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Robin Whittle's avatar

Hi Sebastian,

Thanks very much for this extensive review of nutrients! I will return to it as time allows.

Potassium is a very much neglected nutrient, but the most critical need most people have for supplementation is vitamin D3.

The whole concept of an RDA is flawed in many ways - primarily due to the variations in body weight by age, between individuals, and between races. In in the case of vitamin D3, it is doubly flawed since, in order to attain a healthy level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D - 50 ng/mL (125 nmol/L = 1 part in 20,000,000 by mass) or more (see below) we need to scale daily supplemental intake not just according to body weight, but to use higher ratios for those suffering from obesity. This is because obesity reduces the rate of hydroxylation in the liver and because the resultant 25-hydroxyvitamin D (and probably vitamin D3 itself) is sequestered in the excess adipose tissue. See the research cited and discussed at: https://5nn.info/temp/250hd-obesity/.

Please see the research cited and discussed regarding the vitamin D compounds and the immune system, at: https:// vitamindstopscovid.info/00-evi/.

This begins with recommendations from New Jersey based Professor of Medicine, Sunil Wimalawansa on the average daily supplemental intake quantities of vitamin D3 which will attain least 50 ng/mL circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D, over several months, without the need for blood tests or medical monitoring:

70 to 90 IU / kg body weight for those not suffering from obesity (BMI < 30).

100 to 130 IU / kg body weight for obesity I & II (BMI 30 to 39).

140 to 180 IU / kg body weight for obesity III (BMI > 39).

For 70 kg (154 lb) body weight without obesity, this is about 0.125 milligrams (125 micrograms 5000 IU) a day. This takes several months to attain the desired > 50 ng/mL circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D. This is 8 or more times what most governments recommend. "5000 IU" a day sounds like a lot, but it is a gram every 22 years - and pharma-grade vitamin D costs about USD$2.50 a gram ex-factory.

These recommendations are included in a recent article with another professor of medicine Scott T. Weiss and professor of pediatrics Bruce W. Hollis: https:// www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/16/22/3969. All three have been researching vitamin D for decades.

The article on hospital supplementation of vitamin D3 is by Patrick McCullough et al.: "Daily oral dosing of vitamin D3 using 5000 TO 50,000 international units a day in long-term hospitalized patients: Insights from a seven year experience" Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2019-01-04 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0960076018306228 (Paywalled.) PDF: https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.jsbmb.2018.12.010.

The 1.25 mg 50,000 IU/day vitamin D3 supplemental intake is for Dr McCullough himself - to suppress psoriasis. This McCullough protocol is much the same as the better known (Cicero) Coimbra protocol and the lesser known (since it is by a chemist and ex US Navy fighter pilot) protocol by Pete Batcheller, which has suppressed cluster headaches and migraines for thousands of sufferers. Please see the research cited and discussed at: https://vitamindstopscovid.info/06-adv/.

Hypercalcemia involves drawing calcium out of the bones, to boost the level of calcium ions in the blood, which must be maintained near saturation level, within unusually narrow limits. The Coimbra etc. protocols all involve avoiding calcium supplementation and calcium rich foods. Vitamin K7 is widely regarded as helping reduce excessive calcium levels and retaining it in the bone. I am yet to do a proper survey of vitamin K2 research. I am keen to find what guidance there may be, or which can be reasonably ascertained from research, regarding vitamin K2 quantities and to what extent the MK4 and MK7 forms should be used.

Like most doctors (immunologists have no clue about or interest in the vitamin D compounds) and far too many vitamin D researchers, the author of the long piece on X: https://x.com/vers_laLune/status/1846273267658559878, does not understand that the immune system is not significantly affected by the very low (0.05 to 0.1 ng/mL) level of circulating, hormonal, calcitriol (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D) which the kidneys maintain as part of a larger feedback network involving osteocytes and the parathyroid gland, to regulate calcium-phosphate-bone metabolism.

Many types of immune cell require a good supply, by diffusion from the bloodstream, of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, made primarily in the liver from ingested of UV-B -> skin produced vitamin D3 cholecalciferol. They use this as a raw material to run their intracrine (inside each cell) and paracrine (to nearby cells, typically of different types, signaling systems.

These are unrelated to hormonal (endocrine) signaling. Since, as far as I know, there are no tutorial explanations of these, I wrote a non-peer reviewed tutorial in late 2020: https://vitamindstopscovid.info/02-intracrine/.

A less detailed tutorial is at the start of: https://vitamindstopscovid.info/00-evi/. Every doctor, nurse, immunologist, vaccinologist, virologist etc. needs to understand these signaling systems - but most have never heard of them.

The link you have for the Lancet article with the six mortality vs. 25-hydroxyvitamin D graphs does not work. The URL is: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587(23)00287-5/fulltext.

Boron is an extremly neglected nutrient. It is important for immune system response and bone metabolism. Most people get about 1mg a day or so in their diet, but 6 to 9 mg a day for average weight adults is healthier, as far as I can tell. No-one knows exactly what it does. It goes in and out of the body in a day or so and is not known to form any compounds. My best guess - and that of researchers as far as I know - is that the borate ion subtly affects many biochemical reactions.

My notes on boron nutrition contains links to the best research I could find in 2020: https://aminotheory.com/cv19/#08-boron. I am not aware of any great advances since then. Please let me know if you find any.

You - and anyone who seriously appreciates what you wrote (even if they don't yet fully understand it all) - are cordially invited to join the Nutrition for Immune System Health email discussion group: https://nish.groups.io. Members include several leading vitamin D researchers, and vitamin D is by far the most discussed nutrient. Magnesium is probably second. See the work of Patrick Chambers MD: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Patrick-Chambers-4/research.

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Ally's avatar

That's a long essay, I'll read it later

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