Customer Reviews

Vitamin D Prescription: The Healing Power of the Sun & How It Can Save Your Life

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Everyone knows that preventing a disease is infinitely better than waiting for its onset and then treating it. With that in mind, we should all be focused on the notion of optimal health. If you were lucky enough to live in Temecula, CA and have Eric Madrid, MD as your family physician, you would already be guided toward that rare state of health. Fortunately, the rest of us can read "Vitamin D Prescription: The Healing Power of the Sun & How It Can Save Your Life."

Looking at a half dozen books on vitamin D, there are three things that stand out most clearly about this one. The first is that most books and articles make bland warnings about being careful not to overdose or be deficient. Without knowing the numbers you have no way to determine what is too much or too little. This is poor journalism. In stark contrast, Eric Madrid provides dozens of thumbnail conclusions of medical studies that state health benefits of specific vitamin D levels based on standard blood tests.

For example, please read this excerpt from page 96: "In 2008 Edward Giovannuucci, MD, ScD (Harvard School of Public Health) published in the Archives of Internal Medicine a study which showed that people with vitamin D levels less than 15 ng/ml (37 nmol/l) were over 2 times more likely to have a heart attack when compared to those with vitamin D levels above 30 ng/ml (75 nmol/l)." When you realize that most people have a blood level between 10 and 20 ng/ml, this is shocking in its simplicity and ramifications. If you are anywhere near the norm, the message is clear: You need more vitamin D. However, without clearly stated blood levels, the information is close to useless.

Imagine learning similar statistics regarding diabetes, any coronary-vascular disease, osteoporosis, arthritis, MS, Parkinson's, any autoimmune disease, and many others. There is a whole section covering the protective effect of vitamin D on many forms of cancer. In every case, the summaries distill years of medical research into a simple statement, and in every case, these chronic degenerative diseases are clearly associated with a vitamin D deficiency. Please note that the medical profession does not regard the various study results as irrefutable proof, but the author wisely advises to begin a regimen of vitamin D supplementation while studies continue, since there is much to be gained and little, if any, risk.

The next noteworthy aspect of this book is the overall approach to health care. Dr. Madrid emphasizes eliminating the risk factors that make serious disease more likely. You already know you should attain a healthy body weight, improve your diet, lay off the junk food, quit smoking, get some exercise, learn to manage stress, get a good night's sleep, reduce chemical exposure, etc. But let's be honest: Rome wasn't built in a day and you are not going to develop better habits overnight, but there is NO EXCUSE for being vitamin D-deficient. Anybody can pop a safe, inexpensive pill. Think of vitamin D as low hanging fruit.

If you dredge up the tired old excuse that you prefer to wait for clinically observable symptoms to appear before taking action, I have some bad news for you. By that point, the damage has already been done, and the only possible interventions are highly invasive, risky, and expensive. This book is about taking personal responsibility for your own health, so you have the best chance of eliminating the problem before it starts.

The third item on my list is a specific call to action. After reading 30 or 40 or 50 summaries of clinical studies, you will learn so much about the widespread protective value of vitamin D that eventually you might loudly slam down the book, yelling, "THAT'S IT - I'VE SEEN ENOUGH!", and vow to boost your vitamin D level above 50 ng/ml. That is clearly the intent of "Vitamin D Prescription"; to give you, the reader, information and motivation to get you to spring into action.

True to the book's title, on pages 166 and 167, Dr. Madrid actually gives you a "prescription" for vitamin D supplementation based on blood test results. If you do nothing else, you would be wise to read it, make sure you understand it, and follow the prescription to bring your blood level into the optimal range (50 to 100 ng/mL based on the 25(OH)D blood test).

I am happy to give "Vitamin D Prescription" a 5-star rating for a variety of reasons. Dr. Madrid's advice agrees with the best-known vitamin D experts. He doesn't insult the reader by avoiding numerical data; he EDUCATES the reader to understand the numerical data. Patient case histories give you good insights about real-world situations. The book is graphically appealing with charts, maps, bulleted lists, and boxed excerpts that make it easy to scan. I also enjoyed the author's personal anecdotes and easy-to-read style.

If your approach to healthcare is not already centered on minimizing known risk factors, "Vitamin D Prescription" will help you make this important paradigm shift; and if you already are of that mindset, it will give you many compelling reasons to optimize your vitamin D level. For those wishing to march down the path toward a long, healthy life, "Vitamin D Prescription" is a great roadmap for the journey.

For me, approaching any medical information book is intimidating. But in an attempt to revamp my health and lifestyle, this book was a great beginning to the awareness that all of us should learn to grasp.

It was a quick to-the-point read that didn't leave me overwhelmed with information; but with the ability to comprehend and apply. Dr. Madrid kept it interesting by sharing many different real-life stories and situations that we can all relate to. I know I have a lot of family members that have had skin health issues and who were afraid of the sun. Dr. Madrid challenged conventional wisdom that the sun is the enemy. Our avoidance of the sun may actually be causing more harm than good.

I now know my options to prevent and protect my health--an option my parent's generation never really had available.

"Spending time in the sun is not good for me"
"I'm lactose intolerant so I avoid milk products"
"I feel 30 years older than I am"
"I just don't feel like I used to"

In "Vitamin D Prescription", Dr. Madrid provides the research behind why Vitamin D is so necessary for good health-- and why many of us are currently not getting enough of it.

I am lucky to have been a patient of Dr. Madrid as he was putting together the evidence for this book. After being tested to find out my Vitamin D level was 8ng/ml, he put me on a good course of Vitamin D supplement. I can say that my symptoms have improved immeasurably, but more importantly, I feel more protected against the myriad of diseases that Vitamin D deficiency can cause.

I believe that you will find that this book is easily readable and full of practical advice. As well, the solution to getting back on track with your Vitamin D is simple and inexpensive.

Share it with your friends! Everyone needs to know this information!

Of the 8 books on vitamin D I have read so far, this one has perhaps the best combination of practical advice and thorough detail (although several of the other books are good too) but it turns out this book too is lacking in advice for those with long-standing health problems (see end).

I had long been aware that, the further north you live, the worse health problems you are likely to suffer from but for decades we have been told we get all the vitamin D we need from sunshine, that supplementation does not work very well, and anyway deficiency is rare. Until recently, no one seems to have been aware of how common Vitamin D deficiency is, nor the severe health problems such a deficiency creates.

Now, it turns out that most doctors use the wrong blood test. It also turns out that the importance of Vitamin D for health can't be stressed enough: it can apparently cure cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, bone density issues, arthritis, flu, muscle pain, chronic pain, fatigue, seasonal (and other) depression and various autoimmune disorders.

And, it turns out, it's almost impossible to overdose - only one or two cases are known and they had been unknowingly taking truly extreme doses of over 100,000 IUs daily (versus the officially recommended 400 IUs) - and that vitamin D3 is the most effective type. (Why then, all those almost hysterical commonly repeated warnings against overdosing on Vitamin D?!)

Madrid provides dozens of thumbnail conclusions of medical studies on health benefits of specific vitamin D levels based on standard blood tests. There is a whole section covering the protective effect of vitamin D on many forms of cancer. Many other health problems are covered too.

The summaries distill years of medical research into a simple statement; in every case, both chronic and degenerative diseases are clearly associated with a vitamin D deficiency. Case histories give you good insights about real-world situations. Despite a high level of information provided, the book is easy to read and lightened by the author's personal anecdotes.

Although the medical profession does not regard the various study results as irrefutable proof, the author wisely recommends a regimen of vitamin D supplementation while studies continue, since there is much to be gained and little, if any, risk. Specific and clear dosage advice is given. The book is accessible to both the lay person and the medical practitioner. Of all the books, Madrid's best explains the numerical data and also briefly cites clinical research, which gives the work credence for other physicians.

Of the other books (and I'm wondering why there are so many!), "The Vitamin D Revolution" by Soram Khalsa was previously the one I preferred, "Vitamin D Prescription" by Eric Madrid is also good. "The Vitamin D Cure" by James Dowd is not basic, comprehensive or practical. Then there is "Vitamin D" by Michael Merrill which was too brief and simply inadequate.

Of the 2010 books, both "Vitamin D" by Rona and "Power of Vitamin D" by Zaidi are brief but quite good but the one that is now my favorite pick is "The Vitamin D Solution: A 3-Step Strategy to Cure Our Most Common Health Problem" by Holick. It is a practical and easy read. At 300 pages I also found it thorough. I liked that it straightforwardly explained that sunshine, when it shines strongly enough, is always better than supplementing with Vitamin D.

It's worth noting that, over a decade ago, several books were already lauding the much-overlooked benefits of sunshine, the best way to get vitamin D, although the further away from the equator, the less effective. (Those who react badly to Vitamin D and/or sunshine may have a rare disease called sarcoidosis.)

According to most of the books on vitamin D, the vast majority of us are deficient in vitamin D whereas adequate levels can alleviate chronic pain, stroke, osteoporosis, heart disease, cancer, autoimmune diseases, depression, arthritis, diabetes, gum disease, psoriasis, fibromyalgia, autism and much more. Perhaps it's just my cynicism from decades of reading endless books singing the praises of so-called miracles such as DMSO, MMS, DHEA, vitamin C, magnesium, iodine, omega 3 EFAs, breathwork, oxygen therapy, hydrogen peroxide, water, thyroid hormone, adrenal hormone, liver cleanses, detoxes, fasts, exercise, neutralising electromagnetic stress, juicing, mangosteen, noni juice, superfoods, organic foods, wholefoods, celiac diets, dairy-free diets, veggie diets, protein diets, carb diets, food combining, acid-alkaline balancing diets, Glycaemic Index diets, high fibre diets, raw food diets, candida/fungus elimination, parasite cleansing - oh dear, the list of my gullibility seems endless.

Yes, I've tried all of these; yes, thoroughly and sometimes repeating them in various combinations and on each occasion with enthusiasm and bright-eyed hope but I saw no measurable benefits. "Trick and Treat" by Groves explains in detail just why so many of my efforts were doomed. Nowadays, when I read about health wonders, I wonder how many claims of success are made up or at least tweaked - and I wonder what proportion of actual patients were successful in any way, much less miraculously so, as is always claimed by books touting miraculous benefits.

I was startled to learn in the Holick book, which I read months after this one, that about a third of the population has kidney disease (which never gets diagnosed until too late and allegedly little can be done for it apart from horrible treatments like dialysis) and that about the same number are obese (hello... anyone making a connection here?) and that their bodies may not be able to produce enough activated vitamin D: as compared to the non-obese, vitamin D levels rose only 50% as much in the blood levels of the obese when using a tanning bed or getting a dose of 50,000iu of vitamin D. The obese get a lot of blame for what is not actually their fault: studies now show that calcium also plays a key role in reducing obesity (elsewhere I have seen studies showing large weight loss in about 30% of obese women who take both calcium and vitamin D).

Only the Holick book told you that the elderly and those with poor health simply cannot produce enough activated vitamin D in their bodies even when taking high-doses of vitamin D. Based on my personal experience of taking 10,000iu daily of vitamin D3 for 6 months, I'm not convinced that vitamin D supplementation of the non-prescription kind is a panacea, as so many of the books are claiming - and I am not convinced that all these authors got the unanimously fantastic results they allege. While I believe that vitamin D supplementation at 5,000 ius daily is beneficial, too many single-strategy books have a way of sounding a little overzealous, attributing every malady to whatever deficiency they're tackling and proposing it as the magic solution across the board.

[Later notes: I feel I should mention the new mental/emotional healing process explained in "The Healing Code" by Loyd/Johnson/Eble. There are hundreds of personal successes listed in the reviews here on this book. Three books that should be on the "top 10" of any list of books on health are: "Trick and Treat", which turns upside down everything governments have told us to eat for health, "Outsmart Your Cancer", a well-researched book on alternative therapies - anything that can HEAL cancer is also a general healer and should be able to help much else in the body, and "Never Fear Cancer Again" by Raymond Francis, a brilliant distillation of what is truly needed for health. Also the supplement Papaya 35, a super concentrate with fermented pawpaw.]

As a long-time medical/scientific editor, what I found most impressive about this book is that it speaks with ease to both the lay person and the medical practitioner. That is, Dr. Madrid cites clinical research, which gives the work credence for other physicians. At the same time, his comfortable writing style and various stories make the data easily accessible for anyone wishing to learn more and improve his/her health. And the information he brings makes evident the vital importance of vitamin D in maintaining health. He has done us all a great service in writing this book!!

Dr. Madrid has written a book with important information that should be read by anyone who wants to live a healthy lifestyle. The book is well written and easy to read. Dr. Madrid shows people how important Vitamin D is to the human body and how easily accessible it is, and affordable (the sun)!

This book is full of information regarding the widespread Vitamin D deficiency. It's a quick read that's simple for the lay person to understand. I'm giving this book and the vitamin D3 supplement to all of my friends this year for their birthdays! After reading this book I just wanted spread the word.

An easy read for a health book. The importance of Vitamin D in a healthy lifestyle can't be stressed enough.

As a Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Specialist, I am continually looking for ways to help my patients improve their potential for recovery and function. Dr. Madrid's quick and easy read is a great addition to my recommendation list. When I have a patient who wants to invest in themselves, this is one of the books I recommend. It explains the reasons why Vitamin D is so important and augments the reader's motivation to improve their life. I just wish it came in a audible format too.

Easy reading, and powerful information. I have increased my daily dosage based on Dr Madrid's recommended daily dosage and feel great.