Vitamin D3 Testing in Edmonton
With winter seemingly just around the corner here in Edmonton, now is a great time to test your vitamin D3 level. Many people think with vitamins, more is better, but that is not always the case. Taking too much vitamin D3 can be very dangerous for your body! It’s important to test your level to make sure you have enough, but not too much!
Vitamin D3 has the following actions in the body:
1) Maintains bone mineral density through calcium balance. The main role of Vitamin D3 is to modulate calcium balance. It helps the body to absorb calcium and keep calcium in the bones, in addition to Vitamin K2.
2) Maintains a healthy immune system balance.
Vitamin D3 maintains a healthy balance between innate immunity and adaptive immunity. Innate immunity is the body’s basic response to bugs or invaders. Adaptive immunity is essentially ‘learned’ immunity. It is a more complex and advanced immune response than innate immunity. Maintaining a balance between these two ‘sides’ of the immune system is important not only for cold and flu prevention, but also for prevention of autoimmune disease. Many people with autoimmune disease have low vitamin D3 levels.
3) May impact mood and improve depression.
The literature regarding Vitamin D3 for depression is mixed. Some studies show significant benefit of vitamin D3 supplementation in addition to antidepressant medication, while some studies show no effect of vitamin D3 supplementation on mood scores.
4) May reduce risk of pregnancy loss or recurrent miscarriages.
Vitamin D3 impacts autoimmune conditions that can impact pregnancy outcomes such as hashimotos thyroiditis (low thyroid caused by autoimmune disease). Vitamin D3 can play a role in a variety of other conditions that impact pregnancy outcomes including polycystic ovarian syndrome.
Testing is incredibly important. Knowing your vitamin D3 level will help you know if a supplement is necessary or not. Individuals with compromised digestive systems like those suffering from crohn’s or colitis can have impaired absorption of fat soluble vitamins, including vitamin D3. Injection of vitamin d3 can be useful for those who have deficiency AND impaired absorption, however, oral supplementation is often adequate.
Testing costs $85 and is done through a private lab. Dr. Botsford will take a small blood sample and process it for sending to the lab. Book your visit today to find out if you need vitamin D3 testing.
References:
Grzechocinska, B., Dabrowski, F. A., Cyganek, A and Wielgos, M. The role of Vitamin D in impaired fertility treatment. Neuro Endocinol. Lett. 34, 756-763 (2013).
Khoraminay N., Tehrani-Doost M., Jazayeri S. et al. Therapeutic effects of vitamin D as adjunctive therapy to fluoxetine in patients with major depressive disorder. Aust NWJ Psychiatry. 47 (3) 271-275 (2013).