The effects of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency go well beyond those of rickets and bone health and can affect anyone at any age. GrassrootsHealth has been sharing practical and reliable information about vitamin D for over 15 years while running the world’s largest public health intervention study on vitamin D. Over those years, we have received many stories from individuals of all ages describing how vitamin D has changed their health and lives. Below we share several of those stories.
Help Increase Awareness by Sharing Your Story Too
We believe many of you have stories to share about how vitamin D impacted your health, and we ask that you share them with us so that we can forward them on. Your story could motivate others to consider learning more about vitamin D for their own health and lead them to take the right steps towards making a world of difference in their health and their life. It is a simple solution – you can help build the awareness!
Do you have a story you would like to share?
Email [email protected] if you are interested in a detailed participant interview!
Featured Participant Stories
The following stories have been previously featured on the GrassrootsHealth website. To view these and more, visit the Testimonials section of our blog.
How Vitamin D Changed the Life of a Doctor with MS – Her Journey and an Interview
The following is a narrative by Satya L. Nahu, MD. The Coimbra Protocol has helped thousands around the world overcome their autoimmune diseases using extremely high doses of vitamin D. Do not treat yourself without the guidance of a skilled practitioner… Read More
Disturbing Trends among Teenagers – How Nutrients CAN Help
“Mom… I feel like I’m dying.” The latest statistics show that almost 60% of teenage female students experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness and nearly 25% made a suicide plan. One mom’s story could help many others. Read More
Participant Story: Why I Keep My Vitamin D Above 100 ng/ml
The GrassrootsHealth panel of scientists recommends a vitamin D level between 40-60 ng/ml; what happens when higher levels are maintained? Bob is a long-time participant in the GrassrootsHealth D*action project who shares his story here. Read More
Vitamin D Can Turn Your Health Around
Vitamin D has helped me to walk, to sleep, to get off medication; After many years of research and personal use of vitamin D, I strongly believe in the preventive and curative powers of vitamin D for cancer and other health problems. Read More
Additional Participant Stories and Testimonials from Over the Years
Instrumental in enlightening so many people about the remarkable benefits of Vitamin D and its co-factors, and health.
My story starts when I was diagnosed with full osteoporosis in both hips in 2005 – this after taking calcium supplements as I was “told” to do for 2 decades.
What I didn’t know is that one must have Vitamin D to help calcium into the bones. My Vit D score was 9 ng/mL! (Now my score is 70 ng/mL).
At that time, I was lucky enough to find places online that would give me information. I researched this for 5 years. Thanks to Carole Baggerly’s efforts, GrassrootsHealth became a valued source of accurate information. Carole has been instrumental in keeping the word out “there” for such a long time—when our doctors minimized the health benefits. Still, we were able to find our own accurate information, thanks to Carole and GrassrootsHealth. She inspired me to become my own health advocate. She found a calling—and she graciously shared all she learned with all of us.
In short, the world is a better place because of Carole. I am devastated. I hope others will take up the torch and help those now and in the future who are “new” to this information.
Thank you Carole, I will think of you often—with gratitude.
M.C. (2024)
On the Right Path with GrassrootsHealth
I remember when I first joined GrassrootsHealth many years ago and I sent an email to grassroots asking a question. Low and behold, I received a call back from Carole herself answering my questions. It’s rare to have someone do that and it always stuck with me. I could tell by the call how devoted Carole was to her cause and how she hoped to help others through her work and the research.
I stayed on as a member for many years until lately, because medicare now covers my annual testing. Thanks to a decade+ of Carole’s newsletter and hard work, I was able to raise my vitamin D levels and work with my own doctor (who initially did not agree with Carole’s work) to get my vitamin D up to a level that is perfect for me.
I used to test twice per year with you but after medicare kicked in and after many years of my testing with grassroots, I know exactly what my daily dosage should be year round. I am always in the correct range thanks to nutrition action’s testing program.
Carole was a visionary in this field and I now see how many new groups have followed her model of testing world wide. I hope she knew how valuable she was to us all and how grateful we are for her work and devotion to helping others.
BTW….after 3 years of listening to me and sharing Carole’s work with my doctor, he too began to test all his patients.
D.R.H. (2024)
Thank you
I’ve been a participant in this program for many years and I am so grateful for all it does for my personal health. I cannot begin to estimate how many thousands of people have also been helped. I have passed on this website many times – especially to friends who have breast cancer.
Also, thank you and all the others who have worked tirelessly to continue and support this program. I am so grateful.
T.B. (2024)
Thriving with Vitamin D Knowledge and Action
Had it not been for my learning about Carole Baggerly’s great work in creating the GrassrootsHealth along with my years-long participation in the testing program, I likely would have died some time ago.
Instead, I am thriving!
My father is almost 80 years old and because he followed the recommendations in the many GrassrootsHealth articles I shared with him, he has lived far longer in retirement than he thought possible and is still so strong that he recently – against my advice – removed a broken full-size refrigerator from his kitchen, with an appliance dolly, and put it out at the curb for recycling pick up without any assistance from anyone else.
I have continued to help enlighten others by sharing GrassrootsHealth postings with them. I also encourage them to test their vitamin D levels and challenge physicians who choose to remain ignorant about the importance of vitamin D for overall health.
I will never forget the many valuable lessons I have learned from Carole and everyone at GrassrootsHealth.
G.T. (2024)
Grateful for Participating
I’m grateful to Carole Baggerly for her passion in getting the word out, and the research at GrassrootsHealth. I was a participant in the five year study on Vitamin D levels. My health was and continues to be good. However, my first Vitamin D level came back at 29. I followed the instructions on dosing Vitamin D and brought my levels up to the 60s, where they have stayed for over a decade, and I continue to get tested by Grassroots annually.
C.W. (2024)
Keep Up the Good Work!… with a Charitable Contribution
I am impressed by the important work that you are doing. Vitamin D is not just another nutrient, it is so essential that the body photosynthesizes it.
I stumbled across Vitamin D in 2009, reading an article in Scientific American. I was shocked that I had not heard about this before, given the strength of the scientific evidence.
I take 2000 IU per day, and also go out in the midday sun, and my health has improved as I’ve gotten older (I’m 70).
In particular, my chronic gum disease completely disappeared. (This effect is not widely known, but is in the literature.)
I would suggest that the unifying aspect to Vitamin D action is to promote cellular adhesion. Tight epithelial layers reduce metastasis (cancer), blood-vessel leakage (dementia), and invasion by microbes (lung diseases and even gum disease).
Keep up the good work!
A.K. (2023)
Vitamin D Lifted the Veil of My Depression
I want to share my testimony of how vitamin D supplementation improved my health.
From about the age of 13, I started suffering from depression. No event happened to me that would have triggered it. The only change physically that I’m aware of is the start of my period. I went to UNI when I was 20 and I found out from a colleague about the symptoms of calcium deficiency. Looking at my diet I realized that I don’t reach the RDA for calcium. I did some blood work and calcium came out very low. I started taking calcium tablets (I was vegan back then and there were no vegan foods enriched with calcium in my country) and my colleague also recommended I take them along with vitamin D. I started taking vitamin D (without testing it first, however). I felt better in a couple of days which was surprising to me as I wasn’t a believer in the need for supplements. I was a lot more calm and I had no more racing thoughts. I continued taking them for months and testing calcium (but not vitamin D). I decided to test vitamin D only after months and it was not in the normal range. I increased my dose from 4000IU to 10000IU. I tested after a couple of months and vitamin D was within range. It was also by this time that my depression was lifted like a veil. Also, I added magnesium supplementation, and my knee pain disappeared.
Today I’m depression-free thanks to my supplements for sure and also to my sleep and real food diet. I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to know these things and apply them in my life. This is my story in short. I hope it can help someone.
A.M. (2024)
Sunshine Alone Wasn’t Enough…
In July and August of 2014, I spent a great deal of time outdoors working on my farm, in New Hampshire, in the nude. I am a naturalist and enjoy outdoor work. The sun was out a great deal of the time and I was in it.
I started my engagement with GrassrootsHealth with a test at the beginning of September, 2014. The test results showed 19 ng/ml. How is this possible, I asked? Were Rickets on my horizon? At the time I was 74 and in top health. Running my weekly 5K and 2 mile daily walks plus exercise. We eat organic foods and all the attention to our diet that would imply. I was well within my BMI. I take no medications and never have.
I learned that the testing was critical as each of us processes the sun’s rays differently. With the Rickets alert I started taking vitamin D-3 10,000 IU per day. I soon learned that one needs K-2 as a cofactor so the D-3 gets properly absorbed into the body.
This introduction to GrassrootsHealth has been ongoing since that date. I have had test results showing my level in the 80’s ng/ml. I am currently at the same health level I was in 2014. At 84 I still get tested and still enjoy all the health the D-3 and other supplements I take provide me.
I rely on Orthomolecular Medicine as my guidepost. I have not seen a doctor for years except for emergency repairs and one bout of flu. (I am an expert downhill skier, although there are snowboarders going faster than I who can hit me, or when other skiers cross my path, unintentionally of course, but not in control.)
I feel very confident in my health state and profile and thank Grassroots for getting me started in an improved way. I now buy their expanded set of tests. Some think it is expensive on a six months basis. Everyone I know in my peer groups from my residences in Alaska, British Columbia and New Hampshire is taking drugs that cost twice as much as GrassrootsHealth, and that is monthly not semi-annually.
If and when I feel the possibility of a cold trying to creep into my body, I up the D-3 to 15,000 IUs and up the other supplements like Vitamin C and magnesium to a therapeutic level.
I am very grateful that the team that started GrassrootsHealth has made this testing program such an easy path, for those of us who do not wish to become medical experts, to get valuable advice.
My thanks to the whole GrassrootsHealth team.
H.T. (2024)
Thank you!
I am so pleased with the encouragement I have received from GrassrootsHealth over the years, providing feedback on my Vitamin D levels. Now I am 85 and in better health than many of my contemporaries and even younger friends.
When I started with GrassrootsHealth in 2013, I was living in San Diego, and it was easy to get Vitamin D just by going outdoors. But in 2016 we moved to Iowa, where the seasons sometimes make it difficult to be outdoors. I do rely on my the results of my Vitamin D tests in order to determine how much Vitamin D I should consume by way of capsules. I discovered that if I take 5000 IU daily, that can be too much!
I’m happy to share the various dimensions of my diet, lifestyle, etc. for GrassrootsHealth to factor in, among many other participants’ data, to gain insight into the relationship between Vitamin D levels and resistance to cancer.
P.G. (2024)
Prostate Cancer Reverted
To say my wife and I are blessed is an understatement. We live in Toronto but are hardly ever there since retiring in 2002.
We love biking, golfing, and skiing, which we do in beautiful Muskoka, Los Cabos, St. Anton, Austria, and Whistler, BC. We call it the “Great Migration Circle.” Did I mentioned we are spoiled?
Anyway, a little rain fell in 2007 when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I won’t bore you with all the alternative things I have done to keep my prostate intact. One of the more important things I did was get involved with GrassrootsHealth in their “guinea pig” program on vitamin D3 and cancer.
I have been taking 8,000 IU’s of vitamin D3 for at least a decade now with no ill effects. On the contrary that hormone called D3 has been very helpful for my overall health.
Do I still have my prostate that was diagnosed as having cancer in ‘07 intact because of supplements like D3? Possibly… all I know is I still have it.
Pictures:
Biking in Tahiti in May followed by a 2nd bike trip to the British Isles.
Some 700 Km in the month. Not bad for a 77yr old.
Cheers
P.C. (2024)
Thanks, from a Long-Time Participant
For fifteen years I’ve been a participant with GrassrootsHealth. Initially I hoped (simply) for a test but came to a place of opening up to the importance of joining this study. I am very glad I pursued this. It’s a community that I continue to develop trust in its offerings and its total commitment to broaden its reach to many others, to counter the shockingly false/misleading/unhelpful information that pervades our public space, and inspire us to see the huge implications to an individual and a community of low vitamin D levels. My Vitamin D level was less than 30 ng/ml and I had a fairly steady incidence of colds which now seem to be a thing of the past.
I take about 3500 to 5000 I.U. of Vitamin D3 nearly every day. I didn’t have any significant health problems but felt that I wanted to learn as much as I could about Vitamin D from articles I had read – I thankfully found GrassrootsHealth and have stayed.
I was extremely relieved to not get Covid and have not had a flu or cold during the time of bringing my Vitamin D levels to a steady 40-60 ng/ml (or sometimes higher). I spend more time (carefully and informatively) in natural sunlight primarily because GrassrootsHealth has been very helpful and knowledgeable in teaching me about other benefits of sunlight (particularly UVB). Friends ask me how I’m so healthy and I talk about Vit. D primarily and responsible sunlight, as well as GrassrootsHealth, an organization I have the highest respect for.
In addition to vitamin D I also now test for:
Omega 3 index; omega Ratio; AA:EPA Ratio; hbA1c; hs-CRP; Mg plus Elements; TSH
I take supplements based on my results and have been pleased to see my numbers move to better readings. I intend to keep up with this and keep reading GrassrootsHealth nutrition studies/reports/videos and suggestions.
A few times I have reached out to GrassrootsHealth and their responsiveness and helpfulness has been consistently remarkable.
In addition to Vitamin D, I take Vitamin C, Magnesium, a combo of trace minerals; Omega 3 and Vitamins E and A.
I live in Austin Texas and was a psychotherapist for many decades. I’m mostly retired now and spending more time out-of-doors, swimming, walking, and some exercise at the gym. I have plenty of energy.
Join in – it is the best health practice I can unequivocally and highly recommend.
Thank you all for your dedication to science – and to us, your participants.
R. A. (2024)
How GrassrootsHealth Influenced Our Health
I am writing to communicate my appreciation for the services that GrassrootsHealth provides. The testing and results have been very useful, and I appreciate the information provided through your daily communication.
My wife and I have been taking Vitamin D and fish oil supplements for almost two decades. I have been retired for 8 years, my wife for 15. I discovered GrassrootsHealth in 2016 and since then testing results have allowed me to actually see the impact of our supplementation and adjust accordingly. Our Vitamin D levels are a bit difficult to manage because of our lifestyle. We live in Alaska during the summer and in Arizona in the winter. Sun exposure is the variable. We receive some benefit to exposure at high latitude from May to mid-July, very little from mid-July to November and Arizona exposure November through March. In many of our exposure months we are covered either due to ambient temperatures or flying pests. Since we are Alaska based, our meat intake is, by majority, salmon.
I do have to mention that the testing, however beneficial, it a bit expensive for someone living on a fixed income. I do appreciate that GrassrootsHealth was responsive to my request recently to modify our invoice to provide detail enough that our insurance and HSA will potentially accept the testing as reimbursable. For us, I believe we have a long enough track record to not require testing every six months. I now do it whenever there is a change in our supplementation and I want to understand the impacts.
Neither of us has had the flu since we began supplementing. My wife has had a couple of flu shots, I have never had a flu shot. I have not had a cold since 2012. My wife has had two instances where she got the sniffles after our grandson visited with a full-blown cold. I did not pick anything up after those visits.
This last winter, as COVID fatigue and reduced incidence rates drove more travel, we were visited three times by couples who stayed with us for a week or more each. Interesting to us is all three notified us two days after leaving that they tested positive for COVID. We tried to be smart about exposure and distancing but we did spend many hours in a car with them travelling and showing them the sights. Neither one of us contracted the disease. It’s not that we were asymptomatic and gave the visitors the disease because each of them was able to trace their exposure to before they arrived at our house.
I understand there are several factors involved with transmission and susceptibility to contagious diseases. It could be we were lucky and missed the COVID bullet. We believe that our supplementation, managing food and exercise lifestyle all contributed to our not getting COVID although we were definitely exposed more than once. I firmly believe that GrasstootsHealth played a significant part in our continued health and I am grateful.
K.H. (2022)
Noticeable Differences
Up until Nov. 26,2020, my wife and I never took any supplements, ever. What a difference a day (or 60) make!
After unknowingly coming into contact for five minutes with a neighbour who was Covid positive, he then told us he tested positive for it. Two days of waiting for my own Covid test results were filled with apprehension and doubt of my own survival. Fortunately, the test was negative. Thanks to my neighbour, I began a quest to see if there was anything I could do to help ourselves.
Medical knowledge is not my forte, but computers are. I view the Internet as a grand learning tool, and so I delved into the world of Covid medical knowledge and kept coming across an unfamiliar name: Dr. M. Holick. It didn’t take me long to realize this man was onto something with Vitamin D3. My extent on the subject related to my own dog. A trainer in a video said to never give D3 to a dog because D3 could kill it. The clarion call message from Dr. Holick to me was that D3, among other things, acted as an immune system regulator. Having been overexposed to petrochemical products in the late eighties and early nineties, my immune system was out of kilter for years, along with numerous bouts of pneumonia.
After reading many research papers and trials on PubMed, I was convinced D3 was our best bet to try and protect us from the serious ravages of Covid. The question then became: How much should we take to become D3 sufficient?
Well, the answer came from an unlikely source: in a paper written by Simon Goddek. In his published paper on D3 and K2, he hypothesized that someone could possibly raise their D3 levels from 20ng/mL to 40ng/mL by following a table of D3 and K2 dosages based on weight.
We decided to follow that information, along with the suggestion of taking Magnesium. We did not get a baseline D3 test first, but we did get tested eight days after the top up (to give the liver a chance to catch up.)
My 25(OH)D is 138nmol/L (55.2ng/mL) and my wife’s is 155nmol/L (62ng/mL). We feel much better that we may now, one month after the D3 test results, have a better chance of surviving a bout with Covid. We do not plan on staying at those numbers. My wife is aiming for 80ng/mL and I am aiming for 100ng/mL. She is currently taking 10,000IU of D3 and I am taking 15,000IU per day (reducing to 10,000IU in mid February). We also take: 360mcg K2, 300mg Magnesium citrate and 900mg EPA/DHA daily along with 50mg of Zinc citrate every other day.
Considering our northern climates, we depend on D3 by supplements right now. Come June, my wife will reduce her D3 supplements a bit and get out in the midday sun each day. For me, I will remain on 10,000IU daily unless I get some decent sunshine without burning (light eyes, light skin).
We signed up for the five year study and will submit blood for D3 and Omega-3 testing twice a year.
Two months from the start of the D3 journey and we both feel more energetic and I feel much less foggy in the morning. And my skin seems to be getting a bit less wrinkly (or so I think it is). The psoriasis on my face is about gone too – baking soda used to take care of it. In the long-run, we plan on keeping up our D3 levels to get as much gene expression as possible.
G.H. (2021)
Itchiness and Gingivitis Improved
When I look at the list of symptoms of vitamin D deficiency, absent are the two ailments which I was experiencing and which clear-up or significantly after I began supplementing with sufficient vit D to get my blood level to 40 ng/ml.
1. Dry flakey itchy shins: This totally cleared up and stopped being itchy.
2. Gums which bled profusely when brushing my teeth. The bleeding became greatly reduced and focused to an area where I had an abscess. After the abscess was treated and my other dental work was completed the bleeding has totally stopped. In the past after dental work the bleeding did not stop. Only this time did it stop.
When I looked up dry, itchy, flakey skin and vit D, it popped up as an indicator of low vit D. Likewise when I looked up vit D and gingivitis many studies came up indicating that gingivitis and periodontal disease could include low vit D as a cause. I would like to see those conditions added to the list of symptoms of low vit D.
J.O. (2021)
Improving Health Conditions and Getting Off Medications
The first 30 years of my life were filled with illness, doctor’s visits, and prescription drugs. Then, a co-worker shared with me what he had learned about vitamins and that inspired me to make changes. I went to the library (before the worldwide web came along) and read everything that I could about vitamins, minerals, and nutrition. That led me to try various vitamins, supplements, and make diet and lifestyle changes, all of which I had read about for helping my health conditions. Before long, I was much healthier than I had ever been and was able to stop all the prescription drugs, even though my doctors told me that I was wasting my money on vitamins and would only have “expensive urine.” Based on my now 30+ years of studying natural health, last year I became a Certified Health Coach in order to help as many people as possible make changes so THEY can reach the Optimal Wellness that I have!
GrassrootsHealth has given me more information and facts about vitamin D and omega-3 fish oils than I could ever have found on my own! I’ve been sharing what I’ve learned with my friends and family for years and some have told me that they seem to have become more knowledgeable than their doctors about vitamin D — their doctors still tell them that a D3 blood level of 30 ng/ml is “fine” or they tell them to stop taking D3 if the level goes over 50, so I’ve recommended that they share some GrassrootsHealth data with their doctors.
H.N. (2021)
Responsibility to My Health and the Health of Family
Growing up I was always pleasingly plump. I come from a farming background both as a child and my married life. The day I turned 20 I got married, still 5-6 pounds heavier than I wanted to be. That winter I lived on love, coffee with cream and sugar, and yes, I did lose those 5 pounds. By spring I was hospitalized with malnutrition. Being told that was like getting hit by a freight train. It was time for immediate action. Really, suffering from malnutrition in the 1970’s in Canada!!! I studied nutrition, lifestyles and made myself a promise. “Never would this ever happen again to me and it was my job as a wife and eventually a mother to keep my family healthy”.
My plan was to eat healthy, wholesome foods and keep fit. I simply cut sugar and would go outdoors everyday either for work or play. We were a healthy family. At 60 years old I got hypothyroidism but my weight did not change. Around 2010 I heard about GrassrootsHealth and was curious if my efforts were yielding positive results. So I joined and was thrilled that my efforts had paid off. Now after being married 51 years, having had 2 daughters I am still healthy and at my ideal weight.
Simple changes yielded huge positive results for me. GrassrootsHealth re-enforced what I was doing was keeping me healthy. I did get my elements checked and was in the zones I should be.
R.F. (2021)
Feeling Young and Healthy, Boosting the Immune System
These past 2 years of the pandemic, knowing that certain natural remedies like vitamins D and C and zinc and other healthful ways of building your immunity up for me and my wife has helped us to stay healthy. Even when we have gotten the flu, colds, covid-19 and have asthma, we only felt tired, no fever and no worsening of asthma. I have been using an inhaler for many years and since taking 5000 IU vitamin D I haven’t had problems with asthma for over 2 years now. I am 74 years young, so to me natural way is the only way for me and my wife of 66 years young. GrassrootsHealth helped through the information on their website and facts on D; by using what you say and trying it out and seeing for myself it does work!!!
Mike (2021)
Maintaining a High Quality of Life!
I want to live the highest quality of life that I can at my age of almost 76 years old. I am a substitute teacher and working with children motivates me to be the best I can be and that starts with my health. I’m also a retired nurse and I know the value of your D levels needing to be monitored and maintained at an optimum level.
A.B. (2021)
Keeping Active and Reliable
Knowing measurable blood levels of nutrients and observing heart rate recovery scores following a consistent biking program is a great motivator. For me, it’s accountability by improving numbers. Knowing, too, that others depend on me to remain active to help them with chores, errands, helping at church with cleaning, driving (a road trip through North America in 2019 with a slightly older, health compromised friend) is also a motivator. Seeing friends’ health improve as their diet improves. Having active older friends like a cycling friend who ushered me, age 78, across the PEI Tip to Tip Confederation bike trail in 2020 (273 km and more).
S.C. (2021)
Remaining Healthy and Independent
I have been a heavy exerciser since I was 22 years old – I am now 78 and I still do high intensive exercises with weights and power walking with weights on my ankles and wrists. From the time I was a young mother with two beautiful daughters I always said to them: “I want to walk into old age – not be rolled in” (as in a wheel chair). In my 30s I ran 6-9 miles a day up and down the hills of Camarillo, CA; never sustained an injury; built muscles and ate only organic foods (I still do). As a Registered Nurse I watched many people age poorly or sicken and die from devastating, debilitating diseases. I promised myself and my family I would do everything within my power to remain healthy and independent so they would not end up caring for me. I take many nutritional supplements but Vitamin D is a regular daily addition to the natural sunlight I get from being outside.
Judith (2021)
Healthy = Happy and Able to Fully Enjoy Life and Loved Ones
Health is number one on my list! Without good health life would be miserable, you won’t be happy and able to fully enjoy life and time spent with the loved ones and family. I take good care of my health, eat only organic food (as long as the budget allows), and cook from scratch (we don’t like to go to eat at restaurants). When I cook I know what’s in it! I exercise regularly, meditate, doing yoga and Qigong. Why? Because I want to see my grandchildren graduate and get married. If you don’t have good health you can’t enjoy your life. I take only good quality brand supplements, including vitamin D3+K2! And it is working, me and my husband are not sick, won’t get the flu or cold! The more you are healthy, the less time you spend in the doctor’s office!
M.T. (2021)
Keep Healthy, Quickly Recover from Sickness
I have always been aware and concerned about my health. Since a young girl I took vitamins, ate healthy food that my mom cooked (she was a great cook!). I also am a good cook and use all the natural, holistic and organic products in my cooking. I have taken Vitamin D now for many years and my level is 69. I am a firm believer in natural products to protect your immune system. Throughout the years I have had some medical problems, all solved easily… I am now 85 years old.
C.M. (2021)
To Feel Fit and Energized
I’m inspired by feeling fit and energized. Since starting a regular weight, cardio, and walking routine, my strength and balance have improved noticeably. Feeling better encourages me to keep up good habits. About 4 years ago my husband and I started eating a diet based on greens, berries, beans, mushrooms, nuts and seeds (Nutritarian) with about 10% of calories/day from animal sources. This has been very beneficial in that I feel nutritionally supported with just the diet, a daily D supplement and B12. It has also made the addictive, salt, sugar, oil and white flour foods, far more obvious in the standard American diet. I am also a part of the GrassrootsHealth women’s cancer study, so have had my D levels test 2X/year, which is valuable information for me that I can’t really access from a local clinic when I’m in good health.
J.K. (2021)
To Stay Looking and Feeling Young and Healthy
I feel young. I am 78 years young. Every time someone mentions that I look much younger, it motivates me to keep up healthy habits. I maintain a weight of about 122, do bodyweight exercises 3 times a week, walk 2 miles 3 times a week, and eat food based on Good Food based on the Mediterranean diet. I take minimal supplements, basing my health on eating at least 6 servings of fruits and vegetables daily, with only necessary supplements of vitamin C, and vitamin D3. I sunbathe when it is warm and sunny, take vitamin D supplements, and use a sun lamp when it is winter. I get a positive motivational message daily on my computer, maintain a calendar that includes reminders to lead a balanced life, read, belong to 2 book clubs, belong to 2 ZOOM meeting groups, and invite someone to come visit me about every 2 weeks, keep in contact with family by phone. It is important that I maintain a healthy body. All the information from GrassrootsHealth helps, supports, and motivates me to stay young and healthy.
H.O. (2021)
Enhance and Maintain Health and Strength
Reading that there are people in their 80s with strong muscles is one thing which has inspired me to enhance and maintain my health. “Use it or lose it” is spot on. At 57 years of age I walk upstairs three at a time, hoping that I can get to 70 before having to reduce to two at a time… My first change to my diet came when I was about 16 and there were adverts on TV about fibre-rich foods as well as articles about colon cancer and colostomy bags, the potential embarrassment of such a scenario prompting me into immediate action. From Dr. Mercola’s website I was introduced to GrassrootsHealth. Having first got my father on vitamin D, I used his result and a chart on the GrassrootsHealth website to estimate how much he would need to take to attain a level of 60 ng/ml. Having taken 10,000 IU (250 mcg) of vitamin D myself for the best part of 10 years I have yet to register a common cold in this period.
Andrew (2021)
Vitamin D and Myasthenia Gravis
On February 4th, 2016, I was diagnosed with late-onset generalized myasthenia gravis with heavy bulbar involvement. My vitamin D level was 24 ng/ml. The first line treatment of prednisone and Mestinon did not work, so instead of continuing it and adding Imuran, I chose to go to alternative medicine. My NMD advised me to get my vitamin D level up to the high end of normal = 100 ng/ml. I was taking at the time 5,000 IUs per my neurologist RX. My level then was at 27 ng/ml.
After four months of weekly vitamin D injections of 75,000 IUs and oral supplements of 8,000 IUs daily, plus sensible sun exposure, my level got to 42 ng/ml. I started to feel better, had less severe myasthenia gravis symptoms and they occurred less frequently.
My vitamin D level for the last two years has been above 80 ng/ml (high of 97 ng/ml) and I rarely have myasthenia gravis symptoms. I am off prednisone and Mestinon, and the only prescription I take is low dose naltrexone. I take about 23,000 IUs of vitamin D with my breakfast and get regular sensible sun exposure. Thank you to GrassrootsHealth! I’ve watched many of your UCSD conference lectures that stimulated me to learn more about vitamin D. I just watched Carole Baggerly’s interview with Dr Mercola for 2011 and learned about your clinicals with vitamin D. If you ever do one for autoimmunity/myasthenia gravis I’m in.
B.M. (2019)
Vitamin D Helped with Fatigue
My last vitamin D level was 35 ng/ml, this was on 9/2/17. I take a supplement of 5000 IU per day. My level prior to this was 20 ng/ml; I had no energy. I felt like I could sleep all day. Afternoons were especially difficult, I would often come home from work at 5pm and go straight to bed. Only to wake up tired again the next day. Increasing my level to 35 has helped. However I still have the afternoon slump. I have changed my diet to whole food plant based which has also helped my fatigue.
D.A. (2018)
Make Sure You Are Getting Enough Vitamin D and Other Important Nutrients – Test At Home!
Having and maintaining healthy vitamin D levels and other nutrient levels can help improve your health now and for your future. Choose which additional nutrients to measure, such as your omega-3s and essential minerals including magnesium and zinc, by creating your custom home test kit today. Take steps to improve the status of each of these measurements to benefit your overall health. With measurement you can then determine how much is needed and steps to achieve your goals. You can also track your own intakes, symptoms and results to see what works best for YOU.