Customer Reviews

The Vitamin D Revolution: How the Power of This Amazing Vitamin Can Change Your Life

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dozens of medical research studies leave no doubt that having enough vitamin D will provide strong protection against cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and diseases that collectively kill over 2 million Americans every year. The studies typically show that after 5 years or so, those in the highest quartile of vitamin D status die from chronic degenerative diseases less than half as much as those in the lowest quartile. Dr. Soram Khalsa does a good job of explaining the benefits and cutting through the confusion and misinformation. The Vitamin D Revolution is a good starting point for anyone wanting to prevent serious illness or supercharge their immune system.

There is so much good information contained in this book I would recommend it to anyone. It is clearly written in non-technical language and is carefully and extensively researched. Starting on page 67, Dr. Khalsa's explanation of long-latency vs short-latency deficiency diseases sheds important light in how and why the government recommends an inadequate daily dose of 400 international units. (They were addressing bone disease but were unaware at the time of vitamin D's role in other far more serious diseases that take decades to develop.) There is an excellent description on page 8 on what makes vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) better than D2 (ergocalciferol). On page 140 he points out doctors sometimes mistakenly prescribe the 1,25(OH2)D blood test whereas the only reliable test is the 25(OH)D.

The ultimate message of the book is that we should all be trying to obtain a blood level around 50 mg/mL based on the 25(OH)D blood test, which in most people requires supplementing with 5000 IU of vitamin D3. Semiannual blood test are a good idea to track your progress and insure you don't overdose. If you take away nothing more than this message you and vow to follow through on it, you will be well on your way to better health.

I am giving this book a rating of 5 stars. Dr. Khalsa is to be highly commended for his dedication to the health of his patients and readers of this excellent book. If everyone everywhere became knowledgeable on vitamin D and optimized their blood level, the impact on public health would be extreme. Dr. Khalsa states that widespread vitamin D supplementation has the very real potential of putting a serious dent in the health crisis that costs over $2 trillion per year in the US alone.

The Vitamin D Revolution starts with you, and reading this book and implementing its suggestions will place you squarely at the front lines of this important grassroots movement.

This book is current, accurate and well written. If you could only read one book on the rediscovery of vitamin D deficiency, this should be that one. I am a family physician (FP). I just completed teaching a breakout session for four dozen fellow FP's at a national military FP conference on this topic. I gave a copy of this book to the participants.

This is an extraordinary, easy to read little book which will provide you with amazing information on the importance of vit. D in the body. He explains why it is such a widespread & overlooked problem which can prevent as well as relieve so many health problems that have not, until just recently, been linked to Vitamin D deficiency.

He guides the reader step by step in understanding what is known of vitamin D, where it comes from, how to know if you are likely to have a deficiency, how and where to test, how to supplement, diseases that have already been found to have a direct relation to this vitamin, as well as health situations that are not necessarily a "disease" such as chronic fatigue, excess stress, moodiness, etc.

I think that this doctor is way ahead as far as this subject is concerned.

Highly recommended.

Dr. Soram Khalsa is brilliant. I am privileged to be one of his patients. He is always ahead of the curve, on the cutting edge of healing and great medicine, and years ahead of others in finding ways in which we can all achieve, and maintain, radiant health. Dr. Soram Khalsa spoke of the powerful and healing aspects of Vitamin D years before anyone else even thought seriously about it! So many of us have anxiously awaited the publication of this book and all of the wisdom it contains! Melinda, Los Angeles, California

Have only read 1/2 of book. My feelings are that all of our Primary care doctors need to focus and test for vitamin D deficiencies. Everyone should INSIST that their doctor test their vitamin D levels. Very well written and very informative.

While I am a beleiver in the merits of Vitamin D, I do not find this author's writing style to be very convincing. One of the main flaws with his style is that he is redundant. He "packs" 50 pages of content into this 212 page read.

Next, while he cites numerous studies, they are all smaller and he relies equaly on anecdotal evidence. It's slmost as thugh he was grasping at straws at times to bolster his case.

Once again, I have Vitamin D deficiency, so I bought this with great interest. However, absent my knowledge of the subject he would not have influenced me to run out and test my D25 levels.

Of the 8 books on vitamin D I've now read, this was my favorite last year.

Of the other books, "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. At the other extreme is the comprehensive but somewhat technical "Sunshine and Vitamin D" by Frank Murray - mainly brief compilations of hundreds of studies but no practical guidelines, so not really suitable for the layman who wants to experiment with high-dose vitamin D.

Of this year's books so far: "Vitamin D" by Rona and "Power of Vitamin D" by Zaidi are both brief but quite good and 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.

Going back to this book, Khalsa is both a clinical professor of medicine and a naturopathic doctor. His sincerity and genuine desire to help you shine out. This book is much more simply and clearly set out than most of the pre-2010 books, and includes the differences between the three forms of vitamin D (D3 is the important one), the pros and cons of getting vitamin D from sunshine or tanning beds, which vitamin D test you/your doctor should use (and why), and several careful pages on dosage. The aim was to help you to help yourself, whereas other books are keen for you to consult a doctor. I felt immediately able to apply the information from this book.

It's also 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. Anyone living above the 35th parallel is highly likely to have a sunshine/vit D deficiency that can also lead to many common symptoms. Those who react badly to Vitamin D and/or sunshine may have a rare disease called sarcoidosis.)

According to this book, vitamin D can cure 17 types of cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, bone density issues, arthritis, flu, muscle pain, fatigue, chronic pain, seasonal (and other) depression and various autoimmune disorders. 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, neutralizing 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, Glycemic Index diets, high fiber 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 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 single strategies.

I was startled to learn - from the Holick book - that about a third of the population has kidney disease (which never gets diagnosed until too late), about the same number who are obese (hello... anyone making a connection here?) and that their bodies may not be able to produce enough activated vitamin D. However, the books are not clear enough that the elderly and those with poor health simply cannot produce enough activated vitamin D in their bodies even when taking high-dose vitamin D2 or D3 - this was explained only in the Holick book.

Based on my personal experience of taking 10,000iu daily of vitamin D3 for 6 months (but Rona's book mentions Norm Shealy, a physician who has taken 50,000iu per day for 18 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.]

This is a must read book for your health and your loved ones. Doctors know nothing about adequate and healthful Vit. D levels. Learn and take care of yourself.

This book was not as specific as I hoped. Its written on a personal level from the doctor.
If you're looking for specifics on safe amounts of vit D to take, or anything like that, this is not the book.
It was interesting to read how much we need and can benefit from vit D, and taking it has greatly improved my mood, but this I already knew.

Prevention is the key to health and this thoughtful and compelling book about the critical importance of vitamin D made me feel educated and empowered! It will help you take charge of your health.