Vitamin D3, calcium hysteria and my experience with vitamin K2 the MK-4 type. 4/13

And started eating Tums like candy after I developed significant gastritis.  As I stated before my theory is atherosclerosis is it occurs when your body is trying to repair the damaged walls of arteries. Damage that is due to the continual inflammation and physical trauma. 

Trauma from high blood pressure individually or combined. Damage that cannot be healed in the usual way by replacing the damaged cells with more cells. As every time it does that, they are again damaged. These damaged areas on the inside of arteries can thus only be “repaired” by coating them.

Coating them with plaque which is essentially “cement”.  This plaque is made up of cholesterol and calcium to protect the underlying cells. Concerning cholesterol, which I believe deserves a whole blog post by itself, is in my opinion elevated in many because they lack one or many hormones. 

As cholesterol is for many hormones what they are made from. When the body is deficient in one or more of these hormones, I believe in some cases this results in an increase in the blood cholesterol level. The body does this to try to accelerate and produce more of the missing hormone.

By increasing it precursor.  A precursor is the molecule it is made from. Hormones like vitamin D3 which is also made from cholesterol. Or others like testosterone or estrogen which also have both cholesterol as a precursor and decrease as we age. 

So, to digress a moment there are three main forms of vitamin D3. The form made in our skin with sunlight and found in supplements-cholecalciferol. The blood form made from cholecalciferol in the kidneys. The final form calciferol is by far the most active form.

It is both the endocrine form, intracellular form and is made from calcifediol in two separate areas. The endocrine form controls blood calcium levels. This form is made in the kidneys and circulates in our blood. 

However once blood levels of calcifediol the blood form of vitamin D3 (and the form of vitamin D3 we measure to track our levels) starts to approach optimal blood levels then the other cells in the body starts to significantly produce more of calciferol-the active form inside these other cells. 

The active form produced in these other cells (not produced in the kidneys to control calcium) do not intermingle with that in the blood. That is the calciferol in the blood is isolated from that in the other cells. Thus, allowing calciferol the active form in blood to be under extremely tight control. 

Without that produced in other cells interfering with calcium metabolism. Which it appears not to do. I never say never as no proof they intermix and doubtful it still could be found to happen. So, two separate processes using the same hormone. 

When like in this case calciferol is used in a cell to initiate a hormonal action only in that cell it is called autocrine versus that used in the blood which acts on many cells throughout the body it is called an endocrine system. 

As its function is to supply the blood and body with adequate calcium and protect us from both too little calcium. Tight control of calcium happens through the action of calcitonin and parathyroid hormone on the levels of calciferol endocrine function involving calcium. 1 

The body also produces a hormone, which I alluded to above called calcitonin, that lowers blood calcium levels. Something that naysayers seem to purposely omit. The body is not static. For one the skeletal bone is constantly being remodeled. 

Remodeled in that while some is being broken down other areas are being rebuilt. This occurs by cells called osteoblasts and osteoclasts. The osteoblasts build bone and osteoclasts break them down. Serotonin also plays a major role in skeletal bone health. 

Something that though there was a flurry of research in the early 2010’s but it seems to have tapered off since. What they found was the gut where we make most of our serotonin. That serotonin can and does affect our osteoblasts and osteoclasts. 2 

So, it is not like vitamin D3 is all alone in its actions. But if an unhealthy gut its production of not only serotonin but also that vitamin K2 is reduced. We become inflamed all negatively affecting our bone health. Let me continue as I touched on before there are other substances involved.

Like calcitonin. So, let me explain how it works. When blood calcium levels become too high the body stops secreting parathyroid hormone, secrets more calcitonin and less calcium is absorbed from the gut, more is excreted through the kidneys, net skeletal bone break down and calcium liberation is reduced. 

1. Galante L, Colston KW, Macintyre I, et al. (1972). Effect of calcitonin on vitamin D metabolism. Nature. 238:271-273.
2. Walsh JS, Newell-Price JD, Eastell R, et al. (2013). Circulating Serotonin and Bone Density, Structure, and Turnover in Carcinoid Syndrome. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 98;(7): 2902–2907.

*The information posted above is for educational purposes only. Always check with your doctor before initiating any changes in your medical treatment. If you do not, then The Two-Minute Health Fact, Dr. Judson Somerville, nor The Optimal Dose is responsible!