KenDBerryMD - 7 Signs of Low Vitamin D (Do You Have Any of These?)

Short Summary

Main recommendation: If you have any of the seven signs of low vitamin D, ask your doctor to check your 25-hydroxyvitamin D level, and if it is low, correct it, preferably through sun exposure and diet, otherwise with a vitamin D3 supplement. Dr. Ken Berry says low levels, especially below about 20 to 25, can cause painful bones, fatigue, fractures, infections, low mood, slow wound healing, and muscle aches, and he argues vitamin D deficiency is widespread in the U.S. and Canada.

Key Points

• The seven signs named in the video are: (1) bone aches, (2) chronic fatigue, (3) fractures from minor force, (4) frequent viral infections, (5) depressed mood, (6) slow wound healing, and (7) muscle aches with no clear cause.
• Berry says bone aches reflect osteomalacia (painful bones), and that untreated deficiency can progress to osteopenia and osteoporosis.
• He describes fractures from minor falls, such as breaking a wrist on carpet, as abnormal and a sign of long-standing deficiency.
• He says vitamin D is anti-inflammatory and involved in hundreds of biochemical reactions in the skin and other tissues, which he uses to explain infections, mood, and wound healing.
• Berry says the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. are at high risk of deficiency because food supplies contain little vitamin D and people at higher latitudes don't get enough sun.

Details Worth Noting

• Concrete instructions:

  • If you have chronic fatigue or depressed mood, ask your doctor to include a vitamin D 25 (25-hydroxyvitamin D) level in your blood work.

  • Treat bone aches, unexplained muscle aches, or fractures from minor force as reasons to ask your doctor for a vitamin D level and a full evaluation, since other causes are possible.

  • Preferred sources, in Berry's order: get sun exposure first; if that is not possible, eat foods such as grass-fed butter and egg yolks from pasture-raised chickens.

  • If you need a supplement, Dr. Berry recommends choosing vitamin D3 rather than D2, which he says is less well absorbed; choose a product in an oil-filled gel cap; and avoid soybean or canola oil, preferring olive oil (he mentions you can find such products on Amazon).

  • Do not rely on dairy as a vitamin D source; Berry says it is fortified with D2 and is a poor source.

  • Berry's own examples of low results: a patient with a wrist fracture from a fall had a level of about 8 or 12, versus his target of over 40.

• He says a simple daily vitamin D3 supplement could help achy bones and muscles, though he does not give a specific dose in the video.
• He says the orthopedic surgeon in the cited case did not check blood work, which he treats as a missed opportunity.
• He frames the deficiency as an epidemic in the U.S. and Canada, and asks viewers to share the video with friends and family who don't already know about vitamin D.

Bottom Line

The seven symptoms are nonspecific, so Berry's real advice is to test a 25-hydroxyvitamin D level when these symptoms appear and correct a low result, favoring sun, diet, and then a D3 supplement.