BEFORE YOU POP A VITAMIN D PILL, READ THIS!!!
If you are concerned about your Vitamin D levels, first know that you must measure D,25 AND D,1,25 to properly assess your Vitamin D levels. D,25 is a storage form and D,1,25 is the active form. Vitamin D is a HORMONE and NEUROTRANSMITTER PRECURSOR…not really a “vitamin” in our bodies. It is impacted by fat metabolism and further impacts hormone and neurotransmitter function.
But Vitamin D is LITERALLY being stolen from (or blocked in) our bodies, without our permission or knowledge.
Vitamin D used to be called the sunshine vitamin. Yet, in countries and continents where sunshine is readily available (e.g. India, Asia and Africa), we are beginning to see Vitamin D shortages. I began to wonder why.
There have been numerous studies showing that chemical compounds are blocking our ability to absorb Vitamin D through the activation of the pregnane X receptor (PXR). Examples of those drugs include:
- Anti-epileptic drugs (Holick, 2005)
- DDT, other organochlorines and environmental pollutants (phthalates)(Ihunnah et al, 2011)(Yang et al, 2012)
- BPA and other endocrine disruptors like flame retardants (Barrett, 2012)
PXR functions as a xenobiotic sensor that regulates xenobiotic and endobiotic metabolism as well as liver regeneration and repair (Dai, 2008). It literally regulates liver size and liver cell fate by modulating lipid homeostasis and regulating hepatocyte proliferation (Jiang, 2018). If blocking of PXR causes damage to our ability to metabolize and transport fats, this is inhibiting our ability to absorb and metabolize Vitamin D! Supplementing with a synthetic form of vitamin D (D3) won’t fix this problem.
This also explains why studies have revealed novel functions of PXR in cardiometabolic disease (Zhou, 2016). Fatty liver is a precursor to cardiovascular disease (Gallero, 2021)! PXR may play a key role in linking xenobiotic exposure and cardiometabolic disease.
**PXR should be taken into consideration for future risk assessment of chemicals (NOTE to EPA).**
And guess what? Vitamin D is intimately interconnected with calcium channel absorption as well as Vitamin K (K1 and K2).
Popping pills won’t fix this!
HOW DO WE FIX THIS?
- Stop using, eating, spraying, absorbing or otherwise breathing chemicals AND learn to improve your detoxification pathways, doing active liver support and/or liver detoxification activities regularly. So much more to learn and share on this point alone.
- Avoid bug sprays. If you are concerned about bugs, learn natural ways of preventing — do NOT use DEET, permethrin or other chemicals. You can’t just put on the bug spray and then pop some D Vitamins. You won’t absorb them!
- Avoid yard chemicals (glyphosate and more).
- Eat organic.
- Filter your water! These chemicals are now all being found IN THE WATER supply.
- Get exposure to sunshine daily.
- Encourage farmers to stop using pesticides and grow organic. The use of chemicals in our yard, on farms or on animals grown as part of our food supply is further contaminating our water supply.
- Encourage the EPA to start considering human health and our intricate biochemical systems before approving chemicals.
References:
Barrett, J. R. (2012). BPA and PXR activation: human receptor is affected, mouse receptor is not. Environmental Health Perspectives, 120(3), A122. doi:10.1289/ehp.120-a122a
Dai, G., et al (2008). Pregnane X receptor is essential for normal progression of liver regeneration. Hepatology, 47(4). Accessed at: https://aasldpubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/hep.22129
Gallero, G. et al. (2021). Pathophysiological mechanisms and clinical evidence of relationship between Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and cardiovascular disease. Rev. Cardiovasc. Med., 22(3); 755-768; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.rcm2203082
Holick, M.F. (2005). J Clin Invest, Stay tuned to PXR: an orphan actor that may not be D-structive only to bone. Jan 3; 115(1): 32–34. Accessed at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC539210/
Ihunnah, C. A., Jiang, M., & Xie, W. (2011). Nuclear receptor PXR, transcriptional circuits and metabolic relevance. Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta, 1812(8):956-963. doi:10.1016/j.bbadis.2011.01.014
Jiang, Y., et al. (2018). Pregnane X Receptor Regulates Liver Size and Liver Cell Fate by Yes-Associated Protein Activation in Mice. Hepatology, 69(1):343-358. Accessed at: https://aasldpubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/hep.30131
Kortagere, S., Krasowski, M. D., Reschly, E. J., Venkatesh, M., Mani, S., & Ekins, S. (2010). Evaluation of computational docking to identify pregnane X receptor agonists in the ToxCast database. Environmental Health Perspectives, 118(10), 1412-1417. doi:10.1289/ehp.1001930