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What is the best supplement for me? What potency is right? What does the research show? Is it worth the money? These and all of your other supplement questions are answered here. Jared St. Clair brings well researched information so that you can make more informed decisions regarding your health, specifically focused on how to effectively use natural supplements to optimize your health and Vitality. Of course supplement and food choices aren't the only factors in optimal health. Jared also shares a regular series of Emotional Vitality episodes that will help you release the negativity that may be holding you back and embrace your full potential. Vitality Radio is not JUST about health, it is about HEALTH FREEDOM. Jared provides needed insight into the current threats to your health as well as the threats coming from government agencies, pharmaceutical companies and modern medicine as a whole. With over 35 years of experience in the natural products world, and a hearty dose of wit and sarcasm, Vitality Radio isn't just educational but entertaining and enlightening.
D3, K2, Mag
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[00:00:00] Welcome to the Vitality Radio podcast, your source for the truth about health, wellness, and real alternatives to drugs, surgeries, and the status quo of he. Here you'll find information that empowers you to take control of your health, but it's not just about health and wellness. It's about the politics of healthcare and protecting your health freedom.
Now, here's your host, Jared St. Clair.[00:01:00]
This week on Vitality Radio, we're gonna talk about. Something called n n t. The number needed to treat. It's a critical number you need to know about any prescription drug that you may be prescribed by your physician. Uh, the insight from the n n T is incredibly valuable. I can't wait to share it with you.
We're also going to talk about something that I think is probably just as critical and something that I have been getting question. On a regular basis about app vitality and nutrition, it is the relationship between vitamin D and vitamin K. And I'm gonna throw a little twist at it and talk about how critical magnesium is when it comes to these two vitamins.
I'm even gonna talk to you about how vitamin D actually isn't a vitamin at all. Uh, we're gonna talk about the best place to get these supplements, [00:02:00] or in the case of Vitamin D, the best way to get it, not from a supplement. We're gonna talk about the best forms, how to take them. When to take them and why they matter.
I'm gonna go into great detail on this topic and I think it's gonna be really, really helpful. I hope you really enjoy it. A few quick announcements for you today. One is if you haven't found our new website, check it out. We're really happy with how it's turned out and people have loved using it. It's vital.
nutrition.com. That's vitality nutrition.com. If you haven't checked out my new podcast, dearly Discarded is the name of the podcast. It's on all the major podcast apps, and I think it's incredible information that you need. Very different from what I talk about here, uh, and very necessary. So find it and, uh, check it out and share it.
The Dearly Discarded podcast also. I am really excited to [00:03:00] announce that I have some big new guests coming on to Vitality Radio very soon. Some recent acquaintances that have agreed to do the show that you're gonna be excited to hear over the next few months as, uh, we're able to nail down schedules. To allow them to be here because they are as busy as I am, or busier, I'm sure.
But, uh, some really, really good stuff. I also interviewed Dr. Paul Thomas. Uh, that episode was released just, uh, couple of days ago on Vitality Radio. Uh, and, uh, if you don't remember, Paul Thomas from. The show that he did with me last October, I believe it was, uh, you'll wanna check this one out. It's a pretty important episode as well.
Uh, one of my favorite people that I've ever in, ever interviewed or ever met, actually an amazing guy. So go back and check that out as well. Uh, let's see. The only other thing I'll re I'll mention before I jump right into the n n [00:04:00] T is, uh, if you do have questions about anything that you hear on Vitality Radio, you know what to do.
Give us a call at Vitality eight Oh. 2 9 2 66 62. That's 2 9 2 66 62. I'm really excited to give you this information today. I think the entire episode is packed with stuff that you need to know to make better decision for your health. So, uh, I hope you enjoy what I bring to you. And now let's talk about the number needed to.
It is time for the vital rant
in a world full of often confusing messages about. Let Jared be your guide through the smokescreens of [00:05:00] corporate greed, media bias, government ineptitude, and propaganda. When you see what is really happening, you'll be ranting too. It's time to expose the hidden agendas. It's time for the truth. It's time for the vital rant.
All righty. All righty. We're gonna talk about N N T. That is the number needed to treat. So it sounds like N N T T, but they call it N N T. We're leaving the two out of there, and according to Wikipedia and pretty much everywhere else I read, there's a whole bunch of definitions. They almost all say exactly the same thing.
The number needed to treat is an epidemiological measure used in communicating the effectiveness of a healthcare inter. Typically a treatment with medication. The n n T is the average number of patients who need to be treated to prevent one additional bad outcome. Now, of course, not all drugs are designed to prevent death.
Many drugs are designed to prevent a specific, uh, illness. From occurring or [00:06:00] reoccurring. Uh, we have drugs for all kinds of different things that, you know, people deal with and the symptoms that people deal with. And the question is always in medicine, or at least it's supposed to be the risk reward, uh, ratio.
You know, how risky is this particular intervention versus how great of a reward may be associated with it? And there's a great website that. List these things in what appears to be a pretty unbiased. These n ntts, it's not very complete. There's, I don't know, maybe there's hundreds of N ntts listed, but clearly we have far more medical techniques and surgeries and procedures and drugs than hundreds.
Uh, but regardless, the ones that you can find there are very, very interesting. I, I found, and, uh, so with N N T, what we're really trying to figure out, You know how many people [00:07:00] actually have to take this drug before one person actually gets the result they're looking for? And then the flip side of that, where it comes to risk would be then how many people have to take this drug before one person has a significant side effect of some sort.
Clearly you would want the N N T number needed to treat to be much higher on the prevention side or the cure side and much, much lower on the risk side or the side effects side. But it's really interesting what these numbers actually look like and sometimes. A little mind blowing. Let's just start with one simple one, because it's one that I think most people, certainly most adults, over the age of 40 or 50 are pretty familiar with because it's such a common recommendation, and that's a daily aspirin, a daily aspirin.
To prevent heart attack or stroke, to basically keep the [00:08:00] blood thin. And what they did is they did a study for one year patients that were doing aspirin for one year. In fact, this isn't just a study, this is an analysis of multiple studies. Excuse me. So it's pretty. Pretty comprehensive and the numbers are very interesting.
After one year on aspirin daily, uh, for people who had not had a previous cardiovascular event, okay, someone who didn't have a, hadn't had a stroke, hadn't had a heart attack, one in 1,667 were helped. Another was a cardiovascular problem was prevented. None were helped in terms of preventing a death. So that number was essentially infinite.
And one in 2000 were helped preventing a non-fatal heart attack. One in 3000 were helped preventing a non-fatal stroke. Now here's the interesting thing. So remember one in 1,667 were helped in terms of preventing some type of [00:09:00] cardiovascular problem. No deaths were prevented according to the studies, and one in 3,333 were.
Meaning a major bleeding event, a major internal bleeding event, or I guess it could be external, but generally those are internal bleeding events. So basically for every three people that take this, uh, one is going to prevent a cardiovascular problem. Or two would prevent a cardiovascular problem and one would have a major bleeding event.
That's in terms of the people that are actually, uh, using or that actually have something happen. Right. Something positive or something negative. And that's in just one year. But then if you're, if you take, extrapolate that out to 3000 people, 3000 people, you still only have two receiving a benefit and one, uh, [00:10:00] essentially bleeding, having a major bleeding event, and then 2,997.
Uh, no benefit and low risk essentially. Now, the reason I say low risk in that case as opposed to no risk is because that's only one year on aspirin. We know a hundred percent. The literature is extremely clear on this, that the longer you take an aspirin daily, the more likely you are to have a major bleeding event.
So one year is not really a long. Window to look at in terms of the risk. But think about that. If you, it's kind of like playing the lottery in this case. Uh, you have a one in 1,667 chance of a daily aspirin after being on it a year actually preventing a cardiovascular problem. Interesting stuff. So now this is where I think there's real value in.
Because [00:11:00] clearly the majority of those people that had not had a stroke and had not had a heart attack, and then on an aspirin per day for a year. We're not going to have a stroke or a heart attack anyway, so it can't prevent something that wasn't going to happen, and that's one thing that has to weigh in.
So what does the N N T look at or look like for a daily aspirin when it comes to someone who has had a stroke or a heart attack in the past? Well, the number gets much, much better. It goes from one in 1,667. Down to one in 50. Now still, I don't know how you look at it. And this is one of the things that I think is really fascinating because it's all perception.
It's all perception in terms of how you look at these numbers. But if you say, I'm, I'm good with being a one in 50 N N t that I have a one in 50 chance that this drug is going to benefit me, I'm fine with [00:12:00] that. Because I've already had her heart attack and I, or I've already had a stroke and I don't ever want another one, and if anything will potentially help me, I'm willing to take it.
That's one way to look at it. Another way to look at it would be one in 50. I'm still kind of playing roulette here, that I have a one in 50 chance that this is going to help me. Now, that's to prevent a cardiovascular event. The number goes to one in 333 to prevent. And then one in 77 to prevent a non-fatal heart attack, one in 200 to prevent a non-fatal stroke.
All of those numbers are way better way, way smaller, number needed to treat, uh, numbers versus the people who were essentially healthy, who had not had heart disease up to that point. So what that says to me, and this is my perception, that you get to decide for yourself obviously. If I have not had a heart attack or stroke, then I don't see any reason why I would take a one.
[00:13:00] 1,667 chance that it's going to help me to take an aspirin a day versus a one in 3033 chan 333 chance, sorry, that that aspirin is gonna cause a major bleeding event. It's not worth the risk reward for me. Had I had a, a stroke or a heart attack, or potentially multiple strokes or heart attacks, then that number, you know, again, goes down and at least it gets it into the realm of something that I might want to consider.
And then to, so you're over aware that bleeding event, uh, that happened in the one in 3,333. That number actually goes down to one in 400 for people who have already had a heart attack, heart attack or stroke. So you have a one 50 chance that it'll prevent a cardiovascular illness and a one in 400 chance that you'll be harmed by a major bleeding event.
So it's about eight to one. There. You have a eight times more likely that it'll help you. Then it will hurt you at. In one [00:14:00] year, again, with the bleeding events that those odds go up as we go, and I'd love to see what an N N T in terms of the bleeding event is after say, 10 years. That would be a very interesting number that I wasn't able to find.
So those numbers are, I don't know, what do you think? Does it make you think, well, maybe this is a number I ought to know before I go on a pharmaceutical? Or have a procedure or a surgery or something like that. The answer for me is always going to be yes, because then at least it gives you the data you need to decide if it's worth the risk.
So for my way of thinking, the n n T is a really, really valuable tool. Let's talk about a couple of other areas where the N N T is very interesting. All right, let's look at antibiotics for uncomplicated diverticulitis. Uncomplicated diverticulitis. Antibiotic is the most common that I'm aware of.
Treatment for that, uh, diverticulitis is basically [00:15:00] inflammation, uh, in the diverticula, in the intestinal tract. And I've never experienced it, thank goodness, but I've worked with a lot of people at Vitality over the years who have, and it can be extremely painful. And, uh, some people have told me spec, like literally I thought I was dying.
So it's, it's not a fun thing to deal with. And you. When you're in the middle of a diverticulitis attack, tend to be a lot more likely to just say, give me whatever you've got, doc. I want to get better. So what are the numbers if they recommend an antibiotic? Well, it's actually really, really straightforward here.
One in 32. Were helped and that is what it was, one in 32. So you have a one in 32 chance. That's better than what we talked about with the aspirin per day. It's not a, not great odds though, but what about harm? One in 24 were harmed. Adverse reaction or morbidity related to antibiotic use. So a one in 32 chance that'll [00:16:00] help you.
A one in 24. It will harm you. Now, if you knew those numbers going in before you were in a state of significant pain, would it change the way that you review or decide? What you're gonna do with that particular treatment? I think that it probably would, in a lot of cases. I think the N N T is something that ought to be on the packaging of pharmaceuticals.
There's quite a bit of research showing that doctors don't share that information with their patients and that they don't use it that much themselves. The N N T was originally designed to help clinicians decide. Who should I give this to and how liberally should I give it? Essentially, is it really worth it?
Is it really going to help them? And apparently it's not being used that much. Let's go through, uh, stat news. Stat news.com. Did a great article on this. There's a few things that I wanna read straight out of there, uh, article that I think will help shed a little bit more light on this for you. Statins, which have become [00:17:00] synonymous.
With heart attack and stroke prevention, have an N N T of 60 for heart attack and 268 for stroke. So there you go. One in 60 prevent heart attack, one in 60 people on a statin for five years. For five years, one heart attack is prevented. For every 60 people take it and one stroke is prevented for every 268 people that take it.
Okay, in people with heart. Already the number is smaller, so that's people with high cholesterol but not heart disease. People with heart disease 39 have to take it for five years for one non-fatal heart attack to be prevented and one in every 83 have to take it for one life to be saved. So you have a one in 83 chance that's gonna save your life.
One in 39 chance that you're gonna have a non or, or that it's gonna prevent a non. Heart attacks. So those numbers are better, but they're still not great. And how about blood [00:18:00] pressure meds? If 125 people with high blood pressure take drugs for five years to lower it, the meds will prevent a fatal stroke or heart attack in one person, one in 125.
So these numbers are really, really interesting. If you think about that, when you consider the millions and millions and millions of people that. High blood pressure meds and statin drugs that are not receiving help according to the clinical trials. And keep in mind too, that these clinical trials were done by the drug companies to get these products on the market in the first place.
So maybe these numbers are even a little skewed in their favor. They often tend to be, but even if they're not a one in 39 chance, that a statin for five years. One in 39 chance that a statin for five years, I'll prevent a non-fatal heart attack and a one in 83 chance that it'll prevent me from dying over that five year [00:19:00] period.
That's an interesting thing to think about, especially when you start to weigh out the negatives of a statin drug, because on average, about 10% of people have a side effect with a statin one in 10. So you have a four times higher likelihood. Of an adverse reaction to a statin drug. Then you do that.
It'll actually prevent a heart attack, even if you've already had heart disease. Really, really interesting stuff. Okay, so the statin and aspirin examples, underline that the n n T is different in different populations. In other words, people who aren't sick yet, but trying to prevent becoming sick versus people who are sick.
That's according to Dr. H Gilbert Welsh, a professor of medicine at Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice. He said people at higher risk of an adverse outcome outcome tend to benefit more from an intervention. So the N N T is always lower than in [00:20:00] lower risk people. For instance, the N N T for preventing hip fractures with the bone strengthening drugs called biss.
I can never say this one. Bisphosphonates is 100 in postmenopausal women with previous broken bones, but essentially infinite in those without previous fac fractures. So there's one more. I think it's interesting when we go to pharmacy for our preventative medicine, What we start to learn here if we're preventing a heart attack or stroke with a statin drug in someone who's never had one before, and our number needed to treat to prevent a stroke is one in 268 for heart attack.
It's one in 60. We're playing preventative medicine. Almost everybody that is trying to prevent is getting no benefit. A higher percentage, of course, again, getting actual side effects and with [00:21:00] bisphosphonates, which they use to prevent hip fractures. If you've never had a hip fracture, But you have a lower bone density and you decide to go on one of those.
According to Dr. Gilbert Welsh over at Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy, he says it's an infinite number of people that have to take a bisphosphonate to actually have a a positive outcome. And then you have to have a hundred people, a hundred people taking it to have one hip fracture. Eliminated.
One person doesn't have a hip fracture for every a hundred people taking it. So then again, you have to weigh out, you know, okay, well what are the risks? Because listen, if bisphosphonates and if statin drugs, and if high blood pressure meds came with no risk, then maybe a one in 100 chance, it'd be good enough.
I, I don't know. I guess again, it depends on your perception, but if they all have these risks and if the risks in some cases are actually. Than the reward or the [00:22:00] potential reward, then maybe it helps us rethink a little bit of our willingness to just jump on a pharmaceutical. And I think that that's what needs to happen in this country because one of the challenges with medicine in this country is that doctors have been.
To some degree hamstrung in terms of what they're supposed to do. When some come, someone comes in with a specific, um, you know, ailment, we'll say, cuz it can be a variety of different concerns, obviously go to see, to see your doctor for, but what I think is really, really interesting, again, the, I guess there's two parts to it, is that doctors, they have what's called the standard of care.
And in the standard of care, they're supposed to recommend a statin if your number is a specific number, and it's generally, I think over a hundred on your ldl, over 200 on your total cholesterol. Some doctors even recommend them at lower levels than [00:23:00] that, so that's the standard of care. The doctors is actually required to make that recomme.
And doctors can make some lifestyle recommendations, you know, change your diet, uh, get more exercise. But generally speaking, you're gonna be hard pressed to find a doctor who's gonna say, well, you could consider taking something like garlic or burberine, because those have clinical evidence that they're very, very beneficial without the side effects.
But generally speaking, doctors are taught. Give drugs and that's what most of them do. So that's the one side of it. But the other side of it would be just simply being an informed patient. Because when we look at these interventions, especially preventatively, I think we can all pretty much agree when we look at pharmaceutical medicine in this country that almost everything in the pharmacy is designed.[00:24:00]
Reduce symptomology, not really necessarily prevent any long-term health ailment. And as you're looking at these things that are with high blood pressure medicines, one in every 125 people don't have a heart attack because of high blood pressure. Me and one in every 60 don't have a heart attack because of a statin.
It's a really, really interesting thing to consider, and what I believe probably is the best thing that you can do as a consumer or a potential consumer of these pharmaceuticals is to educate yourself on the n n t of something that your doctor is recommending to you. Ask him or her for that information if they don't have that information.
Mostly readily available online. You can find it, you know, N NT [00:25:00] for this drug, N NT for this procedure. And put your details in. You can probably get the information that you need. And then if you have more of a chronic concern that maybe you're already being treated for or have been considering treatment.
Or you have a history of something like diverticulitis, for instance. Maybe you've been in for diverticulitis and already had an antibiotic for it. Then you start to look. You should know what those numbers are, that it's gonna take one or 32 people for every one person to get a benefit from an antibiotic.
But only 24 people for every one person to have a significant side effect. If you have that information in your back pocket, you are going to be in a much better position. To ask rational questions before just accepting a prescription for a pharmaceutical. So I think the N N T is a very valuable tool. I highly encourage that you use it [00:26:00] and become familiar with it because it does shed light on the potential procedures.
Surgeries or medicines that you may consider consuming. One of the things that happens on the n or, uh, not on the news, but on the, uh, TV and the radio and Billboards magazine ads is they have all the fine print, right? Whether it's spoken or it's written about the side effects. But the problem with the side effects is it just says, you know, the most common effects were these.
And then less common effects were these, well, you don't know how, what does that even mean? Right? Is it one in a million people that that die from this drug? Or is it one in a thousand or one in a hundred thousand? And how many people are actually helped by it? These are, this is data that you can actually use.
To make an informed decision. So I do recommend you become familiar with it. I think most people don't even know that it's a thing and, uh, it's really, really fascinating [00:27:00] information. I'll probably bring you more of it in future episodes of Vitality Radio. Okay, so we're gonna take a break and when we come back on Vitality Radio and The Vitality Radio podcast, we're gonna talk about three key elements for your health.
We're gonna go into pretty deep detail about the three, I think. This information is probably. It. It's been out there for a while. I haven't talked about it nearly enough or really had us full of an understanding as I do now about how important it really is. We're gonna talk about vitamin D three, vitamin K two, and magnesium, why they're important, why they are needed together, and what they can do for your help.
All the details coming up around the bend when we come back on vitality. And the Vitality Radio podcast. For years at Vitality Nutrition, we've struggled with the question, what can I do to help my aching [00:28:00] joints? About 20 years ago, glucosamine and chondroitin appeared on the market, and for the first time, we had something natural that actually made a real difference for a lot of our customers.
But over the years, glucosamine products seem to still only work for a certain percentage of the people who tried them and. Only seemed to help so much. Then came hyaluronic acid. A healthy joint regularly secretes a substance called hyaluronic acid. This compound is slippery and provides lubrication and cushion to the joint.
As we age, we produce less of this vital substance. The problem is that supplements containing this promising ingredient don't absorb well and mostly get wiped out in the stomach. Well, about eight years ago, Jared discovered a company who had figured out how to solve this. The product they developed is called Baxil, and it is amazing.
Baxil is a liquid that's almost flavorless, and according to the clinical trials, when taken twice daily, provides significant relief to 84% of [00:29:00] people who use it at Vitality. We'd love Baxil because it works. It's as simple as that. Plus it's 100% guaranteed if your joints creak and pop. If you experience discomfort, pain, or stiffness, then you owe it to yourself to drive baxil Today.
Baxil is available at Vitality, nutrition, and online@vitalitynutrition.com. Come visit us at 1 0 7 South 500 West in Bountiful, Utah. Check us out online or call us at eight Oh. 2 9 2 66 62. That's 8 0 1 2 9 2 66 62. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Today on Vitality Radio, I'm going to be discussing the critical nature of magnesium with [00:30:00] Vitamin D, with vitamin K, and why none of them should probably be taken apart from. Others. This is pretty big information. It's really, really important. You need to know about it, especially if you're supplementing vitamin D like so many of us are.
You've gotta understand the relationship between it. Along with K2 and Magnesium, and I aim to explain that to you in great detail today with very easy to follow recommendations on exactly how to use them. So that's what Vitality Radio is about today. So happy to have you with me. If you are listening on local radio, whether that be in Cedar City or Salt Lake City, Then please check out the podcast for so much more information.
Extra episodes, longer episodes. Vitality radio.com is one place you can find [00:31:00] all of them. You can also jump on pretty much any of your favorite podcast apps and check it out there and you can check out my new podcast called the Dearly Discarded Podcast that is available on all of the podcast apps as well.
If you are in Bountiful or near Bountiful, Utah, you can certainly come visit us at Vitality Nutrition in Bountiful at 1 0 7 South 500 West. My family business almost ready to celebrate our 45th year. Well, we're in our 45th year, our 45 year, uh, anniversary here in a few months. Hard to believe it's been that long, but that's what we've been doing all this time and we'd love to have you in store.
But if you are not close or it's not convenient to get into vitality, nutrition. You can always check us out@vitalitynutrition.com. Everything you need is right there and we'll be more than happy to get you all of your supplements through [00:32:00] vitality nutrition.com. You can always call us with any questions that you have from anything you hear on Vitality Radio at 8 0 1 2 9 2 66 62.
That's 8 0 1 2 9 2 66 62. Okay, let's jump into this topic here. I think it's really, really, I. And I wanna share it with you and make sure I have enough time to get it all in. We've all heard that we need vitamin D. That's a pretty common. Place, I think understanding of anybody paying attention to their health, uh, it's something that our doctors are gonna look at on a blood test and they're gonna tell us if we're low.
But let's talk a little bit about the blood test to start this off. Optimal levels seem to be between about 50 and 80. And what you're looking for is what's called 25 hydroxy vitamin D. If you've got a blood test handy from the last time you had your blood test done, you can take a look at that and if you're in the 50 to 80 range, you're probably doing pretty well and that's important to [00:33:00] understand.
But. It depends on where you get your information from. And one of the reasons I do Vitality Radio is to get you information that, frankly, is a little tougher to find in other places. Because if you just go to WebMD or you Google, uh, hey, you know, what are my optimal Vitamin D levels, you're gonna find a bunch of websites that give you, in my opinion, Useless and or misleading information about this particular topic for sure.
On WebMD. For instance, one page says, the most accurate way to measure how you, how much vitamin D in your body is the 25 hydroxyvitamin D blood test, which is true. A level of 20 nanograms per milliliter up to 50 nanograms per milliliter is considered adequate for healthy people. A level less than 12 nanograms indicate indicates vitamin D deficiency.
Okay, so that's what they say on WebMD, at least in one, one page. But if we look at actual science and talk to real experts, not drug [00:34:00] pushers like WebMD, we recognize that 20 to 50 is not optimal at all. It is in the normal range because the normal range on most blood tests shows between 30 and 80 as the normal range.
Some show as high as 100 as the normal range. So if you're between 30 and 50, you are in the low end of normal. But normal range is not the same as optimal range. The majority of sources I've found, That actually have scientific backing behind them and people that I trust when it comes to this kind of information, they'll tell you that you want 50 to 80, that that's gonna be more your optimal range.
And I have some people even saying you want to push it up closer to that 100 mark. I believe you want to be aiming for at least 80. Uh, based on what I've been seeing. And certainly the high sixties or seventies, uh, at least seems to be a really logical place to be. And let me tell you why that is. Many studies have been done on vitamin [00:35:00] D during Covid over the last couple of years, and looking specifically at Covid outcomes and check out this one in particular that was done in Israel, patients with a vitamin D deficiency were.
14 times more likely to have a severe or critical case of Covid 19. What's more, the mortality rate for those with insufficient vitamin D levels was 25.6% compared to just 2.3% among those with adequate levels. Now think about that 25% versus 2% over 10 times more likely to die from covid 19. If your vitamin D levels were inadequate.
The differences still applied after researchers controlled for the patient's age, gender, and history of chronic disease. So the vitamin D on its own was a major, [00:36:00] major factor in the outcome of covid 19. Well, this is pretty staggering stuff. 10 times more likely to die if your vitamin D is too low. So what does deficiency mean in this study?
Well, in this study, they were looking at people under. Not people just in the normal range being adequate, but people in the low normal range between 20 and 50, were still found to be 10 times more likely to die than people that had levels over 50. And guess what? I found this article also on WebMD. So on one page they're telling you that as long as you're over 20, you're in the quote unquote adequate range.
On another page, they tell you that if you aren't at least. 50, you are 10 times more likely to die from covid 19. So we have to pay attention to these [00:37:00] numbers in a pretty significant way, although it is totally clear and it really is, the evidence is there. You just have to look for it. Some of it's a little hard to find due to the wonderful censorship we're experiencing in this once free country now.
If you're looking, it's very clear that adequate vitamin D above 50 in your blood Vitamin D test is more effective than the flu shot at preventing flu and more effective than the Covid vaccines at preventing bad outcomes of. Flu and covid, so it's a big, big deal. You have to pay attention to it. Vitamin D benefits don't stop at immune function, though proper levels of vitamin D are crucial for the prevention of breast and prostate cancers, as well as some very compelling evidence that it prevents colon cancer and many other cancers.
Where deficiency is linked to, uh, to vitamin D deficiency is linked to cancer. Vitamin D is critical. And Tooth Health, [00:38:00] cardiovascular health, and many other systems in the body. So fine. We know we need vitamin D, but how much and what form? Well, I do believe that vitamin D levels in a blood test should be looked at annually.
I think that's a really good idea, at least until you get your levels where you want them to be up above that 50. And in my opinion, and remember, I'm not your doctor, but this is my opinion, it should be closer up to that 80 range, and I'm certainly not alone. In that opinion, maybe every couple of years.
If your levels are in a good spot and you're just keeping an eye on things, I think that makes sense as well. So how do you get enough? Well, the sunshine. The sunshine, which has been demonized as being this major cause of cancer, may be our best source of prevention of some types of cancer because of vitamin D.
So what I do, I get my exposed skin, arms, legs, and my bald head out there for 20 minutes on sunny days. As often as I. [00:39:00] If I do it for 20 minutes, I don't get burned. I get lots of vitamin D metabolizing, uh, or being manufactured really with the cholesterol that it, that the UV rays find in my skin and my vitamin D levels are increased in a good natural way that way.
Now, if you live. Where I live here in Utah, you're gonna have six, seven months, eight months outta the year where you're not getting adequate sunlight probably. And so therefore supplementing makes a lot of sense. And I personally do supplement all winter long, but I try not to supplement during the summer months.
I try to get enough from my. Sunshine. So when you're looking at supplements, don't settle for a vitamin D that's in a base of soybean oil or canola oil or some other toxic genetically modified seed oil. Don't settle for one that's caramel or artificial coloring in it. These toxic chemicals should not be in our vitamins, but they often are.
If you're getting it from a big box store such as Costco, Walmart, and places like that, buy a [00:40:00] pure source of vitamin D because vitamin. Really inexpensive. You can get a great quality vitamin D for two or $3 a month at your local health food store. Obviously love to have you visit the stores that this show, uh, highlights.
Sunshine Nutrition down in Cedar Vitality, nutrition and Bountiful, or Vitality nutrition.com. But any health food store is always gonna be a better option than big box stores when it comes to Vitamin D and frankly, most of your supplements, uh, dosage. This is tough because you don't know what your, if you don't know what your blood levels are, then you don't know how.
How efficient you might be, but it is fairly difficult to get too much vitamin D. It really is. So with that being the case, it's. According to most experts to take at least 2000, if not 5,000 units a day. And I do take 5,000 units a day during the winter months. Uh, it's very difficult to get too much vitamin D.
You can do it, but it's challenging. So [00:41:00] until you can get a blood test, more is probably better, especially when you consider that the range is, you know, 30 to 80 is that optimal range, and you wanna be up towards the high end of that range if you. Plenty of vitamin D. Uh, if you're getting a lot of sunlight, if you get a blood test and it says that you're in that high normal range, then 2000 units is probably good enough to maintain that for most people.
But today I don't wanna focus just on vitamin D. I also wanna focus on vitamin K2 and magnesium. Along with your Vitamin D and it's really important that we understand why both of them are critical. Now keep in mind that if you listen to my show on a regular basis, if you check out the podcast, I've got five episodes called the Vital Five episodes, uh, with a Vitality radio.
And the Vital five are my five that I think most every American probably needs to supplement. Uh, they're not getting enough in their diet. Those five [00:42:00] are. Magnesium. They are digestive enzymes. They are omega-3 and probiotics, and a great multivitamin. And you have to make sure it's a great multivitamin.
Most multivitamins in the market not so great. The one that I love, of course, I'm completely biased, but it is my formula, uh, called Ultimate Vitality Multi. But there are other great multivitamins found in your local health food stores, generally speaking, pretty hard to find a good one at a grocery store.
So people often ask me though, Hey, why isn't vitamin D in your vital five? Well, there's three reasons primarily why it didn't make my Vital five. The first is you can actually get enough vitamin D in many. Good multivitamins, particularly the Ultimate Vitality Multi, if you take the recommended dose has 2,500 units in it.
So that's one reason. Also, you can get enough from sunlight, at least in the summer months if you're making that effort. [00:43:00] And thirdly, magnesium, which is in the Vital five, is a critical element to vitamin D absorption. And if you're taking Vitamin D supplementally and you're not taking magnesium, then.
You're missing out. And magnesium in my view, actually trumps vitamin D and its importance, and I'll explain why as we go through the need for magnesium here. Magnesium's the fourth most abundant mineral in the human body. We get about 400 milligrams less than our ancestors of just a hundred years ago.
We're getting in their diets. Magnesium plays a role in 300 enzymatic processes in the human. Uh, in the human body. It is a truly critical element. Magnesium is the stress mineral. Why? Because our need for magnesium increases with our stress levels. Physical, mental and emotional stress. All deplete magnesium storage, Magnes.
Deficiency is not easily detectable though in a blood test, whereas vitamin D I explained exactly how to look at that, and [00:44:00] that is because 99% of the magnesium in your body is not found in the blood, it's found in the tissues. There is what's called an RBC test that can be run to look at your magnesium levels in your red blood cells.
And if you do that, you'll have a much better idea and you can ask your doctor, uh, to do that for you. Uh, so let's talk though about how to dose magnesium and why it's so critical with Vitamin D three. First, in my opinion, magnesium is the most important co-factor with vitamin D with a very. Sorry, a very close second being Vitamin K two.
Recent studies have shown that if a person is deficient in magnesium, no amount of vitamin D supplementation will allow, will allow a patient to realize the health benefits of adequate vitamin D. Magnesium is a critical factor in making vitamin D bioavailable without magnesium present. Vitamin D is stored in the.
And not used by [00:45:00] the body. The body depends on magnesium to convert vitamin D into its active form within the body. Magnesium also helps vitamin D bind to its target proteins as well as helping the liver and the kidneys to metabolize vitamin D. And yet we know that most Americans are indeed deficient in magnesium and therefore, If they're taking Vitamin D and deficient in magnesium, they may actually be causing a little bit of trouble for themselves.
Magnesium deficiency is. Kind of like vitamin D deficiency in that it is in a range. If we really need, like most experts suggest about five to 800 milligrams a day, the government says we need about four to 500, and I think they're a little low on that based on what I've read. So most of the experts that I believe in, most of the research that I have done indicates we need closer to five to 800 milligrams.
Total from all sources, including our diet per day of magnesium. So even if you aren't getting enough [00:46:00] magnesium for optimal levels, you may be getting enough. From your diet to get some benefit outta the vitamin D you take, and the vitamin D then will be more beneficial because of that magnesium, but you won't optimize the benefit of the vitamin D and it could be making you healthier in some areas and actually less healthy in others.
Let's explore that really quick. If you know or suspect that you are deficient in vitamin D levels, you may be tempted to supplement with vitamin D three. Or you may already be supplementing, but if you are not also supplementing with magnesium, you could actually be doing as much or more harm than good.
Remember, magnesium deficiency prevents the body from using the vitamin D. You are supplementing it with. Additionally, the Journal of American Osteopathic Association points out the people with low magnesium levels who supplement with Vitamin D show markedly higher blood levels of calcium. This is probably due to the role [00:47:00] that activated vitamin D plays in the absorption of calcium into the bones and other tissues.
So vitamin D is actually very good at getting calcium up into the blood, but then where does the calcium go? Because excess calcium in the bloodstream can actually lead to calcification. On the inside of the arteries resulting in poor cardiovascular health, aka a hardening of the arteries. Unabsorbed calcium can also cause nausea, frequent urination, fatigue, kidney problems including kidney stones, so both magnesium and vitamin D are necessary.
For optimal health and balance and to make sure that the calcium that is being pushed into the bloodstream by vitamin D has somewhere to go. We need magnesium. And also k2, which I'll hit in just a minute. So how much magnes magnesium to take may actually be more clear than with vitamin D because even [00:48:00] though we don't have a, uh, a readily available blood test result that would show that we're deficient in magnesium, we know that the majority of Americans are based on just.
Standard diets and even healthy diets are typically lower in magnesium than we need. So the dosage form, in my view, or the dosage, uh, potency in my view is actually pretty simple. Most of us. Based on many, many studies that have been done need about 300 to 400 additional milligrams above and beyond what's in our food.
We can get really good sources and nuts and seeds. Pumpkin seeds in particular, very high in magnesium. So you can get more from your food if you're shooting for it. But, uh, most of us are still deficient to the tune of three to 400 milligrams and some people it's a little bit more so starting in that range.
Makes sense. And the reason. Kind of easy to know is because if we do do get too much magnesium, we will typically end up with a laxative effect and then we just back it off a little bit. Not that big of [00:49:00] a deal. If diarrhea ensues, you just take a little bit less so the form is always going to be for me, unless something comes along better, which it hasn't yet.
Magnesium, glyc. For the majority of people, magnesium three and eight, for people that are really concerned about their mental health, um, prevention of, uh, neurological disorders and things like that. Those two are the very best. My favorite that I recommend for most people is called the Vital Five Magnesium Glycinate.
Do not take magnesium oxide. It is probably going to prevent you. It'll actually make you le more deficient, not less, and I'll, I'll cover all that at the very end of this too. Just a little bit more. The last factor I wanna discuss is vitamin k2. Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin. Vitamin D increases calcium levels in the body like we talked about, and vitamin K helps to the body to use the calcium by shuttling it into your bones and teeth where it belongs.[00:50:00]
Increasing one's intake of vitamin D without enough vitamin K can cause the calcium to be high in the blood, but not go to where it needs to be. So K and D, much like magnesium and D, work together for this purpose. I don't think that really one is more important than the other. They're all critical here, and it's especially critical to understand that if you're supplementing vitamin D for all of the good reasons that you would wanna supplement vitamin D, and you're not supplementing K and you're not supplementing magnesium, you're gonna get very little benefit out of the vitamin D and could actually cause problems by pushing.
Calcium into the blood and not having a place for that calcium to go. A recent study revealed a slower progression of calcification in the arteries and other areas in those taking both vitamin D and vitamin K2 along with magnesium. In fact, the K2 and D protected against cardiovascular calcification while people who took [00:51:00] just vitamin D did.
Prevent cardiovascular calcification because vitamin D is so good at improving calcium levels. By taking it alone, you could be actually working to increase calcification in the arteries. I can't stress that enough, so don't take D alone. Always accompany it with magnesium and vitamin k2. Most of the research on K2 suggests that you need 200 to 320 micrograms, supplementally daily, above and beyond your diet.
If you're taking a blood thinner, run this by your doctor or pharmacist first because. Vitamin K can be an issue with blood thinners, so make sure you're looking at that. Um, for everybody else, K2 as a daily supplement makes a ton of sense, especially if you're taking vitamin D, which I highly suggest for everybody.
And then make sure you're also taking the magnesium with it. The trifecta of the three has so much evidence showing that it reduces the risk of [00:52:00] cancer, osteoporosis, cardiovascular. Kidney stones, bone spurs, and susceptibility to illness such as covid 19, the seasonal flu, other viruses, and so on. This is all incredibly important stuff, and it's all good news because.
None of this is very hard to do. While in my view, your best bet is not to buy supplements that combine these ingredients because you're not gonna get enough of each of them. You will be looking at three different supplements in most cases. But my favorite three at Vitality Nutrition and Vitality nutrition.com are Vitamin K2 from Natural Factors, which will cost you like 12 bucks a month.
Vitamin D three also from natural factors, which would cost you like $3 a month. And for magnesium, I recommend my brand new Vital five Magnesium glycinate, of which a [00:53:00] month supply is like 17 bucks. So for under a buck a day, you're there. You can also potentially eliminate the need to even take the additional vitamin D if you look into the Ultimate Vitality Multi.
So this is all very doable. It's affordable and it is critical. And I wanted to get this message out to you because I, I think it is such a big, big deal when we look at vitamin. We can't look at it as an individual nutrient for two reasons. One, it isn't a nutrient, it's a hormone. It has co-factors and those co-factors, the two most critical ones are vitamin K two.
And magnesium. So I hope that was helpful. If you have any questions about anything you heard, give us a call, 8 0 1 2 9 2 66 62. We would love to answer those questions. You can also check us out online, vitality nutrition.com or. Go to Sunshine Health Foods [00:54:00] in Cedar City. They are really, really great. They have excellent resources for you when it comes to these supplements or vitality.
Nutrition in Bountiful, Utah at 1 0 7 South 500 West. Thank you so much. It's been a pleasure bringing you this show. Remember to check it out as a podcast if you haven't already. Vitality radio.com or any of your favorite podcast apps. You've been listening to me. My name is Jared St. Clair, and this has been Vitality Radio.
You've been listening to the Vitality Radio podcast. Enjoy your week. In the meantime, Jared will be feverishly searching for the latest nutrition info to educate you on and waiting into mounds of propaganda to help steer you. Vitality Radio is researched and written by Jared St. Clair. Our awesome music is by Brian Bob Young, support Vitality [00:55:00] Radio by subscribing and giving us a five star review on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcast source.
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