Vitamin D Cofactors in a nutshell

Cofactors need to be adjusted when taking a lot of vitamin D for more than a month

"A lot" is more than 4,000 IU Vitamin D daily (average)
There is virtually no agreement as how much of each cofactor is needed vs vitamin D level
The first three cofactors have, like vitamin D, greatly decreased in the human diet in the past 50 years
The goal is to restore Vitamin D, Magnesium, Omega-3, and Vitamin K back to where they had been
   in a nutshell = summed up = condensed

Supplements categories in VitaminDWiki include

Supplement	# of studies		Increase D to tissue
Omega-3	369	Many benefits	30%?
Magnesium	316	Many need Mg	30%
Calcium	205	Reduce
Vitamin K	139	Hard bones, soft arteries
Iron	64
Vitamin B12	51
Zinc	78		?%
Boron	30		+20%
Iodine	27
Resveratrol	43		>100% if poor VDR
Curcumin	12		? ?% if poor VDR
Vitamin C	46

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Magnesium

• About 1 in 300 people have a poor reaction to increasing Vitamin D
     but the Vitamin D reaction (muscle pain) is almost always due to lack of Magnesium
• Magnesium increases the benefits of vitamin D by about 30% (Mg and Vit. D are synergistic)
• Magnesium provides a great many health benefits independent of Vitamin D
  • Magnesium is used at 8 stages of Vitamin D metabolism
• 100 milligrams of Magnesium (say from Magnesium Chloride) seems to be enough, even with high levels of vitamin D
  Some people (not a consensus) believe that only 100 mg of Mg can be taken up by the gut at a time
  If possible, take your Magnesium several times during the day - not just once
  • Vitamin D appears to consume Magnesium
  • People with > 100 ng of Vitamin D (and do not supplement with Mg) are 2.5X more likely to have A-fib
  • Constipation due to low Magnesium after greatly increasing Vitamin D level (personal experience of founder of VitaminDWiki)
• Overview Magnesium     Magnesium category has 316 items

Omega-3

• Omega-3 increases active vitamin D - especially in people with poorly functioning livers or kidneys
• 1 gram of Omega-3 seems to be enough. Note: different brands have widely different bio-availability
• Overview Omega-3     Omega-3 category has 369 items

Vitamin K2

• K2 Keeps Calcium in bones and out of arteries
• Calcification due to K2 deficiency may be a reason for increased mortality for some diseases for high vitamin D
• Probably need 100 micrograms per 2,000 IU of vitamin D (i.e. 500 micrograms for 10,000 IU of Vit D)
  • Perhaps Vitamin D consumes Vitamin K, so need more of it
• Vitamin D decreases the uptake of Vitamin K1 by 50%
  • Perhaps should not take K2 concurrently with Vitamin D.
• Overview Vitamin K2     Vitamin K category has 139 items

Calcium

• Too much Calcium is associated with cardiovascular problems years later, not stronger bones
• Should have less than 750 milligrams of Calcium supplementation
• Drinking a lot of water helps flush any excess Calcium from the Kidneys
• Overview Calcium     Calcium category has 205 items

Boron - good, but not as essential

• Boron increases Vitamin D and Magnesium in the body by ~ 20%
• Most people Boron deficient now that commercial fertilizers are used
• Should have 3-10 milligrams of Boron element daily
• Boron can be extremely low cost, less than $0.01 a day
• Boron category has 30 items

Zinc - good, but not as essential

• Extra Zinc does not appear to increase D in the blood. but may increase D in the tissue
• Zinc is, however, essential to make Vitamin D Receptors and utilize Omega-3
• Low zinc is associated with many autoimmune diseases,infections, colds, etc
• Zinc, like Boron, is extremly low-cost and safe
• Zinc category has 78 items

Unfortunately cofactors as pills are costly and typically need to be taken daily

• The cost of cofactors is 10X to 100X more than the vitamin D when taken as pills
• Bulk supplementation of Vitamin D, Magnesium, Zinc, B-12, K2, Boron etc. - lower cost and easier than pills
  • just 40 cents per day as a powder
• Many of the cofactors need be taken daily (vs Vitamin D can be taken weekly or bi-weekly)

Perspective of the importance of Vit D and co-factors to health

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See also VitaminDWiki

• Need to adjust cofactors if take 50,000 IU of vitamin D weekly – Nov 2013
• How you might double your response to vitamin D
  • primarliy by increasing Magnesium, Boron, Vitamin K, Omega-3
• Too much Vitamin D long-term problems if take too much vitamin D without balancing cofactors
• Low cost cofactors for vitamin D - includes listing of what the founder of VitaminDWiki actually takes
• Supplements category listing has 99 items
  • Includes mortaity problems with >400 IU of Vitamin E
• Immune system is better fortified by nano forms of Vitamin D, Vit C, Vit B12, Omega-3, resveratrol, etc - March 2021
  • many of the vitamin D cofactors are available in nano forms
• Dr. Ames triage theory - Vit D, Mg, etc immediate needs reduce their use for long term needs such as DNA repair
• Vitamin D Receptor is one of the genes which can block vitamin D from getting to the cells
  • The standard Vitamin D test cannot detect a poor Vitamin D Receptor
  • Adding more Vit D, Mg, Omega-3, Boron, Resveratrol, Zinc, etc increases Vit D getting into the cells

See also - Excellent reviews of supplements at ConsumerLab

short URL = is.gd/Dplus