A recent study on low levels of vitamin D and schizophrenia has inspired Dr. Martin to do some teaching on vitamin D for today’s episode. The evidence is conclusive of the benefits of vitamin D for your entire body, and not just for bones.
In today’s episode, Dr. Martin shares the 4 ways our bodies produce vitamin D. He also explains how vitamin D is absorbed in our intestines and makes its way to every part of our bodies.
During the summer months, it’s so important to get out into the sun. If you can’t, you need to supplement. Same with food. You should be eating your vitamins, but for many of us we need to supplement.
TRANSCRIPT OF TODAY'S EPISODE
Announcer: You're listening to The Doctor Is In Podcast, brought to you by MartinClinic.com. During the episode, the doctors share a lot of information. As awesome as the info may be, it is not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any disease. It's strictly for informational purposes.
Dr. Martin: Well, good morning. Hope you're having a great start to your day. Appreciate everyone and happy Canada Day. For those who thought they wouldn't be on this morning, a holiday here in Canada. So what I'm going to do this morning, I want to talk to you about... Guess what vitamin? Vitamin D. But no, there was a new study out, then and I said, you know what? I'm going to sort of go through a general little teaching this morning on vitamin D. Okay. So, here's the study of vitamin D and schizophrenia. Low levels of vitamin D is common with schizophrenia. So, what comes first? The schizophrenia or the low levels of vitamin D. Guys, vitamin D as you well know, is the most essential vitamin. It's interesting that there's a Vitamin D Council and I've been with them for a lot of years.
And what that is just research on vitamin D. It has been going on for a long time. And everybody I think would agree that vitamin D is essential. Even physicians would say, yep, essential for your bones. But I think what people don't realize is that vitamin D is not so much of a vitamin, it's a hormone, okay? Now there's four ways that your body makes vitamin D, okay? There's four ways. I think it's important to understand that. Okay. And that's what I sort of want to talk about. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin. When you see the word fat-soluble, in a lot of teaching, fat-soluble means you've got to be careful, like vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin K. Those are what they call fat-soluble vitamins. Okay. ADEK, fat-soluble vitamin. And we switched out vitamin E with exercise because exercise a lot more beneficial to your body than vitamin E.
It's not that I don't like vitamin E, but you can eat vitamin E. Okay. You don't have to take it as a supplement. In my opinion, there's better ones. So you have water-soluble vitamins, your B vitamins for example. Vitamin C, the other vitamin C, not coffee. Those are water-soluble vitamins, okay? Now, I want you to think for a minute because you have to understand the difference. Water-soluble means if you don't need it, you're going to pee it out. Okay. That's water-soluble. Fat-soluble it stays in your tissue, but this is a huge but, but fat-soluble doesn't mean they're dangerous. I look at it the other way, because when you're eating enough fat, you are going to absorb those vitamins much more. It's essential to eat saturated fat. So when you see a piece of steak, when you see the fat in it, you go, "Oh, gee." You've been taught, well, that's not really good for you.
It's the opposite. Cheese is mostly fat. You look at an egg, what you can see is the yolk and you think fat. And rightly so, but it's good fat. These are vitamins that are absorbed in that. I don't look at vitamin D and go, "Oh, it's fat-soluble, be careful." Nah. Look, is it possible it becomes toxic? All I say to you guys is that look, the waiting rooms of the emergency departments in Canada and the United States are not being filled with people that have an overdose of vitamins. Okay? They're just not. I'm not saying that there's never a possible side effect. It's like a red herring. It's put out there by the pharmaceutical industry that runs the medical industry, and they don't like vitamins. Guys, can I say this as a blanket statement about vitamin D, a blanket statement? In terms of therapeutics, even for the pandemic that we've been through. In terms of a therapeutic, there is nothing like vitamin D, nothing like it, nothing like it in terms of the therapeutic.
And our health minister here in Canada on Canada's Day, didn't say it then, but I'm bringing it up. She said that vitamin D was fake news. Imagine making a statement dismissing something like that in a nanosecond, "Oh, it's fake news," when you know nothing about it. Okay. So, it's a fat-soluble vitamin. You got that? Meaning you need fat to absorb it properly. Guys, there's four ways your body makes vitamin D. Got it? It's called VitDerma. Vitamin D on the skin from the sun, okay? The sun, get sun. Don't be scared of the sun. That it was brought to you by Johnson and Johnson, scared of the sun. The boogeyman, the sun. No, don't burn. I'm not asking you to burn. But in 20 minutes, don't put any sunscreen. In 20 minutes, you're going to get 10,000 IUs of vitamin D, in 20 minutes in the sun.
If you are a dark skinned person, you need double, 40 minutes to get 10,000 IUs. You have dark skin? You need more vitamin D. You need more sun. Not less, more, because of your pigmentation. And by the way, it's interesting that people that get on The Reset find they can get in the sun more. And we'll talk about why that is, okay? We'll talk about why that is, why they don't burn in the sun like maybe they used to. Okay. And no one again, please, I'm not ever asking anyone to burn in the sun. You don't need to burn in the sun to get your vitamin D. The best way to get vitamin D is through the sun. Okay. And again, in terms of getting upset is one of the most important therapeutics, nevermind the virus, that's one. But for cancer, cardiovascular, your brain, your body is a human solar panel and you need that vitamin D. And the more we study it, the more and more it's almost like for depression, for Alzheimer's, for cognitive, for this new one, schizophrenic.
If they would just wheel the patients out when the sun was out and get them to get some sunlight, it would be unbelievable, the results they would get. But anyway, you guys know better, so I know I'm preaching to the choir. Best way to get vitamin D is when the sun is up. Now, it's winter time and you can't get vitamin D on your skin. And by the way, specifically, there's two things that happen specifically with vitamin D on your skin, okay? Specifically, okay? You get it otherwise, but one, you elevate your levels of nitric oxide. Isn't that important? What is nitric oxide? NO, what is that? That's a molecule for your blood vessels. Relaxing the blood vessels, allows more blood flow. Imagine the sun coming down on your skin and you're producing nitric oxide. Isn't that important, guys? That's why cardiovascular, that is why Alzheimer's, that is why dementia. You have more blood supply in your 60,000 miles of blood vessels in your body, vitamin D on the skin.
Two, you have receptors, your T-cells. T-cells are Navy SEALs. It's your immune system. Someone was asking me yesterday about the immune system. My doc, how do I know if my immune system is good? Well, subjectively, if you're not sick all the time, I mean, with a cold or a virus or whatever, it gives you a good indication that your immune system's pretty good. But how do you really measure it? Well, you measure it by how much vitamin D you have in your... And it's probably the best, because it tells you that your vitamin D levels, your D hydroxy. And I'll tell you where that's made, by the way. But when you are in the sun, nitric oxide and your little antennas for your T-cells pick that up. Another thing that happens, especially with sun on the skin is that it helps to repair your DNA inside yourselves. Specifically sun on the skin, you're collecting vitamin D and it does repairs on your body. It's anti-aging. So when they always tell you, "Oh, don't get sun because it'll wrinkle you up." It's the exact opposite.
Now, did I say burn? Nope. I didn't say that. It's a fat-soluble vitamin. And one way to get it, vitamin D, and the best way is with the sun. Okay. Now, what's the second way? The second way is food. Okay, food. Egg, meat, and cheese. See, vitamin D is only found in the animal kingdom. That is why the Inuit, way up north, the reason they don't lack vitamin D, they see the sun when it's 80 below zero. They're not getting a lot of vitamin D on their skin, but they eat a lot of vitamin D because they're eating seal and fish and fat and blubber. Okay. They love blubber. There's vitamin D in that. And that's why when you take a supplement of cod liver oil, do you have to be my age to remember that, cod liver oil? They gave it to you because of rickets. They didn't even realize the vitamin A in there was good for you too, but the vitamin D in cod liver oil. Okay?
So when you're eating the animal fat in the animal kingdom, you're getting vitamin D. Now, the problem with that source of vitamin D is you need to eat it every day. It doesn't last long. It's not like the sun where you get benefits for days on end. Whereas in food, it's short-lived. You need to repeat, repeat, repeat. Do you think there's a reason I love eggs, meat, and cheese? Does anybody ever get too much vitamin D from eating from the animal kingdom? Never. Okay. And mommy, by the way, in vitamin D for that, because somebody again was a question asked. What about if I'm pregnant? You better be eating eggs, meat, and cheese. What about if I'm breastfeeding? Well, then you really need eggs, meat, and cheese because now you're transferring that vitamin D. Your breast milk has a lot of vitamin D. If you're eating vitamin D, and I actually recommend supplementation. Okay. So, you can get it from the sun. You can get it from food in the animal kings... not in the plant. Now, you can go get cereal. Okay.
Yesterday when I said this is the poison section of the grocery store, enter in at your own risk. Remember that from yesterday? Well, when you go in there and you see fortified with vitamin D, well, first of all, it's vitamin D2. You're not even absorbing that stuff. That's fake news. That's fake vitamin D2. Guys, you don't want D2. D2 does nothing for you. You want D3. Okay. So when the food is fortified, oh, you know it's fortified. Those are fake vitamins. I'm sorry to tell you that. The poison, don't go eat cereal to get vitamin D, okay? Now the third place that you get vitamin D, where it's converted to D hydroxy, and don't get uptight with names, guys. Okay. This is the one you do the blood test on. Okay. So when you want to do a blood test of D hydroxy 25 it's called, that is finding out your serum blood vitamin D levels. Because what happens, D hydroxy is converted in the liver. You need a clean liver, guys. And this is really good. Okay. What happens with D hydroxy?
So the sun, food, and D hydroxy, the conversion there is really good because this helps you as you get your levels optimized, your serum levels of vitamin D go up. That's called D hydroxy. That happens in the liver. That's how they measure it. Okay. They measure it through the liver. Now, you get that from the sun. You get that from the food or you get that from supplementation, okay? In the liver of vitamin D. And it's good for breast, especially breast cancer. Ladies, there's a direct link between low levels of vitamin D and breast cancer. There's a direct link. And men, remember, whenever I say breast cancer, men, you need to clue in and go, "Oh, prostate for me." Breast for women, prostate for men. They're the same cancer. What makes things grow in the prostate and the breast? Estrogen, insulin, hammer those down. But a direct relationship with your D hydroxy levels of vitamin D and breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer, pancreatic cancer, brain cancer.
Why do we see so much cancer? Sugar, insulin, crappy carbs, estrogen, chemicals, too much estrogen, xenoestrogens, and three, low levels of vitamin D hydroxy converted in the liver, very low levels. And in North America, 80 to 90% have low levels of vitamin D. And in India, because just remember the Indian variant, now they call it the Delta variant. You know what they found out in India? 90% percent of the population in India are deficient in vitamin D, 90% of them. It's craziness. But in North America, I believe the statistics are just about the same. And again, I was talking to another person yesterday and I was telling them, look, get your vitamin D levels. You'll probably in Canada. And I don't know what it's like everywhere. But in Canada, just about you have to pay for that test. Why is that? Because the government, again, we heard from the government officials, all vitamin D is fake news. It's fake news. They don't want to hear about it. Monkey can't see intent here. They want to close their eyes to the truth, guys.
And if you have low levels of vitamin D, if you don't have optimized levels of vitamin D, you're in big do-do. And they'll scream blue murder, your vitamin D levels are too high. If your D hydroxy, okay? And this happens, it can happen. It's not going to kill you, but this is what happens. Some people have high levels of vitamin D. You know why? Because they got fatty liver, that's why. They got problem with their liver or they got problems with their kidneys. And you have problem with your liver and you have problems with your kidneys when you are a carboholic. So when I see someone on the other end of the spectrum with high levels of vitamin D, I tell them you got work to do. You need to get on The Reset. Now, stop taking vitamin D supplement. You don't need it. But you need to fix your liver. And the fourth way... Okay. And now, I'm going to bring it in. The fourth way you make vitamin D is in your kidneys. This is where the calcium comes in for your bones. Okay?
So your vitamin D coming through your intestines, your kidneys play a game with your vitamin D levels. And they play with the calcium levels. Okay. So, just follow me here. This is medicine, vitamin D is for your bones only. They got their blinders on. And so when they look at numbers of vitamin D, they're thinking strictly calcium. And you could get kidney stones if your calcium is too high, right? And that's kidneys. There was a case in, I think it was Windsor. They've made the headlines. Too much vitamin D and the person had kidney stones. I guess it could happen, but it's rare. Anyway, between your kidneys. Okay. So, follow me. Between your kidneys, you're absorbing vitamin D, and your kidneys with your parathyroid. See, your thyroid is right here. Okay. There is your thyroid gland. You can't see it, but I'm pointing to my throat.
It's a butterfly-like shape, organ. And on the side of your thyroid is what you call the parathyroid glands, okay? Again, you never think of this stuff. You don't have to think about it. But between the parathyroid and your kidneys, they're talking to each other. And if your parathyroid in your body says, oh, I need more calcium in bones. Your parathyroid regulates. Of course, comes from the brain, headquarters first, right? So, your parathyroid glands. Now, if you're too low in calcium, you know what happens? It's not calcium you need, it's vitamin D. But if you're too low in calcium, you know what happens? Your parathyroid screams to your kidneys, take that calcium out of bones. You know how you get osteoporosis? That's part of it. Because you're low in vitamin D to start and your body goes, hey, I need some more calcium. My vitamin D is low.
Parathyroids, now you're emptying your calcium from your bones and putting it into your bloodstream. And the reverse happens. This is why we love when you're supplementing. I love the vitamin D, D3 with K2. Okay. What's vitamin K2 do? It takes calcium out of your bloodstream and puts it in your bones where it belongs. Okay. But again, what destroys your kidneys more than anything else? Just ask a diabetic. Every street corner just about has a dialysis machine because of the epidemic we see today of kidney disease and it's caused by our diet. It's not caused by vitamin D. It's caused by our diet full of sugar and crappy carbs. There's nothing harder on your kidneys than sugar. It's not salt, it's sugar, okay? It's sugar. And so, this is how you absorb vitamin D. And the moral of the story is you need to get in the sun. And if you can't, you need to supplement.
Food is alright, but are you eating eggs, meat, and cheese every day? But guys, the test that if... Look, you might have to pay for it. Unfortunately, we live in a world where a lot of times you have to pay for vitamin D to get the test done. But I think once a year is not a bad idea to get that done if you have to pay for it, even out of your pocket. It's worth it, in my opinion. Because I will really would like to see that number. Okay. Now in the United States, I like to see it above 60. Okay. In the United States, I love to see vitamin D levels to be above 60, 60 to a 100. In Canada, on Canada Day, the Americans have their big July 4th coming, but Canada, we have July 1st. And in Canada, the numbers I like are between about, I'll live with 125 to 250.
So if you can get that at 150, 200 mark, Dr. Martin is happy with your vitamin D levels. And 90% of the population are not there in Canada nor are they near 60 in the United States. And the reasons are, first of all, they're scared skinny of the sun. That sounds like a book, scared skinny of the sun. Yeah, they are. So, little bit of teaching this morning. Okay, vitamin D. Linus Pauling won the Nobel Prize in medicine, smart guy. Linus Pauling, what a guy on his research on vitamin C. And I've always said this from the day he won the Nobel Prize, he only missed by one letter in the alphabet. He was talking about C and I talk about D. And now as time passes, the research on vitamin D is conclusive. It's not finished because we should be always researching it. There's no money in vitamin D. People don't make money on vitamin D. But I'll tell you guys, it is a very important vitamin. Okay.
So, tomorrow is Question and Answer Friday. We appreciate your questions. And I try and answer some of the questions even during the week because of some of the conversations I have. On Canada Day, I want to thank my Canadian staff, Nick and Ginette, Brandi. You guys do a tremendous job on our private Facebook group. You guys really do. I appreciate you guys. I appreciate my dear friends on Facebook and people that download our podcast. We appreciate you very much, guys. We love you guys. Join the Martin Clinic Facebook group. The Reset, thank you again, making it number one on the hit parade. Number one health book in Canada. I think it would be number one in the States too. I think we're very close to that. Okay. Now, we thank you very much. Love you guys. Talk to you soon.
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