Vitamin D isn't the answer

In a recent conversation with Caroline over at Fighting Eczema, she mentioned that she wanted to look into whether having low levels of vitamin D might be correlated with risk of developing eczema. The theory was her own, but she mentioned "a strong advocate for the benefits of vitamin D on the internet, Dr. Mercola." I thought I'd check the man out, since I'd seen another article or two by Mercola in the general health news.

I was seriously unimpressed. Joseph Mercola is a self-appointed "expert" on "natural health" who, in short, is a scaremonger peddling fears of modern technology and the drug industry. Natural cures are best, he says; and just in case you were wondering where to get them, you need only visit his extensively stocked online store.

He's big on vitamin D, for sure; has an entire section devoted to it. According to him, it cures just about everything. Count me a skeptic. Every doctor I've asked, and a few I haven't, has told me that anyone eating a balanced diet has no need of any vitamin supplements at all. Vitamin C, and perhaps a few others, are flushed out of your body in your urine, but the rest accumulate in your tissues. Too much of a vitamin or mineral is a bad thing, just like too little. No way would I take an excessive dose of one particular substance unless I'd been diagnosed with a severe deficiency.

(Amusing aside: in my 20s, for a short while, I took several multivitamins a day, in the belief they would make me super-healthy. I developed a remarkable case of hemorrhoids that cleared up when I stopped taking the pills.)

Caroline, I mean no offense--in the search to cure eczema for our children and ourselves, we ought to explore every avenue. But vitamin D isn't going to be the answer.

If you're interested--I recommend it--the blog Science-Based Medicine has a comprehensive and entertaining takedown of Mercola. Here's one segment. The FDA has served Mercola with two warning letters concerning unwarranted claims for seven of his products.