City Assays Vitamin D Blood Spot Test

You also need to give them an email address as they email the results back to you.


The results will be in nmol/l not ng/ml so to compare with previous results from USA blood spot 25(OH)D results you will need to divide nmol/l by 2.5 to convert.
100nmol/l = 40ng/ml
Pay no heed at all to the suggested adquate vitamin D status advice they provide. 50nmol/l is NOT a natural vitamin D status and does NOT adquately ensure lowest PTH levels or maximise calcium absorption for that you need to be above 40ng/ml or 100nmol/l and if you want to maximise the anti inflammatory potential of vitamin D3 you have to be around the 50ng/ml 125nmol/l level and to ensure you always have stored reserves of vitamin D3 (to fight infection or draw down should you be involved in accident, illness, surgery) then levels above 60ng/ml 150nmol/l are required.

If you have a pale skin be aware these provided an evolutionary advantage over black or brown skins to peoples who lived away from the equator. They were better able to CREATE AND STORE vitamin d3 to enable survival through the longer winters. As we no longer live mainly naked outdoor lives we are not currently using that natural advantage paler skins offer. But there is no reason not to avail yourself of those potential advantages.

Ted et al,
When do you think levels get too toxic?
When do you think levels are replete for optimum "magical" effects?

I'm about to undertake this. I live in the tropics and bask in the sun. I also take 5,000 IU daily as a soft get with Medium Chain Triglycerides. I suspect I'm way above 60 ng/ml.

Depends on Vitamin A, Vitamin K, magnesium and boron levels.If you also have a good source of vitamin A + Magnesium and you control your calcium intake to just food sources (no calcium supplements) then I'd not be worried by readings up to 200ng/ml. However I'm not aware of any evidence of any potential benefit over 100ng/ml. So I think that people getting very high readings on 25(OH)D tests are probably wasting money.

I think 40ng/ml is probably the lowest level I'd be satisfied with in situations where people are supplementing daily. I think it's likely that daily needs are met around 40ng/ml however there is no vitamin D stored in tissue so no immediate reserves (only the circulating vitamin D) While that should be fine, who knows when you're going to meet with an accident, get hospitalized and out of contact with sun/vitamin D supplements while also in a situation where antibiotic resistant infections C difficile/mrsa etc abound.

I think it's wise to keep a stored reserve of D3 in tissue so there is always something available. At 50ng/ml most people will have some stores and it's around this level that the anti inflammatory effects of D3 are maximised.

Around 60ng/ml we find human milk is vitamin D replete and body stores in EVERYONE are reasonable. Who is to say that human milk should not be a complete VITAMIN D REPLETE, food for human babies?

There's not a lot of reason for higher levels though I've seen research saying that at 100ng/ml (a level that Israeli life guards outdoors wearing little clothing in sunny climate) regularly attain/maintain) calcidiol (the form that circulates and is mostly regarded as the inactive form becomes able to work in it's own right and may directly assist the active from Calcitriol (the active hormonal form) For this reason some people suggest that it MAY be worth trying to stay around that level if you had a cancer diagnosis. I don't know if your cancer doctors would agree but I wouldn't ask or tell them I'd get to 100ng/ml before I asked the doctor to investigate the symptoms of possible cancer.
I'm almost always surprised and perplexed by the reading some people report. I suppose the ones whose results are boring and predictable don't bother to query them with me, so I mainly get to hear about the oddballs.
Overweight will bring your levels down so If you're obese or diabetic then I'll bet you'll be lower. If you are under stress at work/home or if you are taking corticosteroid medicines then I'll bet you're lowish.
But if none of those apply then it may depend on where you live. Say you were a muslim wearing Nijab it won't make a lot of difference where you live you'll be deficient. But City living (high pollution blocking UVB + higher stress + reflected UVA) reduces vitamin D.

You could be taking a statin, the molecule 7-dehydrocholesterol is in the same metabolic pathway as cholesterol so if you reduce the production of one you inevitably reduce potential for the other.

So I'm not going to put any money on the outcome. But I think it's probably worth taking a 25(OH)d test, You'll not need to do it regularly if it's about where you want to be and things don't change but you could easily be wasting money on the 5000iu/d but it's no big deal. I certainly wouldn't be worrying about toxicity but I think it's interesting to know if your a high/low responder. If you're spending all day in the air conditioning because it's too hot outside and then when you do go outside you sweat like a pig and wash all the vitamin D you make off your skin, then you could well be far too low.

Quote:

�20 UK 25(OH)D Vitamin D test �25 for international customers

These prices were introductory. They have now gone up to $25(UK) and �30 international customers.

But they now offer
Bulk Orders after 1st April 2012: We offer a discount for orders of 10 or more kits, paid by card at the time of order (�20 UK/Ireland and �25 Overseas

So it would be possible to get together with family and friends to bulk buy. It's a good idea to test more frequently initially to see how your body responds. So Buying a bulk pack to use some now, some in September and some next spring is not that difficult.

Hi,

I want to send away for this test but i have taken two 5000IU capsules in the past two weeks.....should i wait a bit before i do this test?

Thanks.

No, do it now, see what you are. Then do it a few months down the line to see if the capsules ARE WORKING.

In my opinion it's more sense to take 5000iu DAILY for 3 months and then TEST to see how your body has responded to effective supplementation levels.
We can assume that MOST people in the northern hemisphere have low vitamin d levels in the early spring. The point of testing is to find out if you are a high/low responder.
Unless you test AFTER you have been using a REGULAR DAILY EFFECTIVE AMOUNT of vitamin d for a reasonable time you won't know if you really need more or less vitamin d daily.

Comparing 2,000 IU/day vs. 5,000 IU/day vitamin D supplementation
It is SAFER to restore vitamin d levels first with an EFFECTIVE AMOUNT (1000iu/daily for each 25lbs you weigh or 5000iu /daily minimum) and then raise that amount if you still aren't in the 50~60ng/ml 125~150nmol/l

All taking a 25(OH)D testing does in people who haven't been taking an effective amount of vitamin d3 daily will do is show just how deficient/insufficient they are and most people should understand by now that the vast majority of people have low vitamin D status. So confirming you are typical is not particularly much use. What you need to find out is how much vitamin d your body needs to meet daily needs (40ng/ml or 100nmol/l) have sufficient vitamin d available to fight inflammation 125nmol/l 50ng/ml or have sufficient stored in tissue to deal with an emergency (full vitamin d reserves and sufficient to enable vitamin d replete human milk)

Dr Davis of Heartscanblog finds it can take 2~3 years of 10,000iu daily to fully top up the vitamin d tank, thinking that just a couple of 5000iu capsules will do the trick is very naive. You have to bear in mind FULL BODY sun exposure is set to produce 10,000~20,000iu daily.

Human DNA isn't set up to eliminate the human race but is set to enable humans to survive and evolve.

If you aren't able to spend a reasonable amount of time in the sun stark naked every day then you must use an EQUIVALENT amount of vitamin d3 if you want your body to have the evolutionary advantage pale skinned humans evolved with to survive away from the equator.

Thanks again for the replies and info.

In order to make it easier for people to get a 25(OH)D I've been buying bulk packs and mailing tests At COST PRICE �20 + �1.20 (large letter rate postage cost) = �21.20 to anyone who asks.
I see no reason why readers of this forum should not also benefit.
We are here to help each other and it should be clear to most readers that at cost price means no one is using this site to make money or advertise services for profit.
I'd also like to encourage other readers to order the bulk pack �20 x 10=�200 and share the tests with friends and family so everyone benefits from the price reduction.
You can post 3 packs in one envelope and still get large letter rate postage (�1.20).

Hello Ted, many thanks for the testing packs a few weeks back. I got my results today as follows. I'm a tad on the high level. Before taking these tests I took NO D3 for 3 weeks.

But I seem to remember you have spent time living in Brunei recently.

I would only start worrying about high levels of 25(OH)D above 250 nmol/l (100ng/ml) and only take action above 350nmol/l (140ng/ml) However if I had to fight cancer I'd be aiming to stay in that range. I don't think I'd change anything if my levels were where yours are now. I think having a reasonable store of vitamin d is precisely the evolutionary advantage pale skins evolved to maintain.

Thanks for the reply Ted, I would like to shed some light into how I got to this level. I take 5,000 iu of D3 in MCT from iHerb.com. The brand is Countrylife, they are quite cheap.

I always have this in a morning shake along with coconut oil and fish oils. This certainly helps the D3 assimilate as the fats induce more lipase's to be released to break down everything and get it into the blood stream.

I should add that I've been taking D3 since way back in late 2007 on and off. Please may I ask what are your levels and how do you do take yours?

Kind regards from a very sunny Brunei (yup I'm back).

I think those Country Life are very good.
But Healthy Origins now do 5000 iu drops in olive oil that work out a bit cheaper and it's easier 3 drops to use 7500iu daily which may be required in the UK.
I've recently increased my intake as (probably due to poor summer and lack of sunbathing) my last 25(OH)D was lower than I expected.