The Vitamin D Trap: How Supplements Can Harm Your Mineral Balance — and What to Do Instead

One of the most commonly recommended supplements is vitamin D — particularly during the winter months or for anyone feeling tired or run down. While there are times when we may need to temporarily boost certain vitamins, I want to offer a different perspective that challenges the routine use of synthetic vitamin D and invites you to consider how real food provides nutrients in perfect balance.

Firstly, I don’t recommend synthetic vitamins. Nutrients were never meant to be taken in isolation. When we extract, isolate, and mega-dose vitamins in synthetic form, we can easily throw off the body’s delicate balance. I always prefer food-based supplements wherever possible — because nature gives us these nutrients in the right forms and ratios, supported by co-factors and enzymes that help us actually use them.

🌞 Vitamin D Is Actually a Hormone

Most people don’t realise that vitamin D is technically a hormone, not a vitamin. Hormones are powerful messengers in the body, and tinkering with them without understanding the wider implications can create more problems than it solves.

According to Morley Robbins, author of Cu-RE Your Fatigue and founder of the Root Cause Protocol, supplementing with synthetic vitamin D can disrupt your mineral balance — especially when it comes to copper and iron. Robbins explains that high-dose D suppresses the production of a key protein called ceruloplasmin, which is responsible for activating copper and regulating iron. Without enough ceruloplasmin, copper becomes unusable and iron starts to build up in the tissues — contributing to inflammation, oxidative stress, and fatigue.

The Synergy Between Vitamins A and D

Vitamin D also works in close partnership with vitamin A (retinol). They’re a team — and when we supplement with one in isolation (especially in high doses), we risk tipping the balance. Retinol is essential for proper copper metabolism, immune health, hormone production, and the creation of ceruloplasmin.

It's important to note that animal-based retinol is far superior to beta-carotene from plant sources. Beta-carotene is harder to digest and absorb, and it doesn't synergize with vitamin D as effectively. Nature, of course, already knows this. Foods like fermented cod liver oil, grass-fed liver, pastured egg yolks, and raw butter contain both vitamins A and D in the correct ratios — along with other fat-soluble vitamins like K2. This is why I often recommend fermented cod liver oil: it’s a traditional, food-based source that supports balance, not imbalance.

Could You Be Copper Deficient?

Most people have never been told about copper deficiency, but it’s more common than we think — and it often goes hand-in-hand with chronic fatigue, brain fog, low immunity, and poor iron regulation. Robbins makes it clear that we don’t usually have too little iron, but rather iron in the wrong place — trapped in tissues where it causes damage. Without enough bioavailable copper, the body can't move iron safely or support cellular energy.

Symptoms of copper deficiency can include fatigue, low energy, brain fog, numbness or tingling, frequent infections, premature greying, hair loss, brittle bones, and even anxiety or mood swings. It can also contribute to low white blood cell counts, iron-resistant anaemia, and thyroid imbalance.

What Disrupts Copper?

There are many factors that contribute to poor copper status. Excessive zinc supplementation (often encouraged in cold and flu season), high iron intake, chronic stress, low intake of retinol, and synthetic vitamin D can all suppress ceruloplasmin and copper activity. Magnesium deficiency also plays a big role, as does poor liver function — since ceruloplasmin is made in the liver.

It’s a web of interactions, which is why real food works so well. Nature doesn’t give us one vitamin at a time — it gives us synergy. When we return to ancestral foods, we allow the body to access nutrients in the form it recognises.

What I Recommend Instead

Rather than reaching for isolated D tablets, I encourage people to get regular sunlight, eat nutrient-dense, whole animal foods, and consider fermented cod liver oil if extra support is needed. Supporting copper metabolism through magnesium-rich foods, adrenal cocktails, whole food vitamin C, and plenty of retinol can go a long way in restoring balance.

Don’t forget organ meats like liver, kidney, and heart — these are rich in copper, vitamin A, and even a modest amount of natural vitamin D. Nature really does provide all we need, in forms our bodies can use.

With the weather warming up and summer just around the corner, now is the perfect time to top up your vitamin D the way nature intended — by getting outside in the sunshine! Just 15–30 minutes of sun on your skin (without sunscreen) can work wonders.

Final Thoughts

If you’ve been taking vitamin D long-term or are feeling more tired, inflamed, or off balance, it’s worth taking a step back. As Morley Robbins says in his book Cu-RE Your Fatigue, “we’ve been taught to fear copper and to worship iron and vitamin D — and it’s all upside down.” The truth is: when we support copper, magnesium, and retinol, our bodies often begin to recover naturally — without the need for synthetic hormone-like supplements.

Balance matters. And food knows the way.

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