6 minutes
Hosted by Dr. Eric Berg
Episode Description
<p>Surgeries come with risks, which include death. Surgery can significantly lower your vitamin D, so if you have surgery and you’re deficient, you could be putting yourself at risk.</p><p><br></p><p>If you’re low in vitamin D, your blood pressure can go up. Vitamin D is one of the best remedies for high blood pressure because it increases nitric oxide, which helps vasodilation in the arteries. </p><p><br></p><p>Vitamin D supports your immune system, helps prevent infection, and reduces inflammation. It also helps reduce cardiovascular complications after surgery. Some people take 100,000 to 300,000 IU of vitamin D before surgery!</p><p><br></p><p>If you don’t have enough vitamin D, your muscles can weaken, which increases your risk of falling after surgery. Post-operative inflammatory indicators increase by 200% if you’re low in vitamin D.</p><p><br></p><p>Vitamin D can increase antimicrobial peptides by 4000%! This compound helps your immune system kill microbes and dramatically reduces the risk of postoperative infection.</p><p><br></p><p>Sufficient vitamin D cuts the risk of surgical complications in half. One study found that half of atrial fibrillation was reduced with enough vitamin D. Vitamin D is especially important for open-heart surgery, thyroid removal, and cancer removal.</p><p><br></p><p>Surgery puts significant stress on your adrenal glands. If you’re low in vitamin D, cortisol can spike 4x after surgery, slowing healing and increasing inflammation. </p><p><br></p><p>If you’re low in vitamin D, you’re 8 times more likely to have cognitive dysfunction after surgery. Vitamin D can reduce the risk of rejection during an organ transplant and is associated with fewer complications with ventilators after surgery.</p><p><br></p><p>If you take vitamin D before surgery, you can expect shorter hospital stays and faster healing rates. If you only take high doses of vitamin D for 3 days before surgery, you don’t need to worry about any toxic effects.</p>