Blog
How Supplementing Vitamin D in the Winter Can Make You More Tired
Taking vitamin D may actually make you MORE tired because of how it can negatively impact your adrenals and wreck your metabolism.
Have you been told you should supplement vitamin D during the winter to combat fatigue?
What about to boost immunity?
It seems like nowadays this is such common advice, but the truth is…
Taking vitamin D may actually make you MORE tired because of how it can negatively impact your adrenals and wreck your metabolism.
Here’s why.
Vitamin D is stored in the body in its inactive form. To be utilized, it has to be converted to its active form first
And do you know what activates it?
👉 Magnesium (which is also needed for blood sugar regulation to avoid those "hangry" outbursts, energy production, and…you guessed it: responding to stress!)
Which means supplementing Vitamin D increases the burn rate of magnesium in your body.
Not only that, but supplementing vit D can also:
👉decrease potassium (which is controlled by the adrenal hormone, aldosterone, and can lead to anxiety and sluggish thyroid)
👉increase soft tissue calcification (which slows down metabolism because calcium gets deposited in organs and joints instead of bones and teeth - cue achy joints/muscles and dental problems)
👉decrease vitamin A which is needed by the body to utilize copper (copper is critical in energy production)
👉decrease zinc (which is needed for immunity and stomach acid production so that you can break down and get nutrients from your foods and your body doesn’t see them as "stressors")
So what does this have to do with your adrenals?
I’m glad you asked.
Share This
When the ratio between sodium and magnesium is not in balance (such as when magnesium burn rate is increased due to excessive stress or SUPPLEMENTING WITH VITAMIN D), it can severely impact your adrenal glands ability to function.
Aside from everything above
The ratio between sodium and magnesium in the body is considered our "adrenal ratio".
When these two minerals are not in balance (such as when magnesium burn rate is increased due to excessive stress or SUPPLEMENTING WITH VITAMIN D), it can severely impact your adrenal glands ability to function.
So when we supplement with vitamin D without looking UPstream to what is causing the deficiency in the first place…
We’re overtaxing our adrenals and remember…
The more stressors you're facing, the more your metabolism (and all the systems that rely on it) will slow down.
(to conserve energy to respond to the stressors)
Which means that vitamin D increases stress which increases adrenal activity which ultimately decreases metabolism.
Sadly, I too often see women who have been taking high doses of vitamin D (either just because or because it was recommended by their doctor) end up with calcium shells that numbs their emotions, makes it hard for hormones and nutrients to enter the cell, and completely dysregulates their blood sugar which puts immense stress on their adrenals.
And one of the first things we do in their healing is to reconsider that supplementation.
And I 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 this is counter-culture and probably feels really uncomfortable to read right now, but it's important to know so that you're not blindly supplementing and making your symptoms worse.
#momadrenal Mineral Mapping Membership
If this has made you the least bit curious and you want to dive further into safe and effective supplementation, that's a key tenant of what we do inside the #momadrenal Mineral Mapping Membership where we find out exactly what stage of stress you’re in, what's going on with your adrenals and metabolism, what supplements you should take (and likewise what you shouldn't!), and how to use a whole-person, whole-body approach to finally feel your best.
