You are about to look at some material that may come across as TMI ( to much information), but please understand this information is a accumulation of years of reading. Some of it is new because the information is new. I certainly did not learn it all at once. If you question it...I consider that a good thing.
The information that I based my conclusion on are in the blog and all you need to do is research the blog and there it is. Reference and etc are all there. Not a easy thing as I have not catalogued everything to make it easy. I do not have a secretary, I make no money on this but do enjoy the blog as the information keeps me healthy and I feel I am doing some service to the people who read it. The world wild web is there for you to check the information for yourself.
One caveat: Ask yourself who is telling you the information and is there some thing in it for them if you follow there line of reasoning. The newspaper is notoriously unreliable because it is one reporters "take" on the issue and his interpretation of what is a good study or bad is not based on a knowledge base. After fifty years of experience in the medical community and a natural curiosity about why things work, I think I do bring a good background to this website to make a judgement. My health has improved the quality of my old age many fold. I know that for sure as all I have to do is stop doing the below and I pay a heavy price. With all that in mind ....read on and make up your own mind....

For those of you not familiar with this website, I have posted many links to various studies. You can access this by clicking on blog which is listed above near "about". The few things you should understand are, vitamin D dosage varies, toxicity is very low and actually safer than water, magnesium should be taken in conjunction with vitamin D and you must test in three months to get the maximum benefits. I know only one group of people who should not take vitamin D. Those who already have elevated calcium level in the blood. Your Doctor would tell you if you had this condition, without a doubt. I have run across two such people in all the years I have been doing this. All of this sounds simple, but what we are actually doing is trying to get nutrients like our ancestors did a million years ago. The original design of the human body with all its needs have not changed. To ignore this is to suffer the effects( out of proportion) of heart disease, cancer etc. You are experiencing the diseases of civilization. This is a way to decrease those effects.
I realize that some of you may not be familiar with my previous website, so I will give a very brief history of my journey down this road. I started reading about vitamin D in 1998. I had seen studies before, but had avoided taking them seriously. I was fearful of the vitamin and possible toxic consequences of taking  doses higher than in a multivitamin.( Btw, a multivitamin has never been shown to be helpful and maybe harmful). This, fear by the way, is still highly represented in the medical community despite thousands of studies that put that fear to rest, in my estimation.
In 2004 I started taking vitamin D and gradually increased my dosage from 1,000 IU a day to ten thousand a day ( presently I am taking nine thousand) over a period of years. Interestingly my dermatitis of forty plus years disappeared when I upped the dose to 2,000 IU a day. I was intrigued. Stopped the vitamin D and it came back. Started it again and it went away. I know of others with a very similar dermatitis and their experience was the same.
I think a word is in order to discuss immune function. Vitamin D improves immune function. It modulates it to function better. The result is that there is less inflammation and the defences of the body are improved. Consequences are none and benefits are truly wonderful. A few examples are arthritis pain is diminished very significantly, dermatitis decreased or eliminated, colds and flu greatly decreased, asthma greatly reduced ( some may not need a inhaler), cancer and heart disease reduced. The list goes on and on.What do these things all have in common. The improvements are all the results of improved immune function and the decrease in inflammation that goes along with it. To get these benefits you have to dose appropriately and do so continuously for the rest of your life. Proper dosing is 1,000 iu per 25 lbs body weight. Test in three months and see what your vitamin D level is. It should be between 70 and 100ng/ml. Anything above that amount is to be avoided.  Test once a year. Running out of vitamin D will return the physical problems that you had before undertaking a optimized dosing of vitamin D. Toxicity occurs over 200ng/ml.
I have been reading a lot of reports about magnesium. When you take vitamin D your body utilizes magnesium to make the hormones vitamin D is turned into by the liver and kidneys. So when you take vitamin D your magnesium levels will drop. Studies show that low magnesium levels, which just about everyone has before taking vitamin D, is associated with sudden cardiac death. So take magnesium and do not take magnesium oxide as it has been studied and found to be ineffective. I recommend everyone take magnesium who takes vitamin D and I have found magnesium malate to be effective. Magnesium malate seems to be exceptional good at re-leaving muscle cramps in the head, neck and back. Helps with restless leg syndrome also. Exceptions to taking magnesium would be kidneys that do not work well ( not bladder as that is just a reservoir for urine) and possibly a heart condition called atrial fibrillation. Please read more in my blog to understand this better.
I have recently started to read about vitamin B 12. It seems a lot of people ( especially those who take meds for hiatal hernia and are older) are at great risk for being deficient in this vital "nerve" medicine. Startling, but true, some people are diagnosed with Alzheimer disease and they only have a deficiency of B 12. I just blogged on this a bit ago and more details are there. Today's date is 1/6/12. Perhaps I should rename this website to designate another more appropriate name, but then it is still a link to better health!
I have been making and using fermented foods. The benefits are many. Less stress, a healthier gut, and the production of vitamin K2. K2 is the vitamin that instructs calcium to go to your bones and not your coronary arteries. Calcium in the coronaries is the leading indicator of a impending heart attack, not cholesterol. This vitamin also helps clean out your coronary arteries and thus reducing the likely hood of heart attack.A worth while endeavour. Seems to work as a anti depressant too!
So at the ripe old age of 72 ( I just turned 74 while celebrating my birthday in c=Costa Rica. A wonderful relaxing place to visit). I am controlling over 95% of my arthritis and back pains with the vitamin. Again I know many others with similar experiences and a few of those people were chronic pain patients who went to a pain clinic for regular injections of steroids to control their pain.
Until recently I was employed as a CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist). I retired from a part time job in the spring of 2011 after 40 years giving anesthesia and fifty years as a RN..
We ( CRNA's) give over 65% of the anesthesia in this country. In 16 states we are certified by the Governor of the state to work independently. There has never been a unbiased study to show that we give a inferior brand of Anesthesia when working alone or with a Anesthesiologist. I think this is a trend which will become universal in this country. If you are interested in Nurse Anesthesia you can go to www.aana.com and learn more. I have never had to worry about getting a job and the pay was excellent.
Also of interest is the definition of a Nurse and Doctor. A Nurse is a person who helps maintain homo stasis or another way of saying it "health". I believe that is what I am doing here. A Doctor is licensed to treat disease. So, feel free to read and comment on this blog. Questions will be answered and studies provided if available to me. I have a bunch of them stored as PDF's. My e mail address is    [email protected]   For more information on studies and links, click on blog above...

Addendum....It is time for a update. Today’s date is September 25, 2013. Early this spring I met a milestone in my search for continued mobility at the age of 73. I noticed my right foot was increasingly painful and going down stairs hurt quite a bit. The jar from landing on a new step slowed me down. My usual practice of going up the stairs two at a time ( with my hand on the hand rail) was a distant memory.
So what to do? I believed I needed increased anti inflammatory action. However my recent vitamin D test was 120 ng. Upper limits are 100 ng. (To get nmol just multiply by 2.5. The U.S. uses ng and the rest of the world nmol so when you read studies take this into account). I believe at this point I have saturated my fat with the vitamin and my level went up. You do get a test at least every year don't you? I cut my vitamin D in half and I started fermented foods by making and consuming home made sauer kraut. The manufactured stuff will not work as it is cabbage and vinegar. You need the probiotic action to decrease inflammation.
My wife told me she was experiencing less pain since doing so and I noticed a improvement too. Still, I had significant pain in my foot and knees. So I added krill oil one a day. Bingo! I was again pain free.
The point I am trying to make here is that as you age your requirements for pain control will increase. I am controlling my pain now and I am again going up the stairs two at a time. For good measure I added a product that contained boswella seratta! AKA, Frankensence. A excellent anti inflammatory!
So I intend to live a much longer time and without pain. I am winning. Stay tuned.
BB