This article from the NY Times last Monday says that there is a new report indicating that supplementing with Vitamin D is probably not necessary for most people.
The committee, made up of expert doctors and research specialists, says that most people , “have adequate amounts of vitamin D in their blood supplied by their diets and natural sources like sunshine”.
However, a past article (2008) printed by the NY Times indicated that “People in the northern two-thirds of the country make little or no vitamin D in winter”. That would include me and all of my clients here in the Boston area.
Of course, the main concern of this latest committee is that doctors have been recommending what they see as potentially useless (or harmful; they don’t know) amounts of supplementation, very often 1000 or 2000 I.U. Pills as high as 5000 I.U. can be purchased at supplement stores. That is more than eight times the committee’s recommended minimum for “optimal health”, and exceeds their “Upper Limit” (which is 4000 I.U.).
I have a few issues with their recommendation of 600 I.U. (and no supplementation).
-
First, as I stated above, my clients and I live in a population that gets basically no Vitamin D from the sun from December to April.
-
Second, people who exercise vigorously often require more than the “daily minimum value” that the average population needs.
-
Generalizing that most people get what they need from their food is not a safe bet. Despite the regularity of “fortified” foods, I have run across many clients who come to me with a shockingly bad diet. With a lack of sunlight and a bad diet, there is a decent chance they could be deficient in Vitamin D. It would take many months of a significantly changed diet to build up Vitamin D levels in the blood. Supplementation quickens this development.
-
One of the reasons that doctors in the past couple of years have been diagnosing people as “deficient” is that their standards for what is necessary are higher than this committee’s. I’d love to know why some doctors came to a different conclusion than this committee.
-
There seems to be little talk of physical size differences. Does a 250 lbs person need the same 600 I.U. as a 110 lbs person?
On the flip side, I think it is very important to remember these points:
-
Vitamin D is a “fat soluble” vitamin. These vitamins (also including A,E and K) remain in the body for much longer than B’s and C, so they do not need to be replenished as often (unless someone is deficient, in which case, at first, they would need larger amounts for a month or two).
-
Toxicity is always a concern with fat soluble vitamins. An excess of B vitamins is usually cleared out in the urine. Vitamins A,D,E and K are not cleared out and can cause internal damage. That said, toxicity levels for D are usually listed as 30,000 I.U. and up. That would mean that if you have been taking 2000 I.U. or 5000 I.U. for the past couple of years (as has been the trend), you are far from at risk for severe effects. Still, little is known about the effect of taking medium-high doses (2000-10,000 I.U.) over a 5+ year length of time. Those effects might be more subtle, so best to stop while you are ahead.
The Truth about Vitamin D Toxicity
Vitamin D Toxicity info on Wikipedia
-
It is quite obvious that doctors and researchers still have a long way to go before they get a full grasp of our Vitamin D needs. When in doubt, play it safe.
In closing, I would still recommend some Vitamin D supplementation to people in the Boston area. However, I’d also recommend these things:
-
Get a blood test for Vitamin D.
-
If you supplement, take a pill of 400 I.U. (that is the common amount in an average multivitamin) to a max of 1000 I.U. Taking 1000 I.U., combined with a good amount from your diet, will still come nowhere near the 4000 I.U. ceiling proposed by the committee.
-
If you already have high-powered pills (more than 1000 I.U.) take them less frequently until they are gone. Think twice a week.
-
Make a point of including some natural food sources of Vitamin D in your diet: fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel), mushrooms and whole eggs (the nutrients are in the yolk) are some of the best. Lots of milk and some orange juice is also fortified with D.
I’ll keep an eye out and update again if/when they come to a firmer conclusion on what we should (and shouldn’t) be doing with Vitamin D!
Here are some other articles on Vitamin D:
Vitamin D, Miracle Drug: is it Science or Just Talk?
