Vitamin D, Heart Disease, and Cholesterol Sulfate Deficiency
- Brooke Erickson, MS, CN
- Jun 11
- 3 min read
It’s almost the summer solstice which is officially the longest day of the year! ☀️ That means we are in prime time for building up vitamin D levels from UVB – the way our bodies were designed and nature intended it. There is a synergy that only comes from sunlight that a synthetic supplement cannot replicate!
When you are in the sun your body uses cholesterol in the skin to make vitamin D and converts it to cholesterol sulfate. Cholesterol sulfate is a strengthening component of cell membranes, especially platelets. It’s needed to build your skin barrier. Cholesterol sulfate is also extremely important for cardiovascular health – your heart requires it. If you take a vitamin D supplement your skin doesn’t make any cholesterol sulfate which means that it needs to make it somewhere else. Guess where else it makes it? In your arteries.
What if heart disease is actually your body’s way of dealing with a lack of cholesterol sulfate? Let’s walk through this scenario. Stay with me - we're going down a rabbit hole.
1. Cholesterol sulfate transports cholesterol in the body. LDL is also a transport protein. It carries cholesterol, antioxidants (CoQ10), and fat-soluble vitamins. If you have low cholesterol sulfate, then your body compensates by making more LDL in the liver in order to transport cholesterol because it needs to be packaged with something water soluble in order to travel through the blood.
2. Plaque starts to develop in the arteries because of a buildup of damaged (oxidized) LDL cholesterol (caused by inflammation - sugar, seed oils, etc).
3. Remember, your heart requires cholesterol sulfate, so it starts to produce it in the plaque of arteries using oxidized LDL and sulfur.
4. Homocysteine provides the sulfur which is taken up by the platelets in the plaque of the arteries in order to supply the heart with cholesterol sulfate. This can explain why high homocysteine is a risk factor for heart disease. It’s needed in high amounts to supply the sulfur.
One other side note, glyphosate disrupts sulfur synthesis in the skin, which means you will be low and need to make more in your arteries. Glyphosate also disrupts bile flow from the liver. Bile acids are made of cholesterol and released into the small intestine to support digestion. Can you see how your liver can become very overloaded real quick and digestion can suffer?
So, just another reason to eat food that is organic or at least know your farmer so you can confirm they are not spraying pesticides (farmers markets are a great for this). Better yet, grow your own food! Also, filter your water with a filter that has been 3rd party tested to remove glyphosate. Water is a huge source of glyphosate.
Key take aways:
· Get outside in the sunlight daily for at least 20 minutes with as much skin as possible exposed and naked eyes. No sunscreen!
· Avoid taking Vitamin D supplements
· Avoid pesticides – especially glyphosate
· Increase Sulfur intake:
· Eat foods that are high in sulfur including eggs, garlic, onions, seafood, cruciferous vegetables, grass-fed beef, and raw cheese.
· Take Epsom salt baths
There's much more to say on this topic, but I will save it for another post where I will get into cholesterol sulfur and it's connection to SIBO.
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