You are tired, irritable, bloated, anxious, forgetful, not sleeping properly, gaining weight around the middle, and feeling unlike yourself.
Yet blood tests may come back “normal”.
For many women over 35, especially through peri-menopause, this is where frustration begins. They know something has changed, but often feel unheard or dismissed.
One common pattern behind these symptoms is what is often called Oestrogen Dominance.
This does not always mean high oestrogen on a blood test. More often, it means oestrogen is relatively stronger than progesterone, or the body is struggling to process and clear hormones efficiently.
By Dr Catherine W. Dunne, MSc.D., RGN (GPN) Holistic Healthcare Wexford | Co-founder, Aumvedas Academy
What Does Oestrogen Dominance Mean?
Hormones work in balance, not isolation.
Oestrogen has many important roles. It supports bones, skin, mood, brain function, the cardiovascular system and reproductive health. But when it outweighs progesterone, symptoms can begin to appear.
This often happens during peri-menopause, when progesterone may fall sooner and faster than oestrogen.
The result can be a body that feels hormonally unsettled.
Common Signs Women Notice
heavier or irregular periods
breast tenderness
bloating and fluid retention
mood swings or irritability
anxiety or inner tension
poor sleep
headaches
brain fog
reduced stress tolerance
stubborn weight gain, especially midsection
feeling unlike yourself
And yes, many women simply know something is changing long before any test confirms it.
Walking into doorframes may also feature. We shall call that advanced hormonal navigation.
Many women enter their forties expecting a few hot flushes, some skipped periods, and perhaps the occasional mood swing. What they often get instead is a confusing collection of symptoms that seem to arrive all at once: bloating, weight gain around the middle, poor sleep, anxiety, breast tenderness, headaches, heavy or erratic periods, low mood, brain fog, irritability, and the unsettling feeling that they are somehow no longer themselves.
They go for blood tests. They are told everything is normal. They are advised to “manage stress” or accept that it is simply age.
Yet many women know in their bones that something has shifted.
One of the most common phrases used online to describe this experience is oestrogen dominance. It is not a formal medical diagnosis in the same way diabetes or hypothyroidism is, but it is often used to describe a very real pattern: when oestrogenic influence outweighs the balancing effects of progesterone, or when the body is carrying a broader hormonal burden that affects how a woman feels.
This does not always mean oestrogen is high on a blood test. More often, it means oestrogen is relatively stronger than progesterone, or the body is struggling to process, clear and regulate hormones efficiently. In other words, the issue may not be one hormone acting alone. It may be the whole terrain.
The Midlife Hormone Shift Begins Before Menopause
Many women assume menopause begins when periods stop. In reality, the turbulence often starts years earlier.
During perimenopause, ovulation becomes less predictable. Progesterone often declines first, while oestrogen may surge, dip or fluctuate wildly. This can create the classic picture associated with relative oestrogen excess: heavier periods, PMS-like symptoms, fluid retention, mood swings, poor sleep, breast tenderness, migraines and irritability.
When menopause arrives, periods cease, but symptoms do not necessarily vanish. Many women then face a new landscape of sleep disturbance, hot flushes, weight redistribution, vaginal dryness, anxiety, lowered resilience and fatigue.
Even post-menopause, hormones still matter. Fat tissue can continue to produce oestrogen through aromatase activity, lifestyle factors influence hormone metabolism, and environmental chemicals may continue to affect signalling pathways.
So no, the hormone story does not end at menopause. It simply changes chapter.
We Are the Plastic Container Generation
One part of the modern story that deserves far more attention is environmental exposure.
We became the convenience generation. We store food in plastic tubs, heat leftovers in plastic containers, drink water from bottles left in warm cars, wrap food in cling film, and begin our mornings with scalding tea or coffee in takeaway cups lined with plastic polymers and topped with plastic lids.
Many plastics contain compounds such as bisphenols, including BPA, BPS and BPF, as well as phthalates. These chemicals have been studied for their endocrine-disrupting potential, meaning they may interfere with natural hormone signalling.
The issue is not one takeaway coffee, one plastic lunchbox or one bottle of water. It is the small, repeated exposure over years.
Heat increases concern. Microwaving food in plastic, dishwashing worn containers repeatedly, pouring hot liquids into plastic-lined cups, or leaving bottles in sunlight may increase chemical migration. Even thermal till receipts have historically used bisphenol compounds, which can be absorbed through the skin.
This does not mean panic or perfectionism. It means awareness. Simple changes can reduce unnecessary load: use glass containers where possible, choose ceramic mugs, use stainless steel bottles, avoid heating food in plastic, and take a reusable cup for takeaway drinks.
Sometimes the body is not failing women. Sometimes the environment is working against them.
Food Quality Still Matters
Another overlooked area is the quality of the modern food supply.
One of the most significant concerns in discussions around oestrogen dominance is high-oestrogenic or hormonally disruptive food exposure. Commercially raised animals may be exposed to growth-promoting systems designed to increase size, speed of growth or milk production, depending on the country and farming system. Consumers are increasingly aware that what happens in the food chain does not magically stop at the plate.
Conventional produce may also carry residues from pesticides, herbicides and fungicides. Some of these compounds have been studied for endocrine-disrupting effects and may interfere with natural hormone activity, blood sugar regulation and metabolism. While residues may be present only in small amounts on individual fruits or vegetables, the concern is cumulative exposure over time.
This is why many people choose organic, local, pasture-raised or lower-intervention foods where feasible. Not out of fear, but because reducing the overall body burden makes sense.
Processed foods create a separate problem. Ultra-processed diets are often low in fibre, magnesium and protective plant compounds, while being high in refined sugars, additives, poor-quality fats and calorie density. This combination can worsen insulin resistance, inflammation and weight gain, all of which can influence hormone balance.
The real issue is rarely one “bad food”. It is the sum total of modern eating patterns.
Your Gut Helps Regulate Oestrogen
One of the most fascinating and under-discussed areas of women’s health is the gut-hormone connection.
The gut microbiome helps regulate circulating oestrogen through a group of bacterial genes often referred to as the estrobolome. These gut bacteria influence enzymes such as beta-glucuronidase, which are involved in whether oestrogens are eliminated from the body or reactivated and recirculated.
When gut flora is diverse and healthy, hormones are more likely to be processed and cleared efficiently. When gut balance is disturbed through repeated antibiotics, poor diet, chronic stress, constipation, alcohol excess, IBS-type patterns, dysbiosis or conditions such as SIBO, oestrogen recirculation may increase.
Many women with hormonal symptoms also report bloating, sluggish bowels, food sensitivities, recurrent thrush, IBS-type symptoms, and worsening PMS or peri-menopausal symptoms.
That is not coincidence.
Supporting gut health may include increasing fibre, vegetables, resistant starches, fermented foods where tolerated, adequate hydration and regular movement. In some cases, live bacteria cultures, often called probiotics, may help support gut flora and restore microbial balance, especially after antibiotics or periods of digestive disruption.
A healthy bowel habit is one of the least glamorous but most practical hormone tools available. Not glamorous, no. Useful? Absolutely.
Liver, Elimination and the Hormone Clearance Pathway
The liver plays a major role in processing hormones, including oestrogen. Once hormones have been metabolised by the liver, they still need to leave the body through bile and bowel elimination.
If a woman is constipated, inflamed, sleep deprived, nutrient depleted, drinking too much alcohol, under chronic stress or living on processed foods, the system can become less efficient. This does not mean the liver is “broken”. It means the workload is too high and the support is too low.
Good hormone clearance depends on the basics: enough protein, fibre, minerals, hydration, bowel regularity, sleep and reduced toxic load.
Simple, yes. Easy in modern life? Not always.
Where Sage Fits In
Sage is one of the old traditional women’s herbs that deserves renewed respect.
It has long been used for hot flushes, night sweats, excessive perspiration, digestive sluggishness, brain fog, and that overheated, unsettled feeling many women recognise during perimenopause and menopause.
Sage is not a magic hormone cure, and it should not be presented as something that “fixes” oestrogen dominance. Its value is more practical than that. It may support women through the symptoms of hormonal transition, especially where sweating, flushes and digestive heaviness are part of the picture.
The simplest form is sage tea. Use one teaspoon of dried sage leaf, or three to five fresh leaves, in a cup of hot water. Cover and steep for around ten minutes. One cup daily may offer gentle support, while up to two cups daily may be used during hot flush phases.
Sage tincture is another option, commonly taken as twenty to thirty drops in water once or twice daily, depending on product strength.
Regular culinary use also has value. Sage works beautifully in soups, roasted vegetables, stuffing, poultry dishes and savoury cooking. Small regular use often beats heroic one-off efforts.
Sage should be used cautiously in pregnancy, breastfeeding, seizure disorders, or where medications and health conditions require professional advice.
The Wild Yam Myth
For years, wild yam supplements were marketed as natural progesterone support.
Wild yam contains diosgenin, a plant compound used in laboratories as a starting material to manufacture steroid hormones. However, the human body does not naturally convert wild yam into progesterone. That conversion requires industrial processing.
So while some women may feel better using wild yam products, it should not be presented as equivalent to progesterone replacement.
Meanwhile, many women do not realise that in Ireland and Europe, regulated body-identical hormone therapies such as oestradiol and micronised progesterone are already available through licensed medical care and are generally preferred by professional menopause bodies over unregulated compounded alternatives.
That does not mean every woman needs HRT. It means women deserve accurate information rather than marketing fog.
Nutrients That Matter More Than Many Realise
Hormones do not work in isolation. They depend on healthy cells, nervous system balance, mineral sufficiency, mitochondrial energy and sleep.
This is why some women feel dramatically better when foundations are corrected.
Vitamin D3 is particularly relevant in Ireland, where low sunlight exposure is common. It functions more like a hormone messenger than a simple vitamin and influences mood, immunity and bone health.
Vitamin K2 is often paired with D3 to support healthy calcium handling.
Magnesium is one of the most important minerals for midlife women. It supports sleep, nervous system calm, muscle relaxation, blood sugar balance, vitamin D metabolism and stress resilience.
CoQ10 supports mitochondrial energy production and may be especially relevant in fatigue states, ageing and for women using statins.
NAC, or N-acetyl cysteine, supports glutathione pathways and antioxidant defence and is often discussed in relation to inflammation, metabolic health and resilience.
These are not magic pills. They are part of restoring the terrain in which hormones must function.
What Women Need Most
Many women do not need another lecture telling them to “just relax”.
They need a proper conversation that recognises the complexity of modern midlife health.
They may be dealing with changing hormones, sleep debt, stress overload, mineral depletion, low vitamin D, insulin resistance, environmental chemical burden, gut imbalance, caring responsibilities and years of putting everyone else first.
That is not a minor issue. That is a full-body systems load.
And yes, walking into doorframes, forgetting why you entered a room and losing your words mid-sentence may also feature. We shall call that advanced hormonal navigation.
What Can Help Practically?
The answer is rarely one tablet, one test or one buzzword. It is usually a return to fundamentals.
Eat enough protein. Build meals around real food. Increase fibre gradually. Support bowel regularity. Reduce plastic exposure where possible. Stop heating food in plastic. Choose better-quality food where feasible. Move daily. Strength train if able. Prioritise sleep. Correct nutrient deficiencies. Support gut flora. Reduce alcohol. Use herbs wisely. Seek medical support when symptoms are significant.
And most importantly, listen to the body before it has to shout.
One Size Does Not Fit All
It is also important to say this clearly: no two women experience perimenopause, menopause or post-menopause in exactly the same way.
One woman may struggle mainly with sleep and anxiety. Another may have heavy bleeding and migraines. Another may have hot flushes, joint aches, weight gain, vaginal dryness, low mood, or no major symptoms at all.
This is why the suggestions in this article should not be treated as a “one-for-all” prescription. They are general educational supports, not a personalised treatment plan. What helps one woman may not suit another, especially where medications, medical history, hormone-sensitive conditions, thyroid issues, diabetes, mental health concerns or other factors are involved.
Women deserve individualised care, not a conveyor-belt approach. Midlife health is not a template. It is a conversation.
Important Reality Check
Not every symptom in midlife is “just hormones”.
Persistent heavy bleeding, severe pain, sudden changes, unexplained weight loss, profound fatigue, depression, palpitations, post-menopausal bleeding or concerning symptoms deserve proper medical review.
Women should not be dismissed, but neither should everything be blamed on hormones without careful assessment.
Final Thought
Perimenopause and menopause do not create weakness. They reveal where the body has been carrying strain for years.
When women understand that, everything changes.
The body is not being dramatic. It is communicating.
Sometimes healing begins not with being told that everything is normal, but with finally being understood.
I hope you feel inspired. Look after your body, and it will keep you healthy.
Dr Catherine W. Dunne MSc.D. is a Registered General Nurse with over 37 years of clinical experience in primary care in Ireland. Alongside her work in General Practice Nursing, she is the founder of Holistic Healthcare Wexford and co-founder of Aumvedas Academy.
With a background that bridges conventional medicine and holistic practice, Catherine has a particular interest in the area where patients are often told “everything is normal,” yet still feel unwell. Her work focuses on helping people understand what their body is communicating, especially in relation to energy, stress, metabolic function, and recovery.
Through a combination of clinical knowledge and holistic support, she works with individuals to restore balance, improve resilience, and support long-term wellbeing.
Based in Wexford, Ireland.
Disclaimer
This article is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. It does not replace consultation with a qualified healthcare professional. Patients should always seek appropriate medical guidance regarding their individual health needs and before making changes to treatment or care.
By Dr Catherine W Dunne MSc. D., RGN, Reiki Master (RGMT), M.H.I.T: Master Acupressure, Practitioner of Reflexology, Aromatherapy, Deep Tissue/Myo-fascia Massages, Infrared Treatments, Vibrational Sound and Colour Therapist, Tissue Salt Advisor, Pendulum Healing Dowser, Chakra Practitioner , Tao Cosmic Healing Practitioner, Practitioner of Plant and Herb Medicine and Nurse.
Vitamin D – the right intake
Taking vitamin D is an excellent preventive but also therapeutic measure. Regardless of whether it is an increased susceptibility to infections, autoimmune diseases, degenerative complaints or problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, depression and dementia, a vitamin D deficiency is usually the cause of the action. We explain how you can determine a vitamin D deficiency in the home test, how much vitamin D you need and how you can properly combine vitamin D with calcium, magnesium and vitamin K.
Vitamin D – How to take it correctly?
Vitamin D is particularly known for its bone-strengthening effect. It promotes calcium absorption from the intestine, is involved in calcium incorporation into the bones, inhibits bone loss and also strengthens the immune system.
At the same time, there is hardly a disease that does not develop Vitamin D deficiency would be involved. For example, the vitamin is considered a substance with an anti-inflammatory effect, which alone is reason enough for its positive influence in most chronic complaints – because they all go hand in hand with chronically inflammatory processes.
It is therefore important to pay attention to a healthy vitamin D level. How do you do that? Does the vitamin have to be taken as a dietary supplement? And if so, what is the right income? How to calculate the personally required dose and how to combine the vitamin with calcium, magnesium and Vitamin K?
A deficiency is common
Vitamin D is not a real vitamin. Because real vitamins must be ingested with food. With vitamin D, on the other hand, the body can also supply itself solely through the sun’s rays, since the vitamin is formed in the skin under the influence of UVB radiation.
However, in Central Europe this only works in summer (from around April to September) – and only if you are lightly dressed and do not constantly apply sunscreens with a high sun protection factor. The latter can reduce vitamin D formation in the skin. In Northern Europe you will need to supplement all year round,
The rest of the year, the sun is too low to send enough UVB radiation to Earth. In Central Europe you can only get along well with the help of the sun Vitamin D if you are really in the open air in the warm season to fill up your memories so comprehensively that you can get over the winter well.
However, many people do not succeed in what the modern lifestyle with an hourly stay in closed rooms is not entirely innocent. Therefore, large sections of the population suffer from vitamin D deficiency and should take the vitamin especially in winter.
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin
The bone vitamin belongs together with vitamin A, Vitamin E. and Vitamin K to the fat-soluble vitamins. That means two things:
There is always something for the absorption of vitamin D from the intestine fat required (see below under “Correct intake: Always with a little fat”).
The vitamin can be stored in the body (in adipose tissue and in the liver), which is almost never the case with water-soluble vitamins (B, C).
The advantage is that you don’t have to take vitamin D – once the stores are filled – every day. The organism can draw from a filled store for weeks or even months.
The disadvantage is that fat-soluble vitamins can also be overdosed, which you have to pay attention to when taking them. Because while excess water-soluble vitamins are usually simply discharged through the urine, this is not the case with fat-soluble vitamins. Cases of vitamin A overdoses are therefore known from time to time, for example from regions where fish liver is often eaten. This contains a lot of Vitamin A.
What dose leads to overdose?
As far as vitamin D is concerned, there is usually only the risk of an overdose if very high doses in the form of nutritional supplements are taken over a longer period of time.
50 µg or 2,000 IU per day are the recommended maximum dose in Europe and North America. However, clinical studies show that long-term intake of 10,000 IU daily does not pose any risks. An overdose could occur at 50,000 IU per day and at serum values of more than 150 ng / ml. Wa can then form hypercalcemia (too much calcium in the blood) – such an evaluation by Indian researchers from May 2011 in Oman Medical Journal.
Ideally, the blood values of vitamin D should be below 100 ng / ml, since primitive people rarely reach higher values, even though they are not dressed in the sun every day. The toxic range clearly begins at 300 ng / ml.
Overdose: from 50,000 IU per day for several months
Various case reports have also become known from 2011, in which an overdose of vitamin D led to complaints.
In a 70-year-old woman who took 50,000 IU daily, the typical symptoms of hypercalcemia occurred after 3 months of taking it: tiredness, walking difficulties and confusion. After stopping vitamin D, however, it recovered completely over the course of five months. It should be noted here that she also consumed over 3 g of calcium daily.
Another case describes a man in whom accidentally taking 2,000,000 IU of vitamin D a day after 2 months led to confusion, exhaustion, excessive thirst and frequent urination.
And in a third case, after taking 50,000 IU of vitamin D daily for six months, a man also observed the typical symptoms of hypercalcemia:
Excessive thirst and frequent urination
Stomach discomfort, Nausea, vomiting and constipation
Bone pain, muscle weakness
Confusion, lethargy and exhaustion
Overdose from food or sun?
Since vitamin D hardly occurs in food, you can hardly eat an overdose (unless you eat a lot of fish liver).
It is also hardly possible to get an overdose from the sun’s rays. Apparently, the body has protective measures that stop vitamin D formation via the skin as soon as a sufficiently high serum value is reached.
On a sunny summer day, the body rarely absorbs more than 10,000 IU of vitamin D in –, and only if you spent the whole day almost undressed (bath pants / bikini) in the sun.
Only in extreme sunlight (for years in hot regions all day on the beach) could there be unfavorable consequences of an overdose of vitamin D, but only here if there is a vitamin K2 deficiency and possibly too well-intentioned calcium supply at the same time.
So it is rather the over-dosed intake of the vitamin in the form of a dietary supplement that could lead to problems.
Make vitamin D preparation from mushrooms and sun yourself
We have described here how you can produce a natural source of vitamins from mushrooms: Pure vegetable vitamin source: mushrooms
Of course, this method cannot be used specifically to achieve a certain value in the blood or to remedy a deficiency, since one does not know the actual vitamin D content of the fungi, but one can prepare them accordingly Edible mushrooms Install regularly in the diet, so that in the long term you only have to take low-dose supplements or at some point no more.
The right intake
Below we describe all the factors you need to know for a correct intake of vitamin D. First, it is about which four vital substances the vitamin needs to work properly, then how you measure your vitamin D level and finally we present two methods with which you can find out or calculate the dose that suits you can.
1. Take vitamin K2
When taking vitamin D, it is always recommended to pay attention to a healthy vitamin K2 supply at the same time. Vitamin K2 is the vitamin that fulfills two major tasks in the body:
Vitamin K is involved in regulating blood clotting so that no one has to bleed to the smallest wound.
Vitamin K conducts excess calcium in the blood into the bones, thus ensuring that the calcium is not deposited on the blood vessel walls or in the form of kidney stones.
Since vitamin D promotes the absorption of calcium, the amount of calcium absorbed also increases when the vitamin is taken. If vitamin K2 is now missing, the problems mentioned above can arise, i.e. a misdistribution of calcium in the body.
A 2015 study showed in kidney patients that the combined administration of vitamin D and vitamin K reduced the progression of arteriosclerosis (compared to the group that only received sun vitamin).
It is not entirely clear how much vitamin K2 you should take. The recommended doses for vitamin D supplementation vary considerably among experts. Information can be found there, such as B.
Taking 100 µg vitamin K2 per 5,000 IU vitamin D
Ingestion of 100 µg vitamin K2 per 10,000 IU
Ingestion of 100 µg vitamin K2 per 1,000 IU
There is also a recommendation depending on body weight: 2 – 3 µg vitamin K2 per kilogram of body weight.
We recommend taking vitamin K2 the following
Ingestion of 100 µg vitamin K2 at up to 2,500 IU vitamin D per day
Ingestion of 200 µg vitamin K2 in vitamin D doses above 2,500 IU per day
However, also note the vitamin K2 content of your food. If you adapt your diet accordingly and now take in enough vitamin K2 from your diet, you may only have to take vitamin K2 in the first weeks of your vitamin D intake until the stores are replenished and your diet then provides the required vitamin.
Vitamin K2 is available in various forms, we recommend taking Menachinon-7, which is also abbreviated as MK-7. It is vegan and is considered the best resorbable and usable vitamin K2 form.
If you are on a blood thinner or taking other medications that are not so well compatible with vitamin K, the correct intake of vitamin K must be discussed with the doctor as a precaution.
2nd Vitamin A increases the effect
In the presence of vitamin A, vitamin D works better, and the vitamin D level rises higher if vitamin A is taken at the same time – at least one study from August 2020. Read information about this in our article Vitamin D needs vitamin A.. The correct intake of vitamin D therefore also includes vitamin A (about 1 mg per day).
Vitamin A can be ingested via beta-carotene, which is contained in many types of vegetables, because the organism can produce vitamin A from beta-carotene. To do this, however, you should eat vegetables rich in beta-carotene every day, because to produce 1 mg of vitamin A, the organism needs at least 6 times the amount of beta-carotene, i.e. 6 mg. The following vegetables are among the best sources of beta carotene (quantities always per 100 g):
Carrots raw 9.8 mg beta-carotene (1.6 mg vitamin A)
Spinach raw 4.7 mg beta-carotene (0.8 mg vitamin A)
Kale raw 5.1 mg beta-carotene (0.8 mg vitamin A)
Corn salad raw 3.9 mg beta-carotene (0.65 mg vitamin A)
red peppers raw 2.1 mg beta-carotene (0.35 mg vitamin A)
When cooking, the content does not change noticeably because beta-carotene is not sensitive to heat; bioavailability could even increase due to cooking – see details here: Loss of nutrients when cooking where we explain what you need to look out for when preparing in order to benefit as much as possible from the beta-carotene it contains.
In the study mentioned, the vitamin A level of the participants was originally even normal. Nevertheless, taking vitamin A (together with taking vitamin D) resulted in a higher vitamin D level and also an improved effect of the vitamin.
In particular in the case of acute diseases and at the same time there is a D deficiency or even if the value should not increase satisfactorily despite all efforts, the additional intake of vitamin A or Beta Carotin can be a good help.
3rd Magnesium activates vitamin D.
Since magnesium is required in the body to activate vitamin D and is also consumed in this process, the correct intake of vitamin D also requires an optimized magnesium supply.
The daily requirement for magnesium is about 400 mg for an adult. If you take up this amount of magnesium daily through your diet, you should be well looked after with a vitamin D supplementation of up to 5,000 IU.
However, if you take more vitamin D, you should also take magnesium with this higher dose, between 200 – 300 mg – depending on the magnesium content of the diet. Read details here: Low magnesium levels make Vitamin D ineffective.
Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in the human body after calcium, potassium, and sodium. Foods high in magnesium include almonds, bananas, beans, broccoli, brown rice, cashews, egg yolk, fish oil, flaxseed, green vegetables, milk, mushrooms, other nuts, oatmeal, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, soybeans, sunflower seeds, sweet corn, tofu, and whole grains.
4th Vitamin D and calcium are only advisable in certain situations
Vitamin D is considered to be THE bone vitamin par excellence, and it is often believed that the correct intake includes calcium in any case. But this only seems to make sense in certain cases:
if e.g. B. the risk of osteoporosis should be reduced in the menopause
if osteoporosis is already present and the risk of bone fracture is to be reduced
when a low-calcium diet is practiced that delivers significantly less than the 1,000 mg calcium recommended daily
However, if you consume sufficient calcium, you should not take any additional calcium when taking vitamin D (especially at very high doses). This could increase the risk of hypercalcemia.
Correct intake: Measure vitamin D levels in advance!
Proper intake of vitamin D can only take place if you know your actual value and can then calculate the dose that suits you individually or get it said by your doctor.
So get your vitamin D level established first. Otherwise, you may take too little and therefore have no effect. Or you take much more than necessary, which in turn would put unnecessary strain on your body.
Your family doctor (GP), or alternative practitioner can take care of the measurement. You can also do a vitamin D home test yourself at home. For safety’s sake, you should also discuss the result with a doctor or Integrated Medical Practitioner/CAM Practitioner.
Your qualified Integrated Medical Practitioner/CAM Practitioner can also perform a simple test. But do ask your GP/Family Doctor if he/she can request the laboratory test.
However, the blood drawn itself can have influences on the blood that falsify the result. It is therefore safer to have the test done by the doctor or alternative practitioner.
Correct intake: what dose?
The goal should be a blood value of at least 30 ng / ml, better about 40 to 50 ng / ml vitamin D3 (25 (OH) vitamin D3). The dose that suits you is now calculated from your current value and your desired value –, taking into account the body weight.
In the event of a massive deficiency, the procedure described in the article linked above could not lead to a healthy vitamin D level quickly enough. Therefore we provide you with the method according to Dr. med. Raimund von Helden, author of the recommended booklet Healthy in seven days – Success with vitamin D therapy.
Dr. von Helden divides the intake of vitamin D into two therapeutic parts: into the initial therapy and the permanent or Maintenance therapy.
After a deficiency, the initial therapy serves to fill up the vitamin D stores, which should happen as quickly as possible so that the mostly existing deficiency symptoms can be remedied as quickly as possible. It is a single dose. The dose of continuous therapy is then switched over.
The continuous therapy provides the amount of vitamin D that is required to compensate for the daily losses and to maintain a healthy vitamin D level in the long term.
Calculation of the dose for the initial therapy
In order to raise the vitamin D level by 1 ng / ml, 10,000 IU are required with a body weight of 70 kilograms. If the body weight is different, recalculate the value proportionally. 7,000 IU per kilogram of body weight should not be exceeded.
For example, if you weigh 70 kg, have an instantaneous value of 15 ng / ml and want to reach a value of 35 ng / ml, then choose a single dose of 200,000 IU as the initial therapy. Weigh only 60 kg, then take about 170,000 IU.
The starting dose is very high. We recommend that you discuss this type of intake with the doctor or alternative practitioner in advance.
Calculation of the dose for continuous therapy
With an assumed body weight of 70 kilograms in turn, 3,333 IU of vitamin D per day or 23,000 IU required per week. Here, too, the dose is calculated proportionally with a different body weight. For the average person in Ireland we can say 5000IU vitamin D per day
If you are in the sun a lot in summer, you can pause with vitamin D during this time. But probably no alarmingly high value would develop if you continued to take it despite sunbathing.
Correct intake: Always with a little fat
If you have vitamin D preparations that are available as powder in capsules if taken with black coffee, water or juice, this leads to absorption of the vitamin, but to a rather low absorption. As a fat-soluble vitamin, vitamin D should always be taken with a little fat. Like a glass of milk or Cholesterol lowering milk drinks or joghurt.
Too much fat is not a good idea either. So if you take the vitamin preparation with a thick lard bread or fatty cheese, you cannot take the ideal dose of it either. Because excessive amounts of fat seem to inhibit absorption.
A 2013 study found that taking vitamin D with 11 grams of fat resulted in absorption 16 percent higher than taking with 35 grams of fat and 20 percent higher absorption than taking with 0 grams of fat.
It doesn’t matter whether you get fat out polyunsaturated fatty acids (Hemp oil, Linseed oil, Sunflower oil), one made from monounsaturated fatty acids (olive oil, Avocados, Almonds) or one made of saturated (coconut oil).
Correct intake: Topical via the skin
If you cannot tolerate vitamin D preparations or whose vitamin D level simply does not want to rise despite the correct intake of vitamin D preparations, the vitamin can also be applied to the skin, since it can also be absorbed through the skin.
To do this, choose a liquid preparation without unfavourable additives, e.g. Vitamin D3 drops, which only come from vitamin D3 and MCT fats (medium-chain fats from e.g. Coconut oil) exist. Apply to the forearm, where the skin is particularly receptive
Important note
Disclaimer: This article was based on (at the time of publication) current studies written and checked by doctors, but may not be used for self-diagnosis or self-treatment, replaced so not to visit your doctor. So, discuss each one Measure (whether from this or another of our articles) always first with your doctor.
Vitamin D – the right intake
Taking vitamin D is an excellent preventive but also therapeutic measure. Regardless of whether it is an increased susceptibility to infections, autoimmune diseases, degenerative complaints or problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, depression and dementia, a vitamin D deficiency is usually the cause of the action. We explain how you can determine a vitamin D deficiency in the home test, how much vitamin D you need and how you can properly combine vitamin D with calcium, magnesium and vitamin K.
Vitamin D – How to take it correctly?
Vitamin D is particularly known for its bone-strengthening effect. It promotes calcium absorption from the intestine, is involved in calcium incorporation into the bones, inhibits bone loss and also strengthens the immune system.
At the same time, there is hardly a disease that does not develop Vitamin D deficiency would be involved. For example, the vitamin is considered a substance with an anti-inflammatory effect, which alone is reason enough for its positive influence in most chronic complaints – because they all go hand in hand with chronically inflammatory processes.
It is therefore important to pay attention to a healthy vitamin D level. How do you do that? Does the vitamin have to be taken as a dietary supplement? And if so, what is the right income? How to calculate the personally required dose and how to combine the vitamin with calcium, magnesium and Vitamin K?
(If you are for the Vitamin D blood values If you are interested in what value indicates a deficiency and which is just correct, read the link above (under Vitamin D).)
A deficiency is common
Vitamin D is not a real vitamin. Because real vitamins must be ingested with food. With vitamin D, on the other hand, the body can also supply itself solely through the sun’s rays, since the vitamin is formed in the skin under the influence of UVB radiation.
However, in Central Europe this only works in summer (from around April to September) – and only if you are lightly dressed and do not constantly apply sunscreens with a high sun protection factor. The latter can reduce vitamin D formation in the skin.
The rest of the year, the sun is too low to send enough UVB radiation to Earth. In Central Europe you can only get along well with the help of the sun Vitamin D if you are really in the open air in the warm season to fill up your memories so comprehensively that you can get over the winter well.
However, many people do not succeed in what the modern lifestyle with an hourly stay in closed rooms is not entirely innocent. Therefore, large sections of the population suffer from vitamin D deficiency and should take the vitamin especially in winter.
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin
The bone vitamin belongs together with vitamin A, Vitamin E. and Vitamin K to the fat-soluble vitamins. That means two things:
There is always something for the absorption of vitamin D from the intestine fat required (see below under “Correct intake: Always with a little fat”).
The vitamin can be stored in the body (in adipose tissue and in the liver), which is almost never the case with water-soluble vitamins (B, C).
The advantage is that you don’t have to take vitamin D – once the stores are filled – every day. The organism can draw from a filled store for weeks or even months.
The disadvantage is that fat-soluble vitamins can also be overdosed, which you have to pay attention to when taking them. Because while excess water-soluble vitamins are usually simply discharged through the urine, this is not the case with fat-soluble vitamins. Cases of vitamin A overdoses are therefore known from time to time, for example from regions where fish liver is often eaten. This contains a lot Vitamin A.
What dose leads to overdose?
As far as vitamin D is concerned, there is usually only the risk of an overdose if very high doses in the form of nutritional supplements are taken over a longer period of time.
50 µg or 2,000 IU per day are the recommended maximum dose in Europe and North America. However, clinical studies show that long-term intake of 10,000 IU daily does not pose any risks. An overdose could occur at 50,000 IU per day and at serum values of more than 150 ng / ml. Wa can then form hypercalcemia (too much calcium in the blood) – such an evaluation by Indian researchers from May 2011 in Oman Medical Journal.
Ideally, the blood values of vitamin D should be below 100 ng / ml, since primitive people rarely reach higher values, even though they are not dressed in the sun every day. The toxic range clearly begins at 300 ng / ml.
Overdose: from 50,000 IU per day for several months
Various case reports have also become known from 2011, in which an overdose of vitamin D led to complaints.
In a 70-year-old woman who took 50,000 IU daily, the typical symptoms of hypercalcemia occurred after 3 months of taking it: tiredness, walking difficulties and confusion. After stopping vitamin D, however, it recovered completely over the course of five months. It should be noted here that she also consumed over 3 g of calcium daily.
Another case describes a man in whom accidentally taking 2,000,000 IU of vitamin D a day after 2 months led to confusion, exhaustion, excessive thirst and frequent urination.
And in a third case, after taking 50,000 IU of vitamin D daily for six months, a man also observed the typical symptoms of hypercalcemia:
Excessive thirst and frequent urination
Stomach discomfort, Nausea, vomiting and constipation
Bone pain, muscle weakness
Confusion, lethargy and exhaustion
Overdose from food or sun?
Since vitamin D hardly occurs in food, you can hardly eat an overdose (unless you eat a lot of fish liver).
It is also hardly possible to get an overdose from the sun’s rays. Apparently, the body has protective measures that stop vitamin D formation via the skin as soon as a sufficiently high serum value is reached.
On a sunny summer day, the body rarely absorbs more than 10,000 IU of vitamin D in –, and only if you spent the whole day almost undressed (bath pants / bikini) in the sun.
Only in extreme sunlight (for years in hot regions all day on the beach) could there be unfavorable consequences of an overdose of vitamin D, but only here if there is a vitamin K2 deficiency and possibly too well-intentioned calcium supply at the same time.
So it is rather the over-dosed intake of the vitamin in the form of a dietary supplement that could lead to problems.
Make vitamin D preparation from mushrooms and sun yourself
We have described here how you can produce a natural source of vitamins from mushrooms: Pure vegetable vitamin source: mushrooms
Of course, this method cannot be used specifically to achieve a certain value in the blood or to remedy a deficiency, since one does not know the actual vitamin D content of the fungi, but one can prepare them accordingly Edible mushrooms Install regularly in the diet, so that in the long term you only have to take low-dose supplements or at some point no more.
The right intake
Below we describe all the factors you need to know for a correct intake of vitamin D. First, it is about which four vital substances the vitamin needs to work properly, then how you measure your vitamin D level and finally we present two methods with which you can find out or calculate the dose that suits you can.
1. Take vitamin K2
When taking vitamin D, it is always recommended to pay attention to a healthy vitamin K2 supply at the same time. Vitamin K2 is the vitamin that fulfills two major tasks in the body:
Vitamin K is involved in regulating blood clotting so that no one has to bleed to the smallest wound.
Vitamin K conducts excess calcium in the blood into the bones, thus ensuring that the calcium is not deposited on the blood vessel walls or in the form of kidney stones.
Since vitamin D promotes the absorption of calcium, the amount of calcium absorbed also increases when the vitamin is taken. If vitamin K2 is now missing, the problems mentioned above can arise, i.e. a misdistribution of calcium in the body.
A 2015 study showed in kidney patients that the combined administration of vitamin D and vitamin K reduced the progression of arteriosclerosis (compared to the group that only received sun vitamin).
It is not entirely clear how much vitamin K2 you should take. The recommended doses for vitamin D supplementation vary considerably among experts. Information can be found there, such as B.
Taking 100 µg vitamin K2 per 5,000 IU vitamin D
Ingestion of 100 µg vitamin K2 per 10,000 IU
Ingestion of 100 µg vitamin K2 per 1,000 IU
There is also a recommendation depending on body weight: 2 – 3 µg vitamin K2 per kilogram of body weight.
We recommend taking vitamin K2 the following
Ingestion of 100 µg vitamin K2 at up to 2,500 IU vitamin D per day
Ingestion of 200 µg vitamin K2 in vitamin D doses above 2,500 IU per day
However, also note the vitamin K2 content of your food. If you adapt your diet accordingly and now take in enough vitamin K2 from your diet, you may only have to take vitamin K2 in the first weeks of your vitamin D intake until the stores are replenished and your diet then provides the required vitamin.
Vitamin K2 is available in various forms, we recommend taking Menachinon-7, which is also abbreviated as MK-7. It is vegan and is considered the best resorbable and usable vitamin K2 form.
If you are on a blood thinner or taking other medications that are not so well compatible with vitamin K, the correct intake of vitamin K must be discussed with the doctor as a precaution.
2nd Vitamin A increases the effect
In the presence of vitamin A, vitamin D works better, and the vitamin D level rises higher if vitamin A is taken at the same time – at least one study from August 2020. Read information about this in our article Vitamin D needs vitamin A.. The correct intake of vitamin D therefore also includes vitamin A (about 1 mg per day).
Vitamin A can be ingested via beta-carotene, which is contained in many types of vegetables, because the organism can produce vitamin A from beta-carotene. To do this, however, you should eat vegetables rich in beta-carotene every day, because to produce 1 mg of vitamin A, the organism needs at least 6 times the amount of beta-carotene, i.e. 6 mg. The following vegetables are among the best sources of beta carotene (quantities always per 100 g):
Carrots raw 9.8 mg beta-carotene (1.6 mg vitamin A)
Spinach raw 4.7 mg beta-carotene (0.8 mg vitamin A)
Kale raw 5.1 mg beta-carotene (0.8 mg vitamin A)
Corn salad raw 3.9 mg beta-carotene (0.65 mg vitamin A)
red peppers raw 2.1 mg beta-carotene (0.35 mg vitamin A)
When cooking, the content does not change noticeably because beta-carotene is not sensitive to heat; bioavailability could even increase due to cooking – see details here: Loss of nutrients when cooking where we explain what you need to look out for when preparing in order to benefit as much as possible from the beta-carotene it contains.
In the study mentioned, the vitamin A level of the participants was originally even normal. Nevertheless, taking vitamin A (together with taking vitamin D) resulted in a higher vitamin D level and also an improved effect of the vitamin.
In particular in the case of acute diseases and at the same time there is a D deficiency or even if the value should not increase satisfactorily despite all efforts, the additional intake of vitamin A or Beta Carotin can be a good help.
3rd Magnesium activates vitamin D.
Since magnesium is required in the body to activate vitamin D and is also consumed in this process, the correct intake of vitamin D also requires an optimized magnesium supply.
The daily requirement for magnesium is about 400 mg for an adult. If you take up this amount of magnesium daily through your diet, you should be well looked after with a vitamin D supplementation of up to 5,000 IU.
However, if you take more vitamin D, you should also take magnesium with this higher dose, between 200 – 300 mg – depending on the magnesium content of the diet. Read details here: Low magnesium levels make Vitamin D ineffective.
Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in the human body after calcium, potassium, and sodium. Foods high in magnesium include almonds, bananas, beans, broccoli, brown rice, cashews, egg yolk, fish oil, flaxseed, green vegetables, milk, mushrooms, other nuts, oatmeal, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, soybeans, sunflower seeds, sweet corn, tofu, and whole grains.
4th Vitamin D and calcium are only advisable in certain situations
Vitamin D is considered to be THE bone vitamin par excellence, and it is often believed that the correct intake includes calcium in any case. But this only seems to make sense in certain cases:
if e.g. B. the risk of osteoporosis should be reduced in the menopause
if osteoporosis is already present and the risk of bone fracture is to be reduced
when a low-calcium diet is practiced that delivers significantly less than the 1,000 mg calcium recommended daily
However, if you consume sufficient calcium, you should not take any additional calcium when taking vitamin D (especially at very high doses). This could increase the risk of hypercalcemia.
Correct intake: Measure vitamin D levels in advance!
Proper intake of vitamin D can only take place if you know your actual value and can then calculate the dose that suits you individually or get it said by your doctor.
So get your vitamin D level established first. Otherwise, you may take too little and therefore have no effect. Or you take much more than necessary, which in turn would put unnecessary strain on your body.
Your family doctor (GP), or alternative practitioner can take care of the measurement. You can also do a vitamin D home test yourself at home. For safety’s sake, you should also discuss the result with a doctor or Integrated Medical Practitioner/CAM Practitioner.
Your qualified Integrated Medical Practitioner/CAM Practitioner can also perform a simple test. But do ask your GP/Family Doctor if he/she can request the laboratory test.
However, the blood drawn itself can have influences on the blood that falsify the result. It is therefore safer to have the test done by the doctor or alternative practitioner.
Correct intake: what dose?
The goal should be a blood value of at least 30 ng / ml, better about 40 to 50 ng / ml vitamin D3 (25 (OH) vitamin D3). The dose that suits you is now calculated from your current value and your desired value –, taking into account the body weight.
In the event of a massive deficiency, the procedure described in the article linked above could not lead to a healthy vitamin D level quickly enough. Therefore we provide you with the method according to Dr. med. Raimund von Helden, author of the recommended booklet Healthy in seven days – Success with vitamin D therapy.
Dr. von Helden divides the intake of vitamin D into two therapeutic parts: into the initial therapy and the permanent or Maintenance therapy.
After a deficiency, the initial therapy serves to fill up the vitamin D stores, which should happen as quickly as possible so that the mostly existing deficiency symptoms can be remedied as quickly as possible. It is a single dose. The dose of continuous therapy is then switched over.
The continuous therapy provides the amount of vitamin D that is required to compensate for the daily losses and to maintain a healthy vitamin D level in the long term.
Calculation of the dose for the initial therapy
In order to raise the vitamin D level by 1 ng / ml, 10,000 IU are required with a body weight of 70 kilograms. If the body weight is different, recalculate the value proportionally. 7,000 IU per kilogram of body weight should not be exceeded.
For example, if you weigh 70 kg, have an instantaneous value of 15 ng / ml and want to reach a value of 35 ng / ml, then choose a single dose of 200,000 IU as the initial therapy. Weigh only 60 kg, then take about 170,000 IU.
The starting dose is very high. We recommend that you discuss this type of intake with the doctor or alternative practitioner in advance.
Calculation of the dose for continuous therapy
With an assumed body weight of 70 kilograms in turn, 3,333 IU of vitamin D per day or 23,000 IU required per week. Here, too, the dose is calculated proportionally with a different body weight. For the average person in Ireland we can say 5000IU vitamin D per day
If you are in the sun a lot in summer, you can pause with vitamin D during this time. But probably no alarmingly high value would develop if you continued to take it despite sunbathing.
Correct intake: Always with a little fat
If you have vitamin D preparations that are available as powder in capsules if taken with black coffee, water or juice, this leads to absorption of the vitamin, but to a rather low absorption. As a fat-soluble vitamin, vitamin D should always be taken with a little fat. Like a glass of milk or Cholesterol lowering milk drinks or joghurt.
Too much fat is not a good idea either. So if you take the vitamin preparation with a thick lard bread or fatty cheese, you cannot take the ideal dose of it either. Because excessive amounts of fat seem to inhibit absorption.
A 2013 study found that taking vitamin D with 11 grams of fat resulted in absorption 16 percent higher than taking with 35 grams of fat and 20 percent higher absorption than taking with 0 grams of fat.
It doesn’t matter whether you get fat out polyunsaturated fatty acids (Hemp oil, Linseed oil, Sunflower oil), one made from monounsaturated fatty acids (olive oil, Avocados, Almonds) or one made of saturated (coconut oil).
Correct intake: Topical via the skin
If you cannot tolerate vitamin D preparations or whose vitamin D level simply does not want to rise despite the correct intake of vitamin D preparations, the vitamin can also be applied to the skin, since it can also be absorbed through the skin.
To do this, choose a liquid preparation without unfavourable additives, e.g. Vitamin D3 drops, which only come from vitamin D3 and MCT fats (medium-chain fats from e.g. Coconut oil) exist. Apply to the forearm, where the skin is particularly receptive
Important note
Disclaimer: This article was based on (at the time of publication) current studies written and checked by doctors, but may not be used for self-diagnosis or self-treatment, replaced so not to visit your doctor. So, discuss each one Measure (whether from this or another of our articles) always first with your doctor.
I hope you feel inspired. Look after your body, and it will keep you healthy.
Holistic Healthcare Wexford 