Vitamin D Paradigm Shift continues Getting Stronger and Stronger after 20 years: Vasquez et al "Clinical Importance of Cholecalciferol: Paradigm Shift for All Healthcare Providers" ATHM 2004

Vitamin D Paradigm Shift summary: Vasquez 2025

Vitamin D combines with the vitamin D receptor (VDR) together functioning as a gene transcription factor directly binding to nuclear DNA and regulating the transcription of more than 1,000 genes or approximately 3% of the human genome. For these reasons and others (such as its impact on the gut microbiome, neuroinflammation, mucosal/barrier defense, microbial/antiviral defense, mitochondrial performance, muscle function, immunomodulation/autoimmunity), we now appreciate that vitamin D is a keystone/cornerstone physiologic factor that impacts systemic health; deficiency of vitamin D therefore negatively impacts numerous body systems and can result in a wide range of disorders and diseases.

THE TASK THAT WAS GIVEN TO ME by the journal Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine was to write an article about vitamin D; the catch was that I had to start from zero and had to have the article ready for publication within 8-10 days. This task was given to me, and I carried it forward with considerable success:

Vasquez A, Manso G, Cannell J. The clinical importance of vitamin D (cholecalciferol): a paradigm shift with implications for all healthcare providers. Altern Ther Health Med. 2004 Sep-Oct;10(5):28-36; quiz 37, 94. PMID: 15478784.

Getting by with a little help from my friends:

For the article to qualify for continuing medical education credits (CME), I had to have a co-author who was an “MD” despite that I was writing the article by myself, already had two doctorates with extensive training and practice in nutrition, and MDs have no formal training in nutrition. (This was in 2004, and even though I had already been accepted to medical school, I deferred for two years to give me time to close my private practice and get other details in order.) During these years from ~2001-2006, I was fortunate to be sharing office space with Gilbert Manso MD, and he agreed to read the final draft and put his name on the paper.

I wrote, read, and photocopied articles at the Texas Medical Center library nonstop for 8 days. Practically at the last minute, I sent the paper to John Cannell MD, who skillfully (and thankfully) added the sections on Diabetes and Hypertension. I thought that the bottom of our optimal range for vitamin D should be 50 ng/ml (125 nmol/L) but John (who had more social-political experience on the topic) said that would be perceived as too radical and he advised that we use 40 ng/ml (100 nmol/L) so that our ideas would find greater acceptance and not be rejected outright. In a separate paper that I authored in 2011 (Revisiting the five-part nutritional wellness protocol: the supplemented Paleo Mediterranean diet. Nutritional Perspectives 2011 Jan), I stated that bottom of the optimal range for vitamin D should be 50 ng/ml (125 nmol/L); ten years later in 2020, this was more widely accepted as correct (Rastogi et al, BMJ’s Postgraduate Medicine Journal 2020 Nov).

Standing on the shoulders of giants:

The strongest authors and their papers at that time were Heaney, Zitterman, and Vieth. Vieth proved the safety. Heaney proved the dose. Zitterman basically asked “What the fvck are we waiting on?” and I answered his question by asserting that we were overdue for a paradigm shift.

• Vieth R. Vitamin D supplementation, 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations, and safety. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999 May;69(5):842-56. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/69.5.842

• Zittermann A. Vitamin D in preventive medicine: are we ignoring the evidence? Br J Nutr. 2003 May;89(5):552-72. doi: 10.1079/BJN2003837

• Heaney RP, Davies KM, Chen TC, Holick MF, Barger-Lux MJ. Human serum 25-hydroxycholecalciferol response to extended oral dosing with cholecalciferol. Am J Clin Nutr. 2003 Jan;77(1):204-10. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/77.1.204

We’ve come a long way, baby:

By now, we’ve gained a detailed understanding of the mechanisms and importance of vitamin D, and—whereas back in 2004 we had only a handful of mostly underdosed studies—we now have a mountain of quality evidence and clinical trials. I’ve reviewed this data in many articles and videos which can mostly be categorized as follows:

1. VIDEO: Vitamin D against neuroinflammation, dysbiosis, and CHRONIC PAIN.

2. VIDEO: Vitamin D against neuroinflammation and MOOD DISORDERS, DEPRESSION, ANXIETY.

3. VIDEO: Vitamin D support for barrier/mucosal defense, which is important against SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATION, ALLERGY AND AUTOIMMUNITY.

4. VIDEO: Vitamin D deficiency promotes disorders of INFLAMMATION AND COAGULATION.

5. VIDEO: The importance of vitamin D in immune defense and especially against viral infections.

All of those video reviews are hyperlinked and available for viewing.

PDF compilation of my vitamin D articles is provided here

Dr Vasquez Vitamin D Compilation 2021

27.6MB ∙ PDF file

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Also noted:

• Vasquez A. Rapid Response: Scotland's public health programs and trends improving nutritional status should be considered when discussing HPV trends. https://www.bmj.com/content/365/bmj.l1375/rr-4 11April2019

• Vasquez A. Rapid Response: Scotland's public health campaigns to improve vitamin D nutriture occurred within the same timeframe as HPV vaccination. https://www.bmj.com/content/365/bmj.l1161/rr-8 13April2019