B12 Questions

[femfrankie]

Well fingers crossed hun they show what's behind it all and you quickly get fixed back up again ((((HUGS))))xx

 

[marcusbm]

My pre-op vit D is in the basement, but I built up the habit of avoiding the sun since living on the equator. Is it possible that after living in equatorial areas could increase vit D problems as the body has adjusted to a higher natural dose?

 

[femfrankie]

My pre-op vit D is in the basement, but I built up the habit of avoiding the sun since living on the equator. Is it possible that after living in equatorial areas could increase vit D problems as the body has adjusted to a higher natural dose?

I wouldn't think so but unfortunately living in the UK, particularily the north can impact on your uptake of Vit D. I have read & was also told by my dietician that in Scotland nearly everyone is low in vit D purely because we just don't get enough sun. For six months of the year it's UVB levels are not strong enough and that even if we were to strip naked and bake under our winter sun for 8 hours a day we still wouldn't be able to absorb enough. Add to that the fear of skin cancer and the liberal application of sunscreen to protect us from it we are snookered. Most of our vit D comes from our food and again being bypassed we are making it's uptake even harder to do.
If you are fair skinned you will absorb vit D better than someone who is dark skinned. I can only go by info for Scotland & not sure what the sun UVB ratio is like south of the border but can't see it being much different. X

 

[marcusbm]

I wouldn't think so but unfortunately living in the UK, particularily the north can impact on your uptake of Vit D. I have read & was also told by my dietician that in Scotland nearly everyone is low in vit D purely because we just don't get enough sun and that even if we were to strip naked and bake under it for 8 hours a day we still wouldn't be able to absorb enough. Add to that the fear of skin cancer and the liberal application of sunscreen to protect us from it we are snookered. Most of our vit D comes from our food and again being bypassed we are making it's uptake hard to do.

The madness behind my thinking possibly stems from urban legend. Some people say those who live near the equator have 'thinner blood'. While this isn't a way of saying we have natural Warfarin - it's typically used to imply we feel cold weather more (incidentally that's a side effect of gastric bypass as well). By extending the 'logic' it could explain why we have lower vit D levels when taken out of that climate.

 

[femfrankie]

I forgot to add a bit about fair skinned people being able to absorb vit d better than dark skin. So that may give some leverage to your urban myth

 

[marcusbm]

...and I'm not fair skinned. I'm mixed race.