Talk:Vitamin D

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Isn't Vitamin D one of the few vitamins that is not expelled from your body, instead building up in your liver and will kill you if you take too much? - π 06:17, 4 January 2011 (UTC)

Wrong[edit]

I take several vitamin D supplements for my health. You need these vitamins to live. Talsley (talk) 16:08, 22 September 2011 (UTC)

Anecdotal personal experience does not constitute evidence. (ʞlɐʇ) ɹǝɯɯɐHʍoƆ 16:13, 22 September 2011 (UTC)
Then what does? Talsley (talk) 16:15, 22 September 2011 (UTC)
Welcome to RationalWiki! Why not start here? Maybe you'll learn something! (ʞlɐʇ) ɹǝɯɯɐHʍoƆ 16:36, 22 September 2011 (UTC)
But science is based on the combined anecdotal evidence of the researchers! Talsley (talk) 16:37, 22 September 2011 (UTC)
You must have forgotten to read the link I just put above. Feel free to try these instead. (ʞlɐʇ) ɹǝɯɯɐHʍoƆ 16:47, 22 September 2011 (UTC)
Evidence-based medicine is a meaningless phrase. Double blind studies do not work.Talsley (talk) 16:51, 22 September 2011 (UTC)
Oops, looks like I forgot the most important article in this discussion. (ʞlɐʇ) ɹǝɯɯɐHʍoƆ 17:02, 22 September 2011 (UTC)
This is well beyond Poe's law and right into "Why is anyone bothering with this troll?" territory.--ZooGuard (talk) 17:04, 22 September 2011 (UTC)

It's not *total* woo nonsense...[edit]

Vitamin D supplements can sometimes be medically useful - they were in my case. A little back story is necessary: A few years ago, after recovering from severe anaemia (caused by slow bleeding from a duodenal ulcer over several years), I found myself suffering from quite unpleasant muscle cramps and pains. The worst were in my back, shoulders and legs, and were always most painful after a long period of staying still such as a normal night's sleep. After reading a newspaper story about a lady, with symptoms very close to mine, who had ended up becoming seriously ill due to not getting the right kind of treatment, I went to ask my Dr. for help. I was referred to a Consultant Rheumatologist at my local hospital who first assured me that it was extremely unlikely that I had anything like the nervous system disorder I'd read about in the paper, before saying that my symptoms could be caused by a serious Vitamin D deficiency and asking whether I thought this might be the case? Given that I had been badly anaemic, had a rotten diet due to ongoing problems in my guts and struggled to get out and about in the sunshine (the other problems made me very lethargic), this sounded very likely. Blood tests were done and Dr. Consultant was proven right. The only thing he could have directly prescribed me was a preparation with Vit.D and calcium and he didn't want to do that incase my calcium levels got too high so he suggested "HealthFoodStoreBrand" supplements. Since then, my GP has monitored my Vit.D levels, especially during winter, and I've been able to use the supplements to keep any aches away. I can't comment on any other woo-tastic properties that the supplements may or may not have, but they helped me immensely. --Myk — Unsigned, by: 86.27.44.227 / talk / contribs 01:40, 6 May 2012 (UTC)

Well, it seems your dose was prescribed legitimately, for a specific purpose. I think the main issue here is people hawking that you need a supplement of it WITHOUT PRESCRIPTION to fix some kind of bodily deficiency that doesn't exist. Feel free to make that point: things prescribed by doctors who know what they're doing =/= woo. ±Knightoftldrsig.pngKnightOfTL;DRcritical thinking is the key to success! 01:45, 6 May 2012 (UTC)
I think sometimes rational wikians are so into being "rational" that they actually stop being rational. Most food woo has some legitimacy to it. There is, for example, a valid reason Vit D is added to most people's milk. magniseum and maganiese really do help some people's chronic pain and leg cramps from things like restless leg syndrome, or chronic fatigue. So the real challenge is to find the true walking line between woo and fact.--Green mowse.pngGodot 02:20, 6 May 2012 (UTC)
I think it has to do with hearing so much bullshit, information is sometimes assumed to be bullshit rather than truth. If anything, it's the people that PUSH useless supplements that we have a problem with more than the substances themselves. If people didn't push them, they'd be used properly if they have an effect at all or just canned if they're all hot air. But the people who push quack cures keep the bad ideas afloat and circumvent the whole process of review. ±Knightoftldrsig.pngKnightOfTL;DRlavishly loquacious 03:50, 6 May 2012 (UTC)