The Importance of Vitamin D & the Dangers of Vitamin D Deficiency - Part 2

PART 2: How Much Vitamin D Do You Need From A Supplement?


In Part 1 of my article "The Importance of Vitamin D and the Dangers of Vitamin D Deficiency" which I blogged about last Thursday, I discussed the importance of vitamin D as well as the three places you can get it. In Part 2 today, I will discuss the levels necessary to protect your health and promote OPTIMAL health.

I want to start by calling your attention to an article published in the July 19, 2007 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. The article made a very strong argument that the overwhelming majority of Americans are deficient in vitamin D and need to supplement their diet. Between 40 and 100% of our elderly people along with the majority of our children are lacking in adequate vitamin D levels. The researchers point out that the normally recommended daily intake of 400 International Units (IU's) of vitamin D is inadequate and still leads to vitamin D deficiency.

The authors of the article calculated just some of the health benefits of maintaining adequate vitamin D levels found in the medical literature:

* 78% reduction in Type 1 Diabetes in children taking 2,000 IU's of vitamin D in the first year of life
* 200% increase in Type 1 Diabetes in children who are vitamin D deficient
* 33% reduction in Type 2 Diabetes in those taking 800 IU's of vitamin D plus calcium
* 30-50% more cancers in vitamin D-deficient people
* 42% reduction in multiple sclerosis in women taking more than 400 IU's/day of vitamin D

I also want to call attention to the fact that the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recently raised the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for vitamin D from 400 to 600 IU's/day for healthy adults. The RDA increased to 800 IU's/day for adults 71 years of age and older.

Though the RDA for vitamin D was increased, the most current studies are showing that, in many cases, 600 IU's is still inadequate to overcome vitamin D deficiency. And numerous studies are showing greater benefits to levels above 600 IU's/day.

In a 2005 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), researchers found that doses of 700 to 800 IU's of vitamin D3 per day may reduce the risk of hip fracture by 26% and nonvertebral fracture by 23%. [JAMA 2005 May 11;293(18):2257-64].

In a separate study, a decrease of 90% in upper respiratory infections was seen by those who supplemented with 2,000 IU's of vitamin D daily.

And based on a host of other studies, there is strong evidence that vitamin D can effectively reduce viral born infections like seasonal influenza. The evidence in these studies are so strong that many physicians now recommend increasing daily intakes to 5,000 IU's or more during the flu season, rather than rely on the questionable effectiveness and risk of the flu shot.

For those that may wonder about the safe level of vitamin D, keep this in mind. Taking vitamin D from a supplement would require 10,000 IU's every day for over six months before you might see any side effects.

So now that you have a better understanding of the levels that have a more protective benefit, how do you identify your true vitamin D level? And what are desirable vitamin D blood levels that you should achieve? First of all, you can identify your true vitamin D level through a blood test. The most accepted blood test is called a 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D Blood Level Test. This test can be done non-fasting, but it needs to be ordered by a physician. The level you want to achieve for OPTIMAL health is 40 to 60 ng/ml. Some practitioners would like to see it as high as 80 ng/ml. Nevertheless, everyone agrees that if the level is less than 20 ng/ml, you have a serious problem and need to address it immediately. A level between 20 and 40 ng/ml is generally considered to be inadequate and increased supplementation with vitamin D3 (the most potent form of vitamin D) is strongly recommended.

So, the first goal is to get a 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D Blood Level Test done. The next goal is to bring your vitamin D level up to the recommended level (between 40 and 60ng/ml) through vitamin D supplementation (typically greater than 600 IU's). Once this is accomplished, the final goal should be to maintain these levels by taking at least 1,000 to 1,200 IU's of vitamin D3 in supplementation daily.

I hope this article helps you better understand the levels of vitamin D necessary to protect your health and promote OPTIMAL health.

Next week, in Part 3 of my three-part series on vitamin D, I will outline the dangers of being vitamin D deficient.