Vitamin D deficiency
Vitamin D deficiency
Why so many of us are deficient?
Hello all,
How are you? Personal insight: please go and see Inside Out 1 and 2. It should be mandatory education for children and adults. It depicts our emotions and how our beliefs form throughout our lives. It’s a beautiful way of understanding why we are so complex and feel the way we do sometimes.
Back to PCOS, I have been deep into the world of genetics. It is fascinating, and I can’t wait to see the future of science through this lens. I hope I do a good job of explaining why our condition manifests itself the way it does through genetic insights.
Suppose you are someone who always gets low Vitamin D levels. This article is for you!
Today, we discuss Vitamin D deficiency:
How does Vitamin D get into the form we need from the sun/food?
The genes that help Vitamin D convert
Next Sunday:
What happens when those genes don’t work
How does it relate to PCOS?
COVID-19 has taught us many lessons about life and society. It has also made very clear the importance of adequate Vitamin D in our bodies. Lower Vitamin D status was linked to worse COVID-19 symptoms.
Vitamin D has receptors that modulate the expression of 229 genes in more than 30 different tissues, including the skeleton, brain, breast, pancreas, parathyroid glands, immune cells, and ovaries. In short, it can affect many of our bodies’ processes, including PCOS.
We know that women with PCOS who are deficient in Vitamin D have higher androgens and insulin levels.
Numerous studies show that Vitamin D deficiency is linked to insulin resistance. It is thought that Vitamin D also has a direct role in egg development, although the exact mechanism is not fully understood yet. Vitamin D also plays a role in lowering inflammation. All of the above are directly linked to some of the hallmark symptoms of PCOS.
Now, imagine if you are deficient.
Well, ~40% of Europeans are vitamin D deficient, and 13% are severely deficient. You might think it’s due to the lack of sun, but only 1 in 4 cases are attributable to season, geographic location or reported vitamin D intake.
53% of Vitamin D insufficiency can be due to genetic variations.
Let’s dive deep into it.
How do we get Vitamin D?
I hope that an infographic will help us understand the steps Vitamin D takes to reach the form we need it in.
As you can see, Vitamin D has quite a lengthy journey through the body:
The source
To get vitamin D into our bodies, we rely on a few natural sources: the sun or food. When the sun hits our skin, a form of cholesterol starts a chemical reaction that transforms into Vitamin D3. This is similar to the form we get from food (as animals have already done this conversion for us) or supplements.
Problematic genes here:
DHCR7 and NADSYN. These genes have been associated with lower Vitamin D levels.
Being transformed into its active form
In order for vitamin D to reach the form we need, it needs to undergo a series of chemical reactions in our liver and kidneys.
Problematic genes here:
CYP2R1 - if this gene is a bit lazy, it means that it will struggle to make that conversion step in the liver
CYP24A1 - in some studies, this gene shows up as a strong association, but others don’t.
These are my results 👇🏼 and I have a red on CYP2R1.
If any of the genes have some variations, you might struggle to convert Vitamin D to its active form.
If you want to know yours, our genetic-based program starts in September. You can sign up for the waitlist list here.
Transportation
For the active form to make it to the organs, it needs to hop on a protein to be carried through the blood—the same as us jumping in a car or bus to get somewhere. When it gets to the destination, it has to enter through a door. VDR is the receptor that allows Vitamin D in.
Problematic genes here:
The GC gene encodes the Vitamin D Binding Protein (VDBP), which is essential for Vitamin D’s transportation. One variation of these genes has been associated with non-response to vitamin D supplementation.
VDR is one of the most common Vitamin D variations. There are four types, each with a different effect on Vitamin D status.
Knowing these variations is excellent, but what can you do about it? We will discuss this in the next week’s newsletter, but to give you an example:
A study found that those with a specific Vitamin D variation and consuming less than ≤36.5 g of fat daily had lower glucose levels. This means that you can benefit from specific dietary patterns depending on your genetic makeup. This is why I genuinely believe in the personalisation of nutrition. Imagine you have these variations and are on the carnivore or keto diet. You might harm your glucose levels as a result. That won’t suit you, and it might do more harm.
We are designing the genetics-led PCOS program with all these studies in mind. If you are ready to truly understand your body and what will better suit you and your condition, you can sign up for the waitlist here.
I will discuss more of these next week.
See you next Sunday,
Francesca
References
Alathari, B. E., Aji, A. S., Ariyasra, U., Sari, S. R., Tasrif, N., Yani, F. F., Sudji, I. R., Lovegrove, J. A., Lipoeto, N. I., & Vimaleswaran, K. S. (2021). Interaction between vitamin D-related genetic risk score and carbohydrate intake on body fat composition: A study in Southeast Asian Minangkabau women. Nutrients, 13(2), 326. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13020326
Almaghrbi, H., Al-Shafai, M., Al-Asmakh, M., & Bawadi, H. (2023). Association of vitamin D Genetic Risk Score with noncommunicable diseases: A systematic review. Nutrients, 15(18), 4040. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15184040
Usategui-Martín, R., De Luis-Román, D.-A., Fernández-Gómez, J. M., Ruiz-Mambrilla, M., & Pérez-Castrillón, J.-L. (2022). Vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms modify the response to vitamin D supplementation: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Nutrients, 14(2), 360. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14020360
Voltan, G., Cannito, M., Ferrarese, M., Ceccato, F., & Camozzi, V. (2023). Vitamin D: An overview of gene regulation, ranging from metabolism to genomic effects. Genes, 14(9), 1691. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes14091691
Wang, T. J., Zhang, F., Richards, J. B., Kestenbaum, B., van Meurs, J. B., Berry, D., Kiel, D. P., Streeten, E. A., Ohlsson, C., Koller, D. L., Peltonen, L., Cooper, J. D., O’Reilly, P. F., Houston, D. K., Glazer, N. L., Vandenput, L., Peacock, M., Shi, J., Rivadeneira, F., … Spector, T. D. (2010). Common genetic determinants of vitamin D insufficiency: a genome-wide association study. Lancet, 376(9736), 180–188. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(10)60588-0
Weir, E. K., Thenappan, T., Bhargava, M., & Chen, Y. (2020). Does vitamin D deficiency increase the severity of COVID-19? Clinical Medicine (London, England), 20(4), e107–e108. https://doi.org/10.7861/clinmed.2020-0301
Disclaimer: We are all unique in our ways, so this information is for educational purposes only. In my communications, I summarise research data and bring my experience. This shouldn’t be viewed as medical advice at any point. Please consult your healthcare provider further about your health needs.