Vitamin D as a risk factor - should we be worried and stop supplementing vitamin D?

[Veronique]

Hi everyone,

I read the following publication and article and was wondering what your thoughts are:

Publication: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6956711/

Article:

Do you know anything about this?  Whether this hypothesis has been confirmed in the meantime since this was published a while ago?  So it looks like in Sweden there are statistically more celiac diagnoses (where D is heavily supplemented) versus Germany (where vitamin D is a lot less supplemented).

Curious to know what you think are know on this topic,

Best regards,

Veronique 

[trents]

7 hours ago, Veronique said:

Hi everyone,

I read the following publication and article and was wondering what your thoughts are:

Publication: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6956711/

Article:

Do you know anything about this?  Whether this hypothesis has been confirmed in the meantime since this was published a while ago?  So it looks like in Sweden there are statistically more celiac diagnoses (where D is heavily supplemented) versus Germany (where vitamin D is a lot less supplemented).

Curious to know what you think are know on this topic,

Best regards,

Veronique 

I realize this is anecdotal, but one of the frequently reported vitamin deficiencies by those who are newly diagnosed celiacs on this forum is D3. I also found this, a little dated however:

"There is increasing awareness of celiac disease among non-European populations, including those in the Middle East. The disease was considered uncommon in the developing world until the 1990s, when the introduction of serologic screening tests resulted in increased rates of diagnosis in the Middle East, India, and North Africa, where the HLA-DR3-DQ2 haplotype is prevalent and wheat consumption is quotidian.17,18 The prevalence rates of celiac disease in North Africa and the Middle East are now thought to be similar to those of Western countries.3,19 Average-risk groups have prevalence rates ranging from 0.14% to 1.3% as assessed by serology and 0.033% to 1.17% as assessed by biopsies, whereas prevalence rates in high-risk populations vary from 2.4% to 44%. The highest prevalence rate of celiac disease worldwide has been reported in North Africa.20 There is evidence that the prevalence rates of celiac disease in parts of North India are comparable to those in the West . . . "

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3264942/

I would not think there is a lot of D3 supplementation going on in North India. 

I tend to think the differential rates in various places may be tied to racial/ethnic factors but also awareness factors about celiac disease. Where there is more awareness, there will be higher diagnosis rates. 

Edited June 11, 2021 by trents

[Scott Adams]

I do find it interesting that there may be a correlation with vitamin D3 supplementation and rates of celiac disease, and it's certainly worthy of more studies. If there is an association it would be important find out. I've always wondered if certain vitamin deficiencies could trigger celiac disease. @Posterboy has posted a lot about various vitamin and mineral deficiencies in relation to celiac disease:

  

[trents]

1 hour ago, Scott Adams said:

I do find it interesting that there may be a correlation with vitamin D3 supplementation and rates of celiac disease, and it's certainly worthy of more studies. If there is an association it would be important find out. I've always wondered if certain vitamin deficiencies could trigger celiac disease. @Posterboy has posted a lot about various vitamin and mineral deficiencies in relation to celiac disease:

  

Scott, by "association" do you mean a contributing cause or the result of having celiac disease? I ask because the study sited by the OP suggests that D3 supplementation may be a causality rather than a response to celiac disease.

Edited June 11, 2021 by trents

[Scott Adams]

I was referring to a possible risk factor for celiac disease based on elevated vitamin D levels:

Quote

Based on evidence from medical literature, researcher Seth Scott Bittker of the Ronin Institute proposes that elevated plasma levels of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH)2D] might be an overlooked risk factor for celiac disease. Bittker also proposes that significant oral vitamin D exposure is a “missing environmental factor” for celiac disease. 

 

[Posterboy]

5 hours ago, Scott Adams said:

I do find it interesting that there may be a correlation with vitamin D3 supplementation and rates of celiac disease, and it's certainly worthy of more studies. If there is an association it would be important find out. I've always wondered if certain vitamin deficiencies could trigger celiac disease. @Posterboy has posted a lot about various vitamin and mineral deficiencies in relation to celiac disease:

Scott, Trents and Veronique,

I don't think it is low Vitamin D that is the problem for most people....

But being below 20 OHD Vitamin D can trigger an Immune Issue....

Generally though it is thought taking high Vitamin D doses when your OHD is over 80 could have toxic effects....

The key is no Vitamin/Mineral (it has taken a long time for me to learn this) exists in a Vacuum.

Our body has to control the reaction/absorption.....and it does this with Co-Factors....

For Vitamin D.....Magnesium is an important Co-Factor.

And Vitamin A and Vitamin K....

Taking Vitamin D with Vitamin K helps avoid the toxicity people see when they take high Vitamin D by itself.

See this article by Chris Masterjohn that goes over these connections...

Entitled "Vitamin D toxicity redefined: vitamin K and the molecular mechanism"

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17145139/

At very high or low Vitamin D levels....then Vitamin D levels come into play to sum it simply...

See this article about it....

https://www.gutmicrobiotaforhealth.com/vitamin-d-may-play-role-intestinal-homeostasis-metabolic-syndrome-progression-mice/

It is much more likely you are also Low in Vitamin A.....which doesn't get a lot of "press" like Vitamin D does....

IN Fact some one on a long term gluten free diet get Lower in Vitamin A and Thiamine....

See this research about it from the British Dietetic Association about it....in a study of the Australian population.

Entitled "Nutritional inadequacies of the gluten-free diet in both recently-diagnosed and long-term patients with coeliac disease"

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23198728/

quoting

"Inadequacies of folate, calcium, iron and zinc occurred more frequently than in the Australian population. The frequency of inadequacies was similar pre- and post-diagnosis, except for thiamine (aka Vitamin B1) and vitamin A, where inadequacies were more common after GFD implementation."

Scott was gracious enough to let me write an article on it about how being Low in Thiamine thins your Villi...

This blog post by Blue Sky has a lot of good nutritional data cite too about what role Zinc plays in a Leaky gut...

For Example, I currently have Iron levels.....controlled by low Vitamin A levels....but good luck getting the doctor's to admit Vitamins/Minerals are the cause of your health problems!

Lord knows, I have tried!

Here is the research on how Low Vitamin A levels triggers high Iron levels.....as an example of how poor nutrition leads to poor health...

Entitled "Vitamin A deficiency increases hepcidin expression and oxidative stress in rat"

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0899900708005029#:~:text=Vitamin A deficiency increased liver hepcidin mRNA and,and significantly increases divalent metal transporter-1 mRNA levels.

Each Vitamin deficiency triggers it's own set of problems! And with Celiac's being on average low in up to 20 Vitamins and Minerals only by taking the Vitamins and Minerals you are low in.....can your  health completely recover in IMHO.

This Posterboy blog post talks about all the micronutrients many if not most Celiac's are low in at the time of  their diagnosis...

Be sure to read all the comments....it has a lot of good back and forth dialogue and a lot of additional resources...

I hope this is helpful but it is not medical advise.

Posterboy,

[Veronique]

Thanks everyone for your replies, information & insights! Very useful!

I hope we do get to learn more on this topic.  I emailed the author too (Seth Bittker) to ask whether his hypothesis has been confirmed in the meantime, since the article is a few years old.  Not sure whether he will respond, if I do get feedback, I will post it here.