Vitamin D Deficiency

[marmel75]

Ashwagandha/Indian ginseng increases testosterone:

• http://www.ergo-log.com/withaniasomnifera.html
• http://www.ergo-log.com/human-study-ashwagandha-boosts-testosterone-level.html

Been taking it for a few months. I feel more like a man in every way. Facial hair grows faster, less social anxiety. Hard to tell if it's affecting my gains but I wouldn't be surprised.


IIRC calcium increases absorption of vitamin D, which is why they recommend taking them together.

If you are already getting 6-8 times your daily amount of calcium you need why would you take more?? Great way to end up with atherosclerosis tho...

 

[IBreatheSpears]

If you are already getting 6-8 times your daily amount of calcium you need why would you take more?? Great way to end up with atherosclerosis tho...

The point is if you don't take vitamin D with calcium it won't be absorbed well. You don't need to take extra calcium: if you have a meal which contains calcium you can take your vitamin D then. Supplement companies tend to put them together because most people don't take their supplements with food and don't care about synergy between nutrients.

I don't know that it's true we consume too much calcium anyway.

[edit] I got it wrong anyway; calcium needs vitamin D to be absorbed, not the other way around.

 

[ArcBound]

If you live in the US, anyone north of a line running from Washington, DC to St. Louis is likely to be deficient because the sun is only strong enough to give us the proper amount of Vitamin D we need in the summer. Most peopel need between 8,000-10,000 IU's to remain at a good level. Vast majority of people are highly deficient

Marmel is right on most people being deficient. Even had an endocrinologist lecture to us in med school saying that endocrinologists know that the current daily recommended Vitamin D levels (around 800-2000 IU daily depending on the source) are way too low than the actual necessary, and that they are working on trying to get it increased by a lot. Which means most people following the RDA's are themselves probably deficient.