm going to get plenty of sun next month so no need to supplement now) NOT TO USE any D3 supplements while they are on holiday (to avoid very high levels) and then to resume supplmenting on the last day of the holiday and continue using effective amounts when you get home.

This is to try to even out the level over the period.
Try to keep 25(OH)D level stable will prevent the need for fine tuning of the immune system and shorten the time where there is imbalance between activating (25- and 1a-hydroxylase) and the metabolizing (24-hydroxylase) enzymes.

At last a decent article on the Vitamin D prevents cancer issue.
Exposure to sun 'may help people with cancer survive'
Sunbathing warnings may have been too simplistic, say scientists By Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor

You will see I've commented below the article to enable people to take effective action.