What If We Got Sunlight All Wrong? The Truth About Vitamin D & Chronic Disease - The Dr. Hyman Show

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[00:00]
Dr. Mark Hyman
Coming up on this episode of the.
[00:02]
Dr. Hyman show, you really could make a dramatic difference by just getting people's levels of vitamin d up to 45 nanograms per milliliter. And that would literally lead to 400,000 fewer premature deaths a year. That is no joke.
[00:16]
You don't need more caffeine or another stress supplement. You might just need more magnesium. Magnesium supports sleep, mood, energy and focus, but most of us are missing it. That's why I recommend Magnesium Breakthrough by Bioptimizers. It combines seven forms of magnesium for results you can feel in your mood, sleep, focus and more. It now for 10%@buyoptimizers.com Hyman your body will feel the difference before we jump into today's episode, I want to share a few ways you can go deeper on your health journey.
[00:42]
Guest Speaker
While I wish I could work with.
[00:44]
Dr. Mark Hyman
Everyone one on one, there just isn't enough time in the day. So I've built several tools to help.
[00:48]
You take control of your health.
[00:49]
If you're looking for guidance, education and community, check out my private membership the Hymenhive for live Q&As, exclusive content and direct connection for real time lab testing and personalized insights into your biology, visit Function Health. You can also Explore my curated doctor trusted supplements and health products@doctor hyman.com and if you prefer to listen without any breaks, don't forget you can enjoy every episode of this podcast ad free with Hyman plus just open Apple Podcasts and tap try free to start your 7 day free trial.
[01:19]
Finding safety with sun exposure is important. So you do it right, you don't overdo it. And but you kind of need the sun for many reasons because of our hormonal systems, our circadian rhythms, vitamin D, which is critical for our health. And I do get why people are a little worried about sun exposure. I mean, according to the Bio working group or EWG, more than 2 million Americans get skin cancer every year and half of those who live to 65 get at least once. Now these skin cancers that are basal cell and squamous cells are not fatal. They don't spread. There can be disfiguring. My grandmother had a big one on her scalp which was terrible. She never wanted to get it treated and it was kind of nasty. But basically the squamous and basal cell cancers that you get on your skin are linked to sun exposure. Melanoma, not so much. And that can occur in non sun exposed areas and be a little bit of a different animal. Now the other thing about sun exposure Is particularly on your face, it's going to cause something called oxidative stress, and that leads to inflammation. And oxidation is kind of like your car resting, an apple turning brown in the air. But it's really the same thing that happens on your skin. You get wrinkles. So the wrinkling is from the oxidative stress from the sun. You see people who've sort of been in the sun a long time, they get kind of wrinkly, leathery skin. And ladies who wear parasols have this beautiful porcelain skin as they get older. So your face is something you definitely want to protect. But also, we're supposed to be out in the sun. And so staying out of the sun or over relying on sunblock actually can cause issues because vitamin D is critical for mood, for energy, for thyroid function, for cancer, protection, for immune function, preventing infections, even Covid. And, you know, it's a problem if you don't get enough vitamin D. And the problem is most of us don't get vitamin D because we don't live and work outside anymore. Most of us are inside most of the time, and we get deficient in this really important vitamin called vitamin D. And the truth is that, you know, probably 80% of Americans are in deficient or have insufficient levels of vitamin D levels that don't protect them optimally from things that you want to have vitamin D protect you from, Whether it's osteoporosis or depression or cancer, or to boost your immune system so you don't get things like the flu or Covid. I mean, if you have a high vitamin D levels, your reduction in flu is 75%. That's more than the flu vaccine. So it really is a powerful nutrient. It's very safe at the recommended doses. It's easy to take, there's no side effects. It's very cheap. And it's. It's such an incredibly important vitamin for optimizing your health in every way, including longevity. So let's talk about vitamin D a little bit now. People think they should be avoiding the sun to get. Not get skin cancer. But vitamin D actually protects you against skin cancer, believe it or not, and reduce the risk of melanoma dramatically in many other cancers, not just, not just skin cancer. It actually reduces overall mortality by 7%. So just having good vitamin D levels reduced risk of death by 7%. And vitamin D, you know, we used to get from sun running around naked, hunting, gathering, and also we were living in colder climates. We would eat fish, wild fish like herring and sardines, and Mackerel and these, these fatty small fish have pretty high levels of vitamin D, also mushrooms. So if you're foraging and going for mushroom, there's a lot of like porcini mushrooms have the highest levels of vitamin D, but it's still hard to get enough. We're not getting these foods anymore. So, you know, we saw such a, with the Industrial revolution, this incredible advent of rickets and vitamin D deficiency and it's one of the, you know, major areas where we've seen a public health improvement by getting awareness of vitamin D. Then it's been fortified in milk. Milk doesn't necessarily have vitamin D. It does actually doesn't have vitamin D. It only has vitamin D because it's added in to the milk. So if you think you need vitamin D to get your, I mean milk to get your vitamin D D, that's not actually true. You don't, you don't get a vitamin D for milk only because it's added. Now most of the problem with vitamin D is that doctors don't understand how to diagnose it. They might even order the wrong test. They don't know the right treatment, they don't know the doses, they don't understand its importance. And they see the reference levels on lab tests which are typically like 20 nanograms per deciliter. Now that is ridiculously low. And I think if you look at what's optimal, it should be over 45 or 50. And so many, many people are in this sort of borderline area of less than 20 or 20 to 50 where they do, they do need more vitamin D. Now most doctors think, oh, you don't have rickets, you, you don't have vitamin deficiency or your, your number's like, you know, 20 or 30, you're fine. And they're actually wrong. And the question is, what's the dose you need to not get rickets? It's probably like 30 units a day. It's not what we need for optimal health. What we need for optimal health might be more like 5,000 units a day. I mean, even the government's upper limit is, you know, four or five thousand a day is a safe dose. You're not going to get into with that. Some people are, you know, very good at absorbing it, others aren't. Some people need actually up to 10,000 units a day. It was one study where they gave healthy young adults 10,000 units of vitamin D for three months and there was no toxicity from that. Now you can't get toxicity if you take a lot more. I mean, and it can cause a problem, but it's far lower than that. You know, we, we think, in fact, your level has to be over 250. Even though the reference range on the labs is up to 100. You know, it doesn't really become toxic until about 250. So the real question is, you know, how much should we be taking on a daily basis? And I think they're depending on you and your vitamin D level, your sun exposure. I mean, I have a friend who lives on the beach and, you know, goes out surfing every day, and his vitamin D level is about 45, which is pretty good with no vitamin D supplementation. But I rarely see that unless he's living in Mexico on the beach all the time. But if you, if you, if you are, you probably need between 2 to 5,000 units a day of vitamin D. You know, what's really concerning is when you look at the data, you know, it's, it's 80% of us who are insufficient or deficient. This is either frankly, deficient, let's say less than 30, which is now the reference range on most labs, although some still say 20. And, and those who are between 20 and 50. So I think that that's important because vitamin D deficiency is linked to many cancers, high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, depression. We call it seasonal affective disorder or sad. Fibromyalgia. I mean, you know, people have muscle aches and pains. These are often from, from low vitamin D levels, bone loss, obviously, osteoporosis, even autoimmune diseases. Multiple sclerosis is found in much higher levels in northern latitudes and where there's low vitamin D. And so vitamin D is really important for, for everything, including autoimmune disease. And it's really not hard to do. I mean, you really, you know, could, could make a dramatic difference by just getting people's levels of vitamin d up to 45 nanograms per milliliter, and that would literally lead to 400,000 premature deaths a year. That is no joke. There was one study that showed that if your vitamin D levels were low, you were 75% more likely to end up in the hospital or in the icu. From COVID If you're, if your vitamin D levels were over 50 from one big Israeli study, there was no death, like zero. Now, that may be not true. If you keep doing the study, and it may be a little bit bigger, there may be occasional deaths. But the point is here that vitamin D is highly protective. So, you know, I think, you know, we probably should have a vitamin D mandate in this country. Now when my patients get their levels up, they feel better, they have more mood improvements, their muscles recover better, their thyroid works better, their energy is better, their whole system works better. And so it's a really important thing to make sure you get. So how does your body make vitamin D? Now we obviously never had to take supplements when we were hunting and gathering and evolving because we're outside most of the time. And in fact, 80 to 100% of the vitamin D that we need is created because of exposure to the sun. And when you get a little bit of a sunburn, you know, we call a minimal erythromal dose, which means basically the dose that makes your skin a bit red. You know, when you get a sunburn, that might produce between 10 to 25,000 units of vitamin D in our bodies, which is great. The problem is most of us don't get that kind of sun exposure. And a lot of times we use a lot of sunscreen, which is not necessarily bad. Well, it depends on which sunscreen you're using. But they block a lot of the benefits of getting vitamin D. So you might be out in the sun, but using sunblock and then not getting vitamin D. Now if you live in a northern climate, you're for sure not getting enough sun and vitamin D, especially in the winter. And you're probably not eating a lot of the, you know, porcini mushrooms and background herring and cod liver oil. Also the other problem is, as we get older, our, our skin does not convert the sun into vitamin D in the way that we did when we were younger. So the average 70 year old creates only 25% of the vitamin D that a 20 year old does. Also, depending on your skin color, if you have dark skin, if you're African American, you basically will produce far less vitamin D and you need a lot more sun exposure. So most African Americans are very deficient in vitamin D. I also recommend that everybody supplement. Now, I think it's one of those basic supplements that everybody should get. It makes such a difference. And you should have a level between 45 to 75, let's say. And the only way to know what that is is to test. You need to test and find out what's going on. And you can guess, but you often will be off. Some people need 2,000 units, 5,000, 10,000 units to get their vitamin levels up to, you know, the ideal level. And, and you can do that through your doctor or, you know, I co founded a company called Function Health. You go to functionhealth.com you can join the wait list and get testing to actually helps you to get your actual levels, to know what you're doing, to check it over time. I think if you use the code young forever, you can get in and actually get off the wait list. So try that and see how you, how your vitamin D levels are. But it's important to know and, and often doctors say, oh, don't worry, just take the vitamin D. But you really want to know what your levels are. Also, if you want to get sun exposure, the best is 10 to 2 in obviously the summertime 10am to 2pm, full body sun exposure for 20 minutes. I mean you can cover your face or put some luck on your face, but you really want to have full body exposure. I mean it only works in the summer and only works if you live below Atlanta. So I recommend taking vitamin D and it probably, probably 2 to 5,000 of vitamin D3. It's important to take vitamin D3, not vitamin D2. Most doctors will prescribe vitamin D2, which is unfortunate, but make sure you get the right vitamin D. And again, it depends on your age, your genetics, where you live, how much time you're in the sun time of year. But in the summer I don't need it. But it's actually not true you need it during the summer unless you're out there all the time. So check your vitamin D levels and find out what's going on. Now what about protecting yourself from skin cancer? That's important, right? You want to make sure you don't get skin cancer, particularly on your face. So I think, you know, if you want to go out in the sun, great, use sunscreen on your face if you want to. You're worried about getting a sunburn. If you're really out there a lot, you can use high SPF sunscreen, but you know you're going to get vitamin D from your supplements, so you should be okay. The high spf, you know, it kind of gives people a sense of security that you can go out there and just burn up. But you want to be careful. You don't, you don't want to do that. You want to make sure you just, you know, moderate your sun exposure, avoiding the high, high ultraviolet radiation exposures that you can get from prolonged sun exposure. So basically use sunscreen and also, by the way, you want to use sunscreen that doesn't have crap in it. And we'll talk about that in a minute. So over the counter sunscreens are fine, but, but they're often full of crappy harmful ingredients. EWG found 80% of the 1700 products they looked at that were sunscreen, had inferior sun protection or had like really weird ingredients like oxybenzone or other parabens. I had a woman once who was in my pract and she had super high levels of toxins in her urine from parabens and she's like a super health nut and I'm like, what are you, what are you doing? What are you exposed to with plastics or chemicals? She said, oh well, you know, I use a ton of sunscreen all the time, every day. And so she had high levels of these toxic petrochemical plastics in her urine that were coming from the sunscreen. Now a lot of it wasn't getting out of her body, so it wasn't great. Also you should be worried about sunscreen with vitamin A. If you use vitamin A, it actually can make make the skin cancer more likely. So I would be particularly careful of that. But the bottom line is choose, you know, good average low SPF sunscreen. Don't rely on it for total protection. Cover your face mostly and you'll be able to go out and enjoy the sun. So what are the seven strategies I use to get safe sun exposure? Well, don't be afraid of the sun on your vacation. Don't obviously get overe, right because you know, getting overexposed doesn't just ruin your vacation give you a sunburn. It can lead to long term issues with skin damage and skin cancers and more wrinkles which nobody wants. So try to get at least 20 minutes of sun exposure every day first thing in the morning, ideally, which is the morning. Sunlight helps trigger your brain to release chemicals and hormones like melatonin. It kind of resets your circadian rhythms. It helps mood, healthy aging. Use sunscreen, but only when you need it. And particularly use the safe sunscreens. You can check out Skin Deep, which is a database from database from ewg. And it's great. Be proactive about protection. So don't, you know, overdo it, right? Try to get shade, umbrella, tree, you know, hat, I mean protective clothing. That's fine if you want to don't get skin cancer, which I don't want to get. Make sure you cover up. Sunglasses are important. You don't actually get obviously sunburn in your eyes, but you get cataracts from prolonged sun exposure without UV blocking sunglasses. So that's important. Don't get burned. Burning is really bad because that leads to more risk of skin cancer. Choose a skin cancer has optimal UVA protection don't do tanning beds. Get vitamin D which will help reduce your risk of skin cancer. And you know there's good evidence that it's sunblock prevents squamous cells but not necessarily basal cells. So make sure you get skin checks. Get your skin checked for cancer on a regular basis every year. Make sure you get a good dermatologist look at it and they can get things when they're early and they're really not a problem. You don't die from skin cancer except melanoma, which is not necessarily sun related. Also again, make sure you check the ingredients. You don't want to have parabens, petrochemicals, lead toxins, they all get absorbed in your skin. Go to The EWG website, EWG.org you can look at the sunscreen guide, the Skin Deep guide. Also stay hydrated. You know, drinking out caffeine, having alcohol on the beach makes us dehydrated and, and that can actually just make you feel crappy and not make your vacation fun.
[16:51]
Guest Speaker
Stick to take sunscreen for example. This is something, you know, summertime blowing it's skin cancer and putting on sunscreen and is it okay, like what should we be doing and how do we.
[17:02]
Dr. Mark Hyman
Figure out what's going on?
[17:03]
Guest Speaker
I mean a lot of the sunscreens also have compounds that destroy reefs too. There's like reef deaths to the coral reefs. So not only killing yourself, but you're on the reefs, right?
[17:13]
Well, there's a lot of the chemical sunscreens like Avobenzone. I don't even know all of the names of them, the chemical sunscreens and many of those are potential endocrine disrupting chemicals as well. The flip side is Mark, I'm one of those people who grew up in the south, had more than my share of sunburns, had my first skin cancer when I was 37. So I also wanted to slow down skin aging and wrinkles and skin cancer. So we kind of have to say, well how do you get the protection you want without putting yourself at risk? I personally am a real fan of the zinc and titanium, the mineral based sunscreens or even just a hat covering your skin, staying out of the sun in the middle of the day. I mean I think there's a lot of other things we can do that are going to be safer for us and safer for the planet. One of my favorite one stop shopping places to learn more about safety levels and which either skin care or sunscreens. One of the things we do or don't want is the Environmental Working Group. And I know you've been a big supporter of their work for years. I think they were some of the pioneers really raising awareness. And what I love about them is they have a safe cosmetics database that you can search by type. So you could search sunscreens or you could search by brand. Plug in your favorite brand and see how it rates to others on their list.
[18:34]
Dr. Mark Hyman
Foreign.
[18:37]
If you're living on caffeine, constantly tired, and feel like your stress is stuck on high, there's a good chance you're low in magnesium. Magnesium is critical for turning food into energy, calming your nervous system, helping you sleep, and regulating your mood. And here's the kicker. Up to 80% of us aren't getting enough. That kind of chronic deficiency may contribute to feelings of burnout, occasional tension, irritability, and the kind of fatigue that coffee can't fix. That's why I recommend Magnesium Breakthrough by Bioptimizers. It's the only formula that combines all seven essential forms of magnesium magnesium, including glycinate for calm and citrate for digestion. Most magnesium supplements only offer one or two forms. Magnesium Breakthrough covers them all for deeper sleep, better focus, less tension, and real support during stressful times. If your body's feeling off, this might be the missing link. Try it risk free@bioptimizers.com HYMAN and get 10% off your order.
[19:32]
Guest Speaker
As a fat soluble vitamin, Vitamin D needs to be absorbed with fats from our diet and then it's stored in our body, in our fat tissue, in our liver, similar to other fat soluble vitamins like A, E and K. This episode will help you understand the crucial role that vitamin D plays in our health and why maintaining adequate levels super important Now Vitamin D is best known for its critical role in bone health and an immune system function. It enhances calcium absorption, which is really important. That's how calcium gets in your body with the help of vitamin D. And that's why a deficiency in vitamin D leads to bone deformities and things like rickets in children and osteoporosis in adults. But vitamin D does so much more than just support our bones. It's a powerhouse for our immune system. It helps fight inflammation. It helps reduce the risk of all chronic diseases which we suffer from, from obesity, type 2 diabetes to heart disease and dementia and autoimmunity. And that could go on and on. Mental health, depression. I mean, the list goes on. Now it even plays a role in lowering the risk of autoimmune conditions and reduce your risk of Infection. And this is really crazy data. But the COVID pandemic highlighted the importance of vitamin D and immunity, with many studies showing that low levels of vitamin D increase the risk of severe infection, hospitalization and death. In other words, if your vitamin D was low, you are more likely to end up with a severe infection in the hospital or die. Now, beyond bone health and immunity, vitamin D has a lot of jobs, including thyroid and many, many other things. It, it affects the expression of over a thousand genes. It's more like a hormone than a vitamin. And it supports the brain really critically by aiding in cognition, helping with memory, mood and depression. And it also helps protect against really bad things like neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Vitamin D is also critical for hormonal balance, fertility and gut health. Literally everything, okay? Everything. Vitamins are not like drugs that have a single action on a single receptor with a single effect effect for a single disease. Vitamin D and other vitamins are what we call pleomorphic. They have many, many, many effects in the body, and that's what makes them so amazing. And they're very safe and effective and they have no side effects because they're the things your body uses to do its job. And so you just need to have optimal levels. Not overdose, obviously, but the optimal levels. Now, despite its importance, many people are really deficient or insufficient in this vital nutrient and they miss out on many of the protective benefits. So let's explore why vitamin D deficiency is so common and how it impacts our health and also what we can do to ensure we're getting enough of this essential vitamin. Now, we all hear about the benefits of vitamin D, but what exactly is it and what does it do in our bodies? Well, as I mentioned, vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, which means it must be absorbed with fats from our diet like other fat soluble vitamins like A, E and K. And it's stored in our body's fat tissue and liver. So let's, let's sort of dive into bone health and immunity, which are the most well known effects, but there's many, many more. Vitamin D is obviously known for its critical role in bone health and in supporting immune function. And how does it work? Well, it enhances the absorption of calcium, which is why deficiency is linked to all kinds of bone deformities like rickets and osteomalacia, which is bone softening and osteoporosis in adults. In fact, if you want to do a cheap vitamin D test, you just stick your thumb on your shin and push in hard and if it hurts, you are likely either insufficient or vitamin D deficient. So just try that now, but not if you're driving, okay? In addition to bone health, vitamin D is a super powerhouse when it comes to supporting our immune system and fighting inflammation. And that's why having sufficient levels is associated with lower risk of so many chronic diseases that are all inflammatory diseases, things like obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and so forth. And also diseases like autoimmune disease, which includes multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes. But that's not all. Vitamin D is also a key player in reducing the risk of infection. In fact, if your vitamin D level is adequately elevated, it means in the high normal range, not like what the reference range is, but optimal levels. Your risk of getting the flu is 75% lower. That's better than the flu vaccine, guys. So this is really cheap, really inexpensive and it's really safe. It also helps support our immune system and it protects us from just getting sick and cold. And I, I get my vitamin D levels up and I never get sick. I really, I don't remember last time I had a cold because I just take my vitamin D every day and it's just does its job and I'm good to go. Now it does this by modulating the production of immune cells and immune molecules or messengers like cytokines. It regulates T cells and B cells. B, T cells are your immune cells like your lymphocytes and natural killer cells. B cells make antibodies and these play a critical role in our innate and adaptive immune systems. The ancient immune system, which is the innate immune system, has been there forever and is sort of a general, all purpose but not specific immune system. And the adaptive immune system, the immune system that sort of makes laser guided bombs like you get antibodies to Covid, well that's a target against Covid. That's what your immune system does. Now the COVID 19 pandemic shined a very much needed light on the impact of vitamin D on immunity. We learned from countless studies that low vitamin D levels increase the risk of severe infection, hospitalization and death. And this is just scratching the surface, like if you look at the data, it was quite striking. So out of Israel, if your level of vitamin D was over 50 nanograms per deciliter, we're going to get talking about what the level should be be when that, that's probably the optimal level. If your level was 50 or more, your risk of death from COVID was zero, like zero. That's amazing. And if your vitamin D levels are low, you were 70% more likely to end up in the hospital, end up in the ICU or die from COVID Now, what else does vitamin D do for the body? Well, it's an incredibly powerful vitamin that affects, as I mentioned, over a thousand genes. We're gonna put all the links and the references of everything I'm saying in the show notes, so don't worry. Now, most people agree it's actually more of a hormone than a vitamin. It impacts all kinds of cellular functions across all of our organs and tissues. For example, the brain uses vitamin D to support cognition to mood and mental health. You've heard of seasonal affective disorder or SAD or to winter blues. Well, that's vitamin D deficiency, folks. That's why they say use a UV light light because UV light makes your body make vitamin D. But you can also just take vitamin D. It also protects against neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. It also plays a role in hormone health and fertility. And our gut health is also affected by beneficially modulating the gut microbiome and enhancing overall digestive health. And just more. There's just more. It's a long list. I could. This could be a 10 hour podcast. There are whole books written on this. But I encourage you check out Michael Hollock's work and his book. He's quite good on this topic. And Robert Heaney, they were both really profoundly deep vitamin D researchers. So if you want to get geeky on it, you should go check that out. Now, the problem is that many people are deficient or insufficient. The difference is what's the reference range of the lab versus what's the optimal range? Right. So if you take a bunch of Americans who are all working, living inside, who put on sunblock all the time, and who don't really get much sun exposure, the quote, normal level in the population of vitamin D will be on the low side, like 20 or 30. That's not the optimal level. What if we're all running around like hunters and gatherers in our loincloths and out in the sun all day and we're getting all the vitamin D we need. We'd probably be like 50 to 100 lifeguards who are sitting out on the beach all day. They get levels of up to 250 and it's safe for them. That's just from the sun, not from taking vitamin D supplements. So when you're insufficient or deficient, you're Missing out on all the protective benefits. Exactly how many people are really deficient? Now, hang on your hats folks, because I think it's about a billion people. Now the reference, the references are in the show notes, but a billion people, that's a lot of people. In the US alone, 70% of people have suboptimal levels, which is a lot of people. That's, you know, seven out of 10 people. And I think partly that's probably why Covid hit us so hard, aside from the fact that we're all metabolically unhealthy of chronic disease, which didn't help. But all that partially is linked to vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency. Now this widespread deficiency highlights just how important is to ensure that we're getting enough vitamin D for optimal health. So what, what are the symptoms? How do you know if you're deficient? Well, there's some clues, right? You might get sick a lot. You might have muscle aches or joint pain. In fact. In fact, one of the things that vitamin D deficiency can cause is fibromyalgia or muscle aches and pains. Not just soft bones or painful bones or aches, but actual painful and impaired muscle function. You might have a history of a fracture, osteoporosis or brittle bones, right? That can be a clue. You might have things like depression or anxiety or mood or memory issues. Maybe you'll have also hair loss, fatigue, hormonal balances like pcos. In fact, vitamin D is so critical for thyroid function. Without vitamin D, you can't actually bind the thyroid hormone to the receptors on the nucleus of your cells and do what it's supposed to do. And so you end up with poorly functioning thyroid. So the list goes on and on. Now, if any of these symptoms sound familiar to you, you might want to get your levels checked. In fact, scratch that, everybody should get their vitamin D level checked. Just baselines like your blood pressure or your blood sugar or your cholesterol. You got to know your vitamin D level. But for some silly reason, I don't know, sort of because maybe nutrition is considered a four stepchild of medicine. Vitamin D is not included in your regular routine lab test. So you're probably going to have to ask your doctor for it. Now this is partly why I started Function Health. Now this is a company I co founded, which is a health platform that allows people to get access to their own lab data. We test vitamin D and lots of other biomarkers, over 110 biomarkers to give you a full picture of your health. We look at nutrients, not just vitamin D, but lots of nutrients, hormones, cardiometabolic health, and we can see where you're at. Out of whack, we see that 67% of people are deficient in one or more nutrients at the minimum level for deficiency disease, not the optimal level for health. So when we broaden the aperture and we look at what the optimum levels are, it's probably like 90% or more.
[29:53]
Dr. Mark Hyman
More.
[29:53]
Guest Speaker
Now, conventional medicine just doesn't look at this. They look at biomarkers in isolation. They don't do a full workup of your hormones, your lipids, your autoimmune markers to get a deeper look at what's going on beneath the surface. So that's really why I co founded Function Health, to help you get access to your own lab data. So to get your vitamin D levels checked and start becoming the CEO of your own health, just go to functionhealth.com mark to skip the 300,000 person wait list and learn more. All right, so let's talk about vitamin D and diseases. What, what chronic diseases are associated with vitamin D deficiency? Now, there's this really important concept that I learned from Dr. Robert Heaney, who was one of the leading vitamin D researchers and he wrote an article, you can look it up and we're going to put it in the show notes called long latency deficiency disease. And let me just explain this for a mirror. These are nutritional diseases that don't occur in the short run, but occur in the long run. For example, if you are vitamin D deficient in an acute way as a child, you get rickets. If you have chronic low levels of vitamin D, not enough to get rickets, but you might need 30 units a day to not get rickets. You might need 5,000 units a day to not get osteoporosis. You might need more than 10 times the dose. And in the case of vitamin D, the long latency deficiency disease is osteoporosis. Or it could be even things like heart disease or cancer or diabetes or dementia. Right? These are long latency deficiency diseases. They develop over a long period of time due to chronic nutrient deficiencies. Not just vitamin D, but all kinds of nutrients. Now, these might not show symptoms right away, but over time they lead to serious health issues like osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, cancer. So maintaining adequate levels of your nutrients is really key for life, long term health and disease prevention. So let's discuss a few of these chronic diseases and their association with these suboptimal levels. And I'll Go through the reference ranges. I'll explain all that in a minute. But I want you just get this is. Now there's a reference range which is what's normal for a population if you're a Martian in land in America today, it's normal to be overweight, right? Because 75% of us are overweight. Not optimal. It's just normal, but just. It's a statistical calculation based on. On two standard deviations from the mean in the population. Has nothing to do with what's optimal or biological optimization. It just has to do with what's normal in a population. Right? So vitamin D helps protect against cancer, which is a big one. It does this by regulating the growth deficit and killing bad or damaged cells. We call this apoptosis or programmed cell death. Basically where cells sort of have a self destruct button, which is good. You don't want your old decrepit cells around. You want to get rid of the old ones and recycle the parts and build new ones. It also enhances immune function and it helps reduce inflammation, which is decreasing the likelihood of all sorts of things, including cancer, which is inflammatory disease. And because of this, not having enough vitamin D is associated with certain cancers like breast, prostate cancer, ovarian and lung and pancreatic cancer, and even skin cancer. On the other hand, that means that adequate levels of vitamin D are associated with protection, which is supported over and over again in the research. For example, A study in 2018 found that women with vitamin D levels of over 60 nanograms per milliliter. Just to be clear, most reference ranges on labs out there are 20 or maximum 30 nanograms per milliliter. And we're talking about about double that, right? At least double or even triple that number. If they had a level over 60, which is where I think most people should be, they had an 82% lower risk of breast cancer incidence compared with those who had a level of under 20 nanograms per milliliter. That's a big deal. In another study, breast cancer patients who had a higher vitamin D level at the time of their diagnosis had a significantly lower risk of death related to their cancer than those with lower levels. So even if you get cancer, your likelihood of dying from it is lower if your vitamin D level is adequate. I'm just talking about COVID 19, but I'm just telling you this is anything, any infection, any virus, any bacteria, whether it's the flu or a cold or COVID 19 or monkeypox or whatever, the latest and next variation of a virus.
[34:14]
Dr. Mark Hyman
That we have to deal with that next pandemic.
[34:16]
Guest Speaker
You got to get your vitamin E levels up. This is life and death, folks. When it comes to supplements, you only.
[34:21]
Dr. Mark Hyman
Want the best for your body. The kind with the highest quality, cleanest.
[34:24]
Guest Speaker
And most potent ingredients you can get.
[34:26]
Dr. Mark Hyman
That's exactly what you'll find at my supplement store, where I've hand selected each.
[34:29]
And every product to meet the most.
[34:30]
Guest Speaker
Rigorous standards for safety, purity and effectiveness.
[34:34]
Dr. Mark Hyman
These are the only supplements I recommend to my patients, and they're also what I use myself. Whether you want to optimize longevity or.
[34:40]
Guest Speaker
Reduce your disease risk, or you're looking to improve your sleep, blood sugar, metabolism.
[34:44]
Dr. Mark Hyman
Gut health, you name it, Dr. Hyman.com has the world's best selection of top quality premium supplements, all backed by science.
[34:51]
And expertly vetted by me, Dr. Mark Hyman.
[34:54]
So check out Dr.hyman.com because when it.
[34:56]
Guest Speaker
Comes to your health, nothing less than the very best will do.
[34:59]
Dr. Mark Hyman
That's Dr. Hyman.coM-R-H y m a n.com.
[35:02]
Guest Speaker
If you love this podcast, please share.
[35:04]
It with someone else you think would also enjoy it. You can find me on all social media channels at DrMark Hyman.
[35:10]
Dr. Mark Hyman
Please reach out.
[35:10]
Guest Speaker
I'd love to hear your comments and questions. Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe to the Dr. Hyman show wherever you get your podcasts. And don't forget to check out my YouTube channel at Dr. Mark Hyman for video versions of this podcast and more. Thank you so much again for tuning in. We'll see you next time on the Dr. Hyman Show. This podcast is separate from my clinical practice at the Ultra Wellness center, my work at Cleveland Clinic, and Function Health where I am Chief Medical Officer. This podcast represents my opinions and my guests opinions. Neither myself nor the podcast endorses the views or statements of my guests. This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional care by a doctor or other qualified medical professional. This podcast is provided with the understanding that it does not constitute medical or other professional advice or services.
[35:53]
Dr. Mark Hyman
If you're looking for help in your.
[35:55]
Guest Speaker
Journey, please seek out a qualified medical practitioner and if you're looking for a functional medicine practitioner, visit my clinic, the Ultra Wellness center at ultrawellnesscenter.com and request to become a patient.
[36:06]
It's important to have someone in your.
[36:08]
Corner who is a trained, licensed healthcare practitioner and can help you make changes, especially when it comes to your health. Health this podcast is free. As part of my mission to bring practical ways of improving health to the public. So I'd like to express gratitude to sponsors that made today's podcast possible. Thanks so much again for listening.

Summary5 min read

Summary of "What If We Got Sunlight All Wrong? The Truth About Vitamin D & Chronic Disease"

The Dr. Hyman Show
Host: Dr. Mark Hyman
Episode Release Date: July 14, 2025

In this enlightening episode, Dr. Mark Hyman delves deep into the critical role of vitamin D in our overall health, challenging conventional wisdom about sun exposure and its implications for chronic diseases. Joined by a guest speaker, Dr. Hyman explores the pervasive issue of vitamin D deficiency in modern society and offers actionable strategies to optimize its levels safely.

1. The Crucial Role of Vitamin D

Dr. Hyman emphasizes the multifaceted benefits of vitamin D, underscoring its importance beyond bone health.

Dr. Mark Hyman [00:00]: "You really could make a dramatic difference by just getting people's levels of vitamin D up to 45 nanograms per milliliter. And that would literally lead to 400,000 fewer premature deaths a year. That is no joke."

Key Points:

Bone Health: Vitamin D enhances calcium absorption, preventing conditions like rickets in children and osteoporosis in adults.
Immune Function: It plays a pivotal role in modulating the immune system, reducing inflammation, and lowering the risk of infections, including severe cases of COVID-19.
Chronic Disease Prevention: Adequate levels are linked to reduced risks of cancers (breast, prostate, ovarian, lung, pancreatic), heart disease, diabetes, depression, and autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis.

2. Prevalence of Vitamin D Deficiency

A staggering 80% of Americans either lack sufficient vitamin D or are entirely deficient, a statistic that Dr. Hyman finds deeply concerning.

Dr. Mark Hyman [01:18]: "Probably 80% of Americans are in deficient or have insufficient levels of vitamin D levels that don't protect them optimally from things that you want to have vitamin D protect you from."

Factors Contributing to Deficiency:

Modern Lifestyles: Increased indoor activities reduce sun exposure.
Overuse of Sunscreen: While protecting against skin cancer, excessive use can inhibit vitamin D synthesis.
Dietary Changes: Shift away from vitamin D-rich foods like fatty fish and mushrooms.
Age and Skin Color: Older adults and individuals with darker skin synthesize less vitamin D from sunlight.

3. Correcting the Deficiency: Sun Exposure vs. Supplementation

Dr. Hyman discusses the balance between obtaining vitamin D naturally through sun exposure and the practicality of supplementation.

Sun Exposure:

Optimal Timing: 10 AM to 2 PM in summer allows for full-body sun exposure for about 20 minutes.
Protection: Use of sunscreen on the face and pivotal areas to prevent oxidative stress and skin aging.
Limitations: Geographic location, skin pigmentation, and age can limit effective vitamin D synthesis from sunlight.

Supplementation:

Recommended Dosage: Between 2,000 to 5,000 IU of vitamin D3 daily, with some individuals requiring up to 10,000 IU based on their specific needs.
Safety: Vitamin D3 is preferred over D2 for better efficacy. Toxicity is rare and typically occurs only at extremely high levels.
Testing: Regular blood tests to monitor vitamin D levels are essential to tailor supplementation appropriately.

Dr. Mark Hyman [17:03]: "I personally am a real fan of the zinc and titanium, the mineral based sunscreens... One of the things we do or don't want is the Environmental Working Group."

4. Safe Sun Exposure Practices

To mitigate the risks associated with sun exposure while reaping vitamin D benefits, Dr. Hyman outlines seven strategies:

Moderate Exposure: Aim for 20 minutes of sunlight daily without overexposure.
Time Management: Prefer mornings when UV radiation is less intense.
Use Safe Sunscreens: Opt for mineral-based sunscreens without harmful chemicals like oxybenzone or parabens.
Protective Clothing: Wear hats and sunglasses to shield against UV rays.
Avoid Tanning Beds: They increase the risk of skin cancer without providing vitamin D benefits.
Regular Skin Checks: Annual dermatologist visits for early detection of skin cancers.
Stay Hydrated: Proper hydration supports overall health during sun exposure.

Guest Speaker [17:13]: "I personally am a real fan of the zinc and titanium, the mineral based sunscreens... I think there's a lot of other things we can do that are going to be safer for us and safer for the planet."

5. The Impact of Vitamin D on Chronic Diseases

Dr. Hyman elaborates on how vitamin D deficiency is intertwined with various long-term health issues, termed "long latency deficiency diseases."

Examples of Associated Diseases:

Cancer: Vitamin D aids in apoptosis of damaged cells, reducing cancer risk. Studies show significantly lower breast cancer incidence in those with adequate vitamin D levels.
Cardiovascular Diseases: Helps in reducing high blood pressure and heart disease risk.
Neurological Disorders: Protects against neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
Mental Health: Linked to lower rates of depression and improved cognitive function.
Autoimmune Diseases: Reduces the risk and severity of conditions like multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Dr. Mark Hyman [29:53]: "The difference is what's the reference range of the lab versus what's the optimal range... When you're insufficient or deficient, you're Missing out on all the protective benefits."

6. Practical Steps for Optimizing Vitamin D Levels

To empower listeners to take control of their health, Dr. Hyman provides actionable recommendations:

Regular Testing: Utilize platforms like Function Health to monitor vitamin D and other essential biomarkers.
Personalized Supplementation: Adjust vitamin D intake based on individual blood levels and lifestyle factors.
Dietary Adjustments: Incorporate vitamin D-rich foods such as fatty fish, fortified dairy products, and mushrooms.
Community Resources: Engage with resources like the Environmental Working Group for safe sunscreen choices and other protective measures.

Dr. Mark Hyman [29:53]: "If you use the code young forever, you can get in and actually get off the wait list and see how your vitamin D levels are."

7. Conclusion and Call to Action

Dr. Hyman wraps up the episode by reiterating the paramount importance of vitamin D in maintaining optimal health and preventing chronic diseases. He encourages listeners to proactively manage their vitamin D levels through informed sun exposure, supplementation, and regular health monitoring.

Dr. Mark Hyman [34:33]: "These are the only supplements I recommend to my patients, and they're also what I use myself... So check out Dr.hyman.com because when it comes to your health, nothing less than the very best will do."

Listeners are urged to consult with healthcare practitioners, utilize available health platforms for comprehensive biomarker testing, and prioritize vitamin D as a foundational element of their wellness journey.

Resources Mentioned:

Function Health: functionhealth.com
Environmental Working Group (EWG): ewg.org
Skin Deep Database: Check EWG's website for sunscreen safety guides.

Note: This summary is for informational purposes only and does not substitute professional medical advice. Consult healthcare professionals before making any health-related changes.

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Transcript39 lines

[00:00]
Dr. Mark Hyman
Coming up on this episode of the.
[00:02]
Dr. Hyman show, you really could make a dramatic difference by just getting people's levels of vitamin d up to 45 nanograms per milliliter. And that would literally lead to 400,000 fewer premature deaths a year. That is no joke.
[00:16]
You don't need more caffeine or another stress supplement. You might just need more magnesium. Magnesium supports sleep, mood, energy and focus, but most of us are missing it. That's why I recommend Magnesium Breakthrough by Bioptimizers. It combines seven forms of magnesium for results you can feel in your mood, sleep, focus and more. It now for 10%@buyoptimizers.com Hyman your body will feel the difference before we jump into today's episode, I want to share a few ways you can go deeper on your health journey.
[00:42]
Guest Speaker
While I wish I could work with.
[00:44]
Dr. Mark Hyman
Everyone one on one, there just isn't enough time in the day. So I've built several tools to help.
[00:48]
You take control of your health.
[00:49]
If you're looking for guidance, education and community, check out my private membership the Hymenhive for live Q&As, exclusive content and direct connection for real time lab testing and personalized insights into your biology, visit Function Health. You can also Explore my curated doctor trusted supplements and health products@doctor hyman.com and if you prefer to listen without any breaks, don't forget you can enjoy every episode of this podcast ad free with Hyman plus just open Apple Podcasts and tap try free to start your 7 day free trial.
[01:19]
Finding safety with sun exposure is important. So you do it right, you don't overdo it. And but you kind of need the sun for many reasons because of our hormonal systems, our circadian rhythms, vitamin D, which is critical for our health. And I do get why people are a little worried about sun exposure. I mean, according to the Bio working group or EWG, more than 2 million Americans get skin cancer every year and half of those who live to 65 get at least once. Now these skin cancers that are basal cell and squamous cells are not fatal. They don't spread. There can be disfiguring. My grandmother had a big one on her scalp which was terrible. She never wanted to get it treated and it was kind of nasty. But basically the squamous and basal cell cancers that you get on your skin are linked to sun exposure. Melanoma, not so much. And that can occur in non sun exposed areas and be a little bit of a different animal. Now the other thing about sun exposure Is particularly on your face, it's going to cause something called oxidative stress, and that leads to inflammation. And oxidation is kind of like your car resting, an apple turning brown in the air. But it's really the same thing that happens on your skin. You get wrinkles. So the wrinkling is from the oxidative stress from the sun. You see people who've sort of been in the sun a long time, they get kind of wrinkly, leathery skin. And ladies who wear parasols have this beautiful porcelain skin as they get older. So your face is something you definitely want to protect. But also, we're supposed to be out in the sun. And so staying out of the sun or over relying on sunblock actually can cause issues because vitamin D is critical for mood, for energy, for thyroid function, for cancer, protection, for immune function, preventing infections, even Covid. And, you know, it's a problem if you don't get enough vitamin D. And the problem is most of us don't get vitamin D because we don't live and work outside anymore. Most of us are inside most of the time, and we get deficient in this really important vitamin called vitamin D. And the truth is that, you know, probably 80% of Americans are in deficient or have insufficient levels of vitamin D levels that don't protect them optimally from things that you want to have vitamin D protect you from, Whether it's osteoporosis or depression or cancer, or to boost your immune system so you don't get things like the flu or Covid. I mean, if you have a high vitamin D levels, your reduction in flu is 75%. That's more than the flu vaccine. So it really is a powerful nutrient. It's very safe at the recommended doses. It's easy to take, there's no side effects. It's very cheap. And it's. It's such an incredibly important vitamin for optimizing your health in every way, including longevity. So let's talk about vitamin D a little bit now. People think they should be avoiding the sun to get. Not get skin cancer. But vitamin D actually protects you against skin cancer, believe it or not, and reduce the risk of melanoma dramatically in many other cancers, not just, not just skin cancer. It actually reduces overall mortality by 7%. So just having good vitamin D levels reduced risk of death by 7%. And vitamin D, you know, we used to get from sun running around naked, hunting, gathering, and also we were living in colder climates. We would eat fish, wild fish like herring and sardines, and Mackerel and these, these fatty small fish have pretty high levels of vitamin D, also mushrooms. So if you're foraging and going for mushroom, there's a lot of like porcini mushrooms have the highest levels of vitamin D, but it's still hard to get enough. We're not getting these foods anymore. So, you know, we saw such a, with the Industrial revolution, this incredible advent of rickets and vitamin D deficiency and it's one of the, you know, major areas where we've seen a public health improvement by getting awareness of vitamin D. Then it's been fortified in milk. Milk doesn't necessarily have vitamin D. It does actually doesn't have vitamin D. It only has vitamin D because it's added in to the milk. So if you think you need vitamin D to get your, I mean milk to get your vitamin D D, that's not actually true. You don't, you don't get a vitamin D for milk only because it's added. Now most of the problem with vitamin D is that doctors don't understand how to diagnose it. They might even order the wrong test. They don't know the right treatment, they don't know the doses, they don't understand its importance. And they see the reference levels on lab tests which are typically like 20 nanograms per deciliter. Now that is ridiculously low. And I think if you look at what's optimal, it should be over 45 or 50. And so many, many people are in this sort of borderline area of less than 20 or 20 to 50 where they do, they do need more vitamin D. Now most doctors think, oh, you don't have rickets, you, you don't have vitamin deficiency or your, your number's like, you know, 20 or 30, you're fine. And they're actually wrong. And the question is, what's the dose you need to not get rickets? It's probably like 30 units a day. It's not what we need for optimal health. What we need for optimal health might be more like 5,000 units a day. I mean, even the government's upper limit is, you know, four or five thousand a day is a safe dose. You're not going to get into with that. Some people are, you know, very good at absorbing it, others aren't. Some people need actually up to 10,000 units a day. It was one study where they gave healthy young adults 10,000 units of vitamin D for three months and there was no toxicity from that. Now you can't get toxicity if you take a lot more. I mean, and it can cause a problem, but it's far lower than that. You know, we, we think, in fact, your level has to be over 250. Even though the reference range on the labs is up to 100. You know, it doesn't really become toxic until about 250. So the real question is, you know, how much should we be taking on a daily basis? And I think they're depending on you and your vitamin D level, your sun exposure. I mean, I have a friend who lives on the beach and, you know, goes out surfing every day, and his vitamin D level is about 45, which is pretty good with no vitamin D supplementation. But I rarely see that unless he's living in Mexico on the beach all the time. But if you, if you, if you are, you probably need between 2 to 5,000 units a day of vitamin D. You know, what's really concerning is when you look at the data, you know, it's, it's 80% of us who are insufficient or deficient. This is either frankly, deficient, let's say less than 30, which is now the reference range on most labs, although some still say 20. And, and those who are between 20 and 50. So I think that that's important because vitamin D deficiency is linked to many cancers, high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, depression. We call it seasonal affective disorder or sad. Fibromyalgia. I mean, you know, people have muscle aches and pains. These are often from, from low vitamin D levels, bone loss, obviously, osteoporosis, even autoimmune diseases. Multiple sclerosis is found in much higher levels in northern latitudes and where there's low vitamin D. And so vitamin D is really important for, for everything, including autoimmune disease. And it's really not hard to do. I mean, you really, you know, could, could make a dramatic difference by just getting people's levels of vitamin d up to 45 nanograms per milliliter, and that would literally lead to 400,000 premature deaths a year. That is no joke. There was one study that showed that if your vitamin D levels were low, you were 75% more likely to end up in the hospital or in the icu. From COVID If you're, if your vitamin D levels were over 50 from one big Israeli study, there was no death, like zero. Now, that may be not true. If you keep doing the study, and it may be a little bit bigger, there may be occasional deaths. But the point is here that vitamin D is highly protective. So, you know, I think, you know, we probably should have a vitamin D mandate in this country. Now when my patients get their levels up, they feel better, they have more mood improvements, their muscles recover better, their thyroid works better, their energy is better, their whole system works better. And so it's a really important thing to make sure you get. So how does your body make vitamin D? Now we obviously never had to take supplements when we were hunting and gathering and evolving because we're outside most of the time. And in fact, 80 to 100% of the vitamin D that we need is created because of exposure to the sun. And when you get a little bit of a sunburn, you know, we call a minimal erythromal dose, which means basically the dose that makes your skin a bit red. You know, when you get a sunburn, that might produce between 10 to 25,000 units of vitamin D in our bodies, which is great. The problem is most of us don't get that kind of sun exposure. And a lot of times we use a lot of sunscreen, which is not necessarily bad. Well, it depends on which sunscreen you're using. But they block a lot of the benefits of getting vitamin D. So you might be out in the sun, but using sunblock and then not getting vitamin D. Now if you live in a northern climate, you're for sure not getting enough sun and vitamin D, especially in the winter. And you're probably not eating a lot of the, you know, porcini mushrooms and background herring and cod liver oil. Also the other problem is, as we get older, our, our skin does not convert the sun into vitamin D in the way that we did when we were younger. So the average 70 year old creates only 25% of the vitamin D that a 20 year old does. Also, depending on your skin color, if you have dark skin, if you're African American, you basically will produce far less vitamin D and you need a lot more sun exposure. So most African Americans are very deficient in vitamin D. I also recommend that everybody supplement. Now, I think it's one of those basic supplements that everybody should get. It makes such a difference. And you should have a level between 45 to 75, let's say. And the only way to know what that is is to test. You need to test and find out what's going on. And you can guess, but you often will be off. Some people need 2,000 units, 5,000, 10,000 units to get their vitamin levels up to, you know, the ideal level. And, and you can do that through your doctor or, you know, I co founded a company called Function Health. You go to functionhealth.com you can join the wait list and get testing to actually helps you to get your actual levels, to know what you're doing, to check it over time. I think if you use the code young forever, you can get in and actually get off the wait list. So try that and see how you, how your vitamin D levels are. But it's important to know and, and often doctors say, oh, don't worry, just take the vitamin D. But you really want to know what your levels are. Also, if you want to get sun exposure, the best is 10 to 2 in obviously the summertime 10am to 2pm, full body sun exposure for 20 minutes. I mean you can cover your face or put some luck on your face, but you really want to have full body exposure. I mean it only works in the summer and only works if you live below Atlanta. So I recommend taking vitamin D and it probably, probably 2 to 5,000 of vitamin D3. It's important to take vitamin D3, not vitamin D2. Most doctors will prescribe vitamin D2, which is unfortunate, but make sure you get the right vitamin D. And again, it depends on your age, your genetics, where you live, how much time you're in the sun time of year. But in the summer I don't need it. But it's actually not true you need it during the summer unless you're out there all the time. So check your vitamin D levels and find out what's going on. Now what about protecting yourself from skin cancer? That's important, right? You want to make sure you don't get skin cancer, particularly on your face. So I think, you know, if you want to go out in the sun, great, use sunscreen on your face if you want to. You're worried about getting a sunburn. If you're really out there a lot, you can use high SPF sunscreen, but you know you're going to get vitamin D from your supplements, so you should be okay. The high spf, you know, it kind of gives people a sense of security that you can go out there and just burn up. But you want to be careful. You don't, you don't want to do that. You want to make sure you just, you know, moderate your sun exposure, avoiding the high, high ultraviolet radiation exposures that you can get from prolonged sun exposure. So basically use sunscreen and also, by the way, you want to use sunscreen that doesn't have crap in it. And we'll talk about that in a minute. So over the counter sunscreens are fine, but, but they're often full of crappy harmful ingredients. EWG found 80% of the 1700 products they looked at that were sunscreen, had inferior sun protection or had like really weird ingredients like oxybenzone or other parabens. I had a woman once who was in my pract and she had super high levels of toxins in her urine from parabens and she's like a super health nut and I'm like, what are you, what are you doing? What are you exposed to with plastics or chemicals? She said, oh well, you know, I use a ton of sunscreen all the time, every day. And so she had high levels of these toxic petrochemical plastics in her urine that were coming from the sunscreen. Now a lot of it wasn't getting out of her body, so it wasn't great. Also you should be worried about sunscreen with vitamin A. If you use vitamin A, it actually can make make the skin cancer more likely. So I would be particularly careful of that. But the bottom line is choose, you know, good average low SPF sunscreen. Don't rely on it for total protection. Cover your face mostly and you'll be able to go out and enjoy the sun. So what are the seven strategies I use to get safe sun exposure? Well, don't be afraid of the sun on your vacation. Don't obviously get overe, right because you know, getting overexposed doesn't just ruin your vacation give you a sunburn. It can lead to long term issues with skin damage and skin cancers and more wrinkles which nobody wants. So try to get at least 20 minutes of sun exposure every day first thing in the morning, ideally, which is the morning. Sunlight helps trigger your brain to release chemicals and hormones like melatonin. It kind of resets your circadian rhythms. It helps mood, healthy aging. Use sunscreen, but only when you need it. And particularly use the safe sunscreens. You can check out Skin Deep, which is a database from database from ewg. And it's great. Be proactive about protection. So don't, you know, overdo it, right? Try to get shade, umbrella, tree, you know, hat, I mean protective clothing. That's fine if you want to don't get skin cancer, which I don't want to get. Make sure you cover up. Sunglasses are important. You don't actually get obviously sunburn in your eyes, but you get cataracts from prolonged sun exposure without UV blocking sunglasses. So that's important. Don't get burned. Burning is really bad because that leads to more risk of skin cancer. Choose a skin cancer has optimal UVA protection don't do tanning beds. Get vitamin D which will help reduce your risk of skin cancer. And you know there's good evidence that it's sunblock prevents squamous cells but not necessarily basal cells. So make sure you get skin checks. Get your skin checked for cancer on a regular basis every year. Make sure you get a good dermatologist look at it and they can get things when they're early and they're really not a problem. You don't die from skin cancer except melanoma, which is not necessarily sun related. Also again, make sure you check the ingredients. You don't want to have parabens, petrochemicals, lead toxins, they all get absorbed in your skin. Go to The EWG website, EWG.org you can look at the sunscreen guide, the Skin Deep guide. Also stay hydrated. You know, drinking out caffeine, having alcohol on the beach makes us dehydrated and, and that can actually just make you feel crappy and not make your vacation fun.
[16:51]
Guest Speaker
Stick to take sunscreen for example. This is something, you know, summertime blowing it's skin cancer and putting on sunscreen and is it okay, like what should we be doing and how do we.
[17:02]
Dr. Mark Hyman
Figure out what's going on?
[17:03]
Guest Speaker
I mean a lot of the sunscreens also have compounds that destroy reefs too. There's like reef deaths to the coral reefs. So not only killing yourself, but you're on the reefs, right?
[17:13]
Well, there's a lot of the chemical sunscreens like Avobenzone. I don't even know all of the names of them, the chemical sunscreens and many of those are potential endocrine disrupting chemicals as well. The flip side is Mark, I'm one of those people who grew up in the south, had more than my share of sunburns, had my first skin cancer when I was 37. So I also wanted to slow down skin aging and wrinkles and skin cancer. So we kind of have to say, well how do you get the protection you want without putting yourself at risk? I personally am a real fan of the zinc and titanium, the mineral based sunscreens or even just a hat covering your skin, staying out of the sun in the middle of the day. I mean I think there's a lot of other things we can do that are going to be safer for us and safer for the planet. One of my favorite one stop shopping places to learn more about safety levels and which either skin care or sunscreens. One of the things we do or don't want is the Environmental Working Group. And I know you've been a big supporter of their work for years. I think they were some of the pioneers really raising awareness. And what I love about them is they have a safe cosmetics database that you can search by type. So you could search sunscreens or you could search by brand. Plug in your favorite brand and see how it rates to others on their list.
[18:34]
Dr. Mark Hyman
Foreign.
[18:37]
If you're living on caffeine, constantly tired, and feel like your stress is stuck on high, there's a good chance you're low in magnesium. Magnesium is critical for turning food into energy, calming your nervous system, helping you sleep, and regulating your mood. And here's the kicker. Up to 80% of us aren't getting enough. That kind of chronic deficiency may contribute to feelings of burnout, occasional tension, irritability, and the kind of fatigue that coffee can't fix. That's why I recommend Magnesium Breakthrough by Bioptimizers. It's the only formula that combines all seven essential forms of magnesium magnesium, including glycinate for calm and citrate for digestion. Most magnesium supplements only offer one or two forms. Magnesium Breakthrough covers them all for deeper sleep, better focus, less tension, and real support during stressful times. If your body's feeling off, this might be the missing link. Try it risk free@bioptimizers.com HYMAN and get 10% off your order.
[19:32]
Guest Speaker
As a fat soluble vitamin, Vitamin D needs to be absorbed with fats from our diet and then it's stored in our body, in our fat tissue, in our liver, similar to other fat soluble vitamins like A, E and K. This episode will help you understand the crucial role that vitamin D plays in our health and why maintaining adequate levels super important Now Vitamin D is best known for its critical role in bone health and an immune system function. It enhances calcium absorption, which is really important. That's how calcium gets in your body with the help of vitamin D. And that's why a deficiency in vitamin D leads to bone deformities and things like rickets in children and osteoporosis in adults. But vitamin D does so much more than just support our bones. It's a powerhouse for our immune system. It helps fight inflammation. It helps reduce the risk of all chronic diseases which we suffer from, from obesity, type 2 diabetes to heart disease and dementia and autoimmunity. And that could go on and on. Mental health, depression. I mean, the list goes on. Now it even plays a role in lowering the risk of autoimmune conditions and reduce your risk of Infection. And this is really crazy data. But the COVID pandemic highlighted the importance of vitamin D and immunity, with many studies showing that low levels of vitamin D increase the risk of severe infection, hospitalization and death. In other words, if your vitamin D was low, you are more likely to end up with a severe infection in the hospital or die. Now, beyond bone health and immunity, vitamin D has a lot of jobs, including thyroid and many, many other things. It, it affects the expression of over a thousand genes. It's more like a hormone than a vitamin. And it supports the brain really critically by aiding in cognition, helping with memory, mood and depression. And it also helps protect against really bad things like neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Vitamin D is also critical for hormonal balance, fertility and gut health. Literally everything, okay? Everything. Vitamins are not like drugs that have a single action on a single receptor with a single effect effect for a single disease. Vitamin D and other vitamins are what we call pleomorphic. They have many, many, many effects in the body, and that's what makes them so amazing. And they're very safe and effective and they have no side effects because they're the things your body uses to do its job. And so you just need to have optimal levels. Not overdose, obviously, but the optimal levels. Now, despite its importance, many people are really deficient or insufficient in this vital nutrient and they miss out on many of the protective benefits. So let's explore why vitamin D deficiency is so common and how it impacts our health and also what we can do to ensure we're getting enough of this essential vitamin. Now, we all hear about the benefits of vitamin D, but what exactly is it and what does it do in our bodies? Well, as I mentioned, vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, which means it must be absorbed with fats from our diet like other fat soluble vitamins like A, E and K. And it's stored in our body's fat tissue and liver. So let's, let's sort of dive into bone health and immunity, which are the most well known effects, but there's many, many more. Vitamin D is obviously known for its critical role in bone health and in supporting immune function. And how does it work? Well, it enhances the absorption of calcium, which is why deficiency is linked to all kinds of bone deformities like rickets and osteomalacia, which is bone softening and osteoporosis in adults. In fact, if you want to do a cheap vitamin D test, you just stick your thumb on your shin and push in hard and if it hurts, you are likely either insufficient or vitamin D deficient. So just try that now, but not if you're driving, okay? In addition to bone health, vitamin D is a super powerhouse when it comes to supporting our immune system and fighting inflammation. And that's why having sufficient levels is associated with lower risk of so many chronic diseases that are all inflammatory diseases, things like obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and so forth. And also diseases like autoimmune disease, which includes multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes. But that's not all. Vitamin D is also a key player in reducing the risk of infection. In fact, if your vitamin D level is adequately elevated, it means in the high normal range, not like what the reference range is, but optimal levels. Your risk of getting the flu is 75% lower. That's better than the flu vaccine, guys. So this is really cheap, really inexpensive and it's really safe. It also helps support our immune system and it protects us from just getting sick and cold. And I, I get my vitamin D levels up and I never get sick. I really, I don't remember last time I had a cold because I just take my vitamin D every day and it's just does its job and I'm good to go. Now it does this by modulating the production of immune cells and immune molecules or messengers like cytokines. It regulates T cells and B cells. B, T cells are your immune cells like your lymphocytes and natural killer cells. B cells make antibodies and these play a critical role in our innate and adaptive immune systems. The ancient immune system, which is the innate immune system, has been there forever and is sort of a general, all purpose but not specific immune system. And the adaptive immune system, the immune system that sort of makes laser guided bombs like you get antibodies to Covid, well that's a target against Covid. That's what your immune system does. Now the COVID 19 pandemic shined a very much needed light on the impact of vitamin D on immunity. We learned from countless studies that low vitamin D levels increase the risk of severe infection, hospitalization and death. And this is just scratching the surface, like if you look at the data, it was quite striking. So out of Israel, if your level of vitamin D was over 50 nanograms per deciliter, we're going to get talking about what the level should be be when that, that's probably the optimal level. If your level was 50 or more, your risk of death from COVID was zero, like zero. That's amazing. And if your vitamin D levels are low, you were 70% more likely to end up in the hospital, end up in the ICU or die from COVID Now, what else does vitamin D do for the body? Well, it's an incredibly powerful vitamin that affects, as I mentioned, over a thousand genes. We're gonna put all the links and the references of everything I'm saying in the show notes, so don't worry. Now, most people agree it's actually more of a hormone than a vitamin. It impacts all kinds of cellular functions across all of our organs and tissues. For example, the brain uses vitamin D to support cognition to mood and mental health. You've heard of seasonal affective disorder or SAD or to winter blues. Well, that's vitamin D deficiency, folks. That's why they say use a UV light light because UV light makes your body make vitamin D. But you can also just take vitamin D. It also protects against neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. It also plays a role in hormone health and fertility. And our gut health is also affected by beneficially modulating the gut microbiome and enhancing overall digestive health. And just more. There's just more. It's a long list. I could. This could be a 10 hour podcast. There are whole books written on this. But I encourage you check out Michael Hollock's work and his book. He's quite good on this topic. And Robert Heaney, they were both really profoundly deep vitamin D researchers. So if you want to get geeky on it, you should go check that out. Now, the problem is that many people are deficient or insufficient. The difference is what's the reference range of the lab versus what's the optimal range? Right. So if you take a bunch of Americans who are all working, living inside, who put on sunblock all the time, and who don't really get much sun exposure, the quote, normal level in the population of vitamin D will be on the low side, like 20 or 30. That's not the optimal level. What if we're all running around like hunters and gatherers in our loincloths and out in the sun all day and we're getting all the vitamin D we need. We'd probably be like 50 to 100 lifeguards who are sitting out on the beach all day. They get levels of up to 250 and it's safe for them. That's just from the sun, not from taking vitamin D supplements. So when you're insufficient or deficient, you're Missing out on all the protective benefits. Exactly how many people are really deficient? Now, hang on your hats folks, because I think it's about a billion people. Now the reference, the references are in the show notes, but a billion people, that's a lot of people. In the US alone, 70% of people have suboptimal levels, which is a lot of people. That's, you know, seven out of 10 people. And I think partly that's probably why Covid hit us so hard, aside from the fact that we're all metabolically unhealthy of chronic disease, which didn't help. But all that partially is linked to vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency. Now this widespread deficiency highlights just how important is to ensure that we're getting enough vitamin D for optimal health. So what, what are the symptoms? How do you know if you're deficient? Well, there's some clues, right? You might get sick a lot. You might have muscle aches or joint pain. In fact. In fact, one of the things that vitamin D deficiency can cause is fibromyalgia or muscle aches and pains. Not just soft bones or painful bones or aches, but actual painful and impaired muscle function. You might have a history of a fracture, osteoporosis or brittle bones, right? That can be a clue. You might have things like depression or anxiety or mood or memory issues. Maybe you'll have also hair loss, fatigue, hormonal balances like pcos. In fact, vitamin D is so critical for thyroid function. Without vitamin D, you can't actually bind the thyroid hormone to the receptors on the nucleus of your cells and do what it's supposed to do. And so you end up with poorly functioning thyroid. So the list goes on and on. Now, if any of these symptoms sound familiar to you, you might want to get your levels checked. In fact, scratch that, everybody should get their vitamin D level checked. Just baselines like your blood pressure or your blood sugar or your cholesterol. You got to know your vitamin D level. But for some silly reason, I don't know, sort of because maybe nutrition is considered a four stepchild of medicine. Vitamin D is not included in your regular routine lab test. So you're probably going to have to ask your doctor for it. Now this is partly why I started Function Health. Now this is a company I co founded, which is a health platform that allows people to get access to their own lab data. We test vitamin D and lots of other biomarkers, over 110 biomarkers to give you a full picture of your health. We look at nutrients, not just vitamin D, but lots of nutrients, hormones, cardiometabolic health, and we can see where you're at. Out of whack, we see that 67% of people are deficient in one or more nutrients at the minimum level for deficiency disease, not the optimal level for health. So when we broaden the aperture and we look at what the optimum levels are, it's probably like 90% or more.
[29:53]
Dr. Mark Hyman
More.
[29:53]
Guest Speaker
Now, conventional medicine just doesn't look at this. They look at biomarkers in isolation. They don't do a full workup of your hormones, your lipids, your autoimmune markers to get a deeper look at what's going on beneath the surface. So that's really why I co founded Function Health, to help you get access to your own lab data. So to get your vitamin D levels checked and start becoming the CEO of your own health, just go to functionhealth.com mark to skip the 300,000 person wait list and learn more. All right, so let's talk about vitamin D and diseases. What, what chronic diseases are associated with vitamin D deficiency? Now, there's this really important concept that I learned from Dr. Robert Heaney, who was one of the leading vitamin D researchers and he wrote an article, you can look it up and we're going to put it in the show notes called long latency deficiency disease. And let me just explain this for a mirror. These are nutritional diseases that don't occur in the short run, but occur in the long run. For example, if you are vitamin D deficient in an acute way as a child, you get rickets. If you have chronic low levels of vitamin D, not enough to get rickets, but you might need 30 units a day to not get rickets. You might need 5,000 units a day to not get osteoporosis. You might need more than 10 times the dose. And in the case of vitamin D, the long latency deficiency disease is osteoporosis. Or it could be even things like heart disease or cancer or diabetes or dementia. Right? These are long latency deficiency diseases. They develop over a long period of time due to chronic nutrient deficiencies. Not just vitamin D, but all kinds of nutrients. Now, these might not show symptoms right away, but over time they lead to serious health issues like osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, cancer. So maintaining adequate levels of your nutrients is really key for life, long term health and disease prevention. So let's discuss a few of these chronic diseases and their association with these suboptimal levels. And I'll Go through the reference ranges. I'll explain all that in a minute. But I want you just get this is. Now there's a reference range which is what's normal for a population if you're a Martian in land in America today, it's normal to be overweight, right? Because 75% of us are overweight. Not optimal. It's just normal, but just. It's a statistical calculation based on. On two standard deviations from the mean in the population. Has nothing to do with what's optimal or biological optimization. It just has to do with what's normal in a population. Right? So vitamin D helps protect against cancer, which is a big one. It does this by regulating the growth deficit and killing bad or damaged cells. We call this apoptosis or programmed cell death. Basically where cells sort of have a self destruct button, which is good. You don't want your old decrepit cells around. You want to get rid of the old ones and recycle the parts and build new ones. It also enhances immune function and it helps reduce inflammation, which is decreasing the likelihood of all sorts of things, including cancer, which is inflammatory disease. And because of this, not having enough vitamin D is associated with certain cancers like breast, prostate cancer, ovarian and lung and pancreatic cancer, and even skin cancer. On the other hand, that means that adequate levels of vitamin D are associated with protection, which is supported over and over again in the research. For example, A study in 2018 found that women with vitamin D levels of over 60 nanograms per milliliter. Just to be clear, most reference ranges on labs out there are 20 or maximum 30 nanograms per milliliter. And we're talking about about double that, right? At least double or even triple that number. If they had a level over 60, which is where I think most people should be, they had an 82% lower risk of breast cancer incidence compared with those who had a level of under 20 nanograms per milliliter. That's a big deal. In another study, breast cancer patients who had a higher vitamin D level at the time of their diagnosis had a significantly lower risk of death related to their cancer than those with lower levels. So even if you get cancer, your likelihood of dying from it is lower if your vitamin D level is adequate. I'm just talking about COVID 19, but I'm just telling you this is anything, any infection, any virus, any bacteria, whether it's the flu or a cold or COVID 19 or monkeypox or whatever, the latest and next variation of a virus.
[34:14]
Dr. Mark Hyman
That we have to deal with that next pandemic.
[34:16]
Guest Speaker
You got to get your vitamin E levels up. This is life and death, folks. When it comes to supplements, you only.
[34:21]
Dr. Mark Hyman
Want the best for your body. The kind with the highest quality, cleanest.
[34:24]
Guest Speaker
And most potent ingredients you can get.
[34:26]
Dr. Mark Hyman
That's exactly what you'll find at my supplement store, where I've hand selected each.
[34:29]
And every product to meet the most.
[34:30]
Guest Speaker
Rigorous standards for safety, purity and effectiveness.
[34:34]
Dr. Mark Hyman
These are the only supplements I recommend to my patients, and they're also what I use myself. Whether you want to optimize longevity or.
[34:40]
Guest Speaker
Reduce your disease risk, or you're looking to improve your sleep, blood sugar, metabolism.
[34:44]
Dr. Mark Hyman
Gut health, you name it, Dr. Hyman.com has the world's best selection of top quality premium supplements, all backed by science.
[34:51]
And expertly vetted by me, Dr. Mark Hyman.
[34:54]
So check out Dr.hyman.com because when it.
[34:56]
Guest Speaker
Comes to your health, nothing less than the very best will do.
[34:59]
Dr. Mark Hyman
That's Dr. Hyman.coM-R-H y m a n.com.
[35:02]
Guest Speaker
If you love this podcast, please share.
[35:04]
It with someone else you think would also enjoy it. You can find me on all social media channels at DrMark Hyman.
[35:10]
Dr. Mark Hyman
Please reach out.
[35:10]
Guest Speaker
I'd love to hear your comments and questions. Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe to the Dr. Hyman show wherever you get your podcasts. And don't forget to check out my YouTube channel at Dr. Mark Hyman for video versions of this podcast and more. Thank you so much again for tuning in. We'll see you next time on the Dr. Hyman Show. This podcast is separate from my clinical practice at the Ultra Wellness center, my work at Cleveland Clinic, and Function Health where I am Chief Medical Officer. This podcast represents my opinions and my guests opinions. Neither myself nor the podcast endorses the views or statements of my guests. This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional care by a doctor or other qualified medical professional. This podcast is provided with the understanding that it does not constitute medical or other professional advice or services.
[35:53]
Dr. Mark Hyman
If you're looking for help in your.
[35:55]
Guest Speaker
Journey, please seek out a qualified medical practitioner and if you're looking for a functional medicine practitioner, visit my clinic, the Ultra Wellness center at ultrawellnesscenter.com and request to become a patient.
[36:06]
It's important to have someone in your.
[36:08]
Corner who is a trained, licensed healthcare practitioner and can help you make changes, especially when it comes to your health. Health this podcast is free. As part of my mission to bring practical ways of improving health to the public. So I'd like to express gratitude to sponsors that made today's podcast possible. Thanks so much again for listening.