Vitamin D and liver enzymes

[LaurieG]

2 questions. Can someone recommend a Vit D supplement for my milk, soy, magnesium stearate sensitive BF 2 yr old? I'd like to keep the ingredient list as short as possible since she is very sensitive to supplements and I don't entirely know which ingredients. I'm not sure yet if I want just Vit D or calcium too - looking for suggestions on that one. She nurses pretty frequently still. Vit D was a 36 so on the low end of normal last week.

Secondly, her liver enzymes were elevated. Specifically alkaline phosphatase -really high (712 when the normal is something like 150-320). I am not entirely surprised - she's been sick quite with a string of viruses for the past 2 months and her intolerances have gotten worse. Plus I've been doing some gut healing (started prior to her getting sick and discontinued now) that I knew might cause some short term problems for her but I felt like getting my gut a little better in the long run would be good for her. But now I need to detox her a bit.

We're back to epsom salt baths. I also have a liver cleanse tea that I had given her a few times but stopped (wasn't sure if it was contributing to her diarrhea) that I will probably try again. Other suggestions for helping with the liver enzyme issue specifically?

TIA

[tanyalynn]

Have you looked at the Carlson Ddrops yet? Coconut oil base, it's a liquid so it doesn't need any binders/fillers (no mag stearate). They come in 400IU, 1000IU and 2000IU drops.

re: elevated liver enzymes, there was some discussion at wholehealthsource.blogspot.com. They discussed it (IIRC) from the stressed liver/grains/too many carbs/insulin issues direction. So they approach it from the dietary change route, which I've started to do with DH (no grains, lower carbs but not actually counting) and he says he's feeling better and losing weight (obviously not what you want for your LO, but as a measure of improved health, it's good for DH). His liver enzymes weren't out of range, but were close to the limit.

I'm also giving DH milk thistle using ground seeds, but for a child, maybe an alcohol-based tincture? There are also liver support supps, LiverLife is one, it's commonly used with ASD kids, it may contain milk thistle along with other things. I think it's a liquid, but I'm not sure on ingredients. I think selenium's also good for liver function, and that's one that's passed in breastmilk proportionate to mom's consumption. I don't know if it would address elevated liver enzyme levels specifically though.

[LaurieG]

Thanks Tanya. I think I checked out the Carlson drops awhile back but forgot about them as I focused on something else. So they look great.

I'm reading up on LiverLife and it looks promising. Thanks for that tip and the other suggestions too.

[mamafish9]

We do milk thistle as a powder for my 2.5 year old DS. I've taught him to swallow capsules now, , but I used to just sprinkle it on his food - it blended fairly well into things like ground beef. The alcohol tinctures, including things like liver life, were a complete no go (and the dose you need to get in them is big enough there was no way that was going to work for us).

For vitamin D, I take fermented CLO (I put it in capsules, since it tastes AWFUL), and I take 150% of the adult dose - which is what they recommend for nursing mamas. Vit D passes nicely in breastmilk, so that was an easy way for me to make sure he was getting enough. CLO has lots of other stuff in it that is good for liver health/detox too, so it might be something to consider.

[LaurieG]

Originally Posted by mamafish9

We do milk thistle as a powder for my 2.5 year old DS. I've taught him to swallow capsules now, , but I used to just sprinkle it on his food - it blended fairly well into things like ground beef. The alcohol tinctures, including things like liver life, were a complete no go (and the dose you need to get in them is big enough there was no way that was going to work for us).

For vitamin D, I take fermented CLO (I put it in capsules, since it tastes AWFUL), and I take 150% of the adult dose - which is what they recommend for nursing mamas. Vit D passes nicely in breastmilk, so that was an easy way for me to make sure he was getting enough. CLO has lots of other stuff in it that is good for liver health/detox too, so it might be something to consider.

I didn't know that! Why are the docs so quick to recommend Vit D for breastfed babies if Vit D passes through so easily?

One of DD's docs was convinced she has Rickets because of the lack of cows milk in her diet and the elevated Alk Phosphatase but when she checked DD's Vit D last week she was in the normal range (although at the low end). So that would explain it I guess since I'm taking a pretty large dose of D myself.

We can't do CLO - she reacts to every one I've tried. I think they all have hidden soy. . I'll have to look in to milk thistle.

[mamafish9]

Originally Posted by LaurieG

I didn't know that! Why are the docs so quick to recommend Vit D for breastfed babies if Vit D passes through so easily?

One of DD's docs was convinced she has Rickets because of the lack of cows milk in her diet and the elevated Alk Phosphatase but when she checked DD's Vit D last week she was in the normal range (although at the low end). So that would explain it I guess since I'm taking a pretty large dose of D myself.

We can't do CLO - she reacts to every one I've tried. I think they all have hidden soy. . I'll have to look in to milk thistle.

Most moms are deficient in vitD, so their breastmilk is too. VitD in your breastmilk is proportionate to how much you are getting, so this is one you can easily take yourself to bump up DD's levels. The amount of CLO I'm taking gets me about 5,000IU of vitD a day, and there are studies that show that amount will normalize vitD levels in breastfed infants within 3 months. Most doctors are, umm, ill-informed.

I bet you could do fermented CLO, if it's the soy that is the issue (and may well be - all CLO except for the fermented kind add in synthetic A&D, and those may be soy based). So it's worth a try, because it's made very differently, with no ingredients added.

[luminesce]

Originally Posted by LaurieG

I didn't know that! Why are the docs so quick to recommend Vit D for breastfed babies if Vit D passes through so easily?

One of DD's docs was convinced she has Rickets because of the lack of cows milk in her diet and the elevated Alk Phosphatase but when she checked DD's Vit D last week she was in the normal range (although at the low end). So that would explain it I guess since I'm taking a pretty large dose of D myself.

We can't do CLO - she reacts to every one I've tried. I think they all have hidden soy. . I'll have to look in to milk thistle.

Because unless the mom is supplementing, breast milk doesn't contain much Vitamin D. Even with supplementing, questionable amounts may be passed especially if mom is deficient. I read that at least 4,000 to 5,000 IU supplement for mom was required to keep babies from being *deficient* (but I don't remember what the cut-off for deficient was - it may have been well below optimal) and as kids get older, need more/nurse less, things change. The easiest way to be sure baby is getting enough Vit D is to supplement the baby. That said, I'd probably be okay with supplementing myself until baby was a few months old.

We use Carlson's drops too since they only have coconut and it is SO little of it.