Everyone should take 1,000 to 2,000 units daily
Growing evidence shows that vitamin D may help guard against:
- Cancer
- Heart disease and stroke
- Osteoporosis
- Muscle conditions
- Autoimmune diseases
- Seasonal depression
- Colds
About 41 percent of men and 53 percent of women in the United States
have levels of vitamin D that are considered too low. Those with
skin pigment are at an even higher risk, as it takes five times more
sunshine for African Americans to get the same vitamin D
response.
Your body needs the sun to help make vitamin D. With the short, cold
winter days and less time spent outside, skin exposure to the sun
is very limited and your vitamin D drops.
The goal is getting your vitamin D level to what it would be in the
summer if you spent considerable time in the sun, at least 32 ng/ml.
During the winter, or if you avoid sun exposure, is when you need
supplementation. To reliably be at 32 ng/ml, take 1,000 to 2,000
IU a day all year long.
Research studies support taking extra vitamin D (see below).
In 1997, the Institute of Medicine cautioned about doses over 2,000
IU a day, but it has not reviewed recent data, which indicates
higher dosages could be more beneficial. Talk to your doctor, as
your vitamin D level may be an important predictor of risk.
Meanwhile, start taking 1,000 to 2,000 IU a day.
Vitamin D supplements are sold at
Aurora Pharmacies and other retail
stores. There are two forms available, D3 and D2. Vitamin
D3 is
what your body naturally makes and D2 is the synthetic form made
from plant sources. Both work, although D3 may be a bit more
potent. Vitamin D is considered very safe and can be taken with any
food or medicine.
Your physician, pediatrician and pharmacist can tell you more about
the benefits of vitamin D.
Research studies support taking vitamin D
- Vitamin D drops in winter. Our blood level of
vitamin D drops every winter with about two thirds of Wisconsin
citizens having levels below the minimal recommended normal level of
32 ng/ml. (Binkley, Vitamin D Status: Time to Recognize and
Correct a Wisconsin Epidemic, Wisconsin Medical Journal, 2007.)
- Low vitamin D associated with higher mortality rates.
A study showed those with the lowest vitamin D levels had
levels similar to what we get in winter in Wisconsin. Their mortality
rate was double of those with the highest level of vitamin D of 28
ng/ml. (Dobnig, Low Vitamin D with All-Cause and Cardiovascular
Mortality, Archives of Int Medicine, p. 1340-1349, 2008.)
- When all randomized studies are combined, those with vitamin D
levels below 17 ng/ml had increased mortality rate of 26 percent. (Melamed,
Archives of Inter Medicine, 2008.) Another study showed
supplementation with 550 IU reduces mortality seven percent. (Autier,
2007.)
- Low vitamin D associated with higher risk of heart attack
and stroke. A study showed that those with high blood
pressure and whose blood level of vitamin D dropped to 15 ng/ml had a
213 percent increased risk of a heart attack. In other studies, the
risk of stroke was double. (Wallis, Circulation, 2008. Wang,
Circulation, Nov. 2007. Pilz, Low Vitamin D Levels Predict Stroke,
Stroke, 2008. Poole, Stroke, 2005.)
- Vitamin D supplementation associated with lower cancer
rates. Research showed that 1,100 IU a day of vitamin D
with a gram of calcium reduced cancer rates 40 to 50 percent in five
years. The study was small and combined all cancers to determine
the rate, and more studies are needed. One portion of the study showed
increased rates of pancreatic cancer in smokers with higher vitamin D
levels. Again, more studies are needed. (Lappe, AJCN, 2007.)
- Low vitamin D associated with double the number of colds.
In a Finland study, those with blood levels below 16 ng/ml
had double the number of colds. Having a cold can cost $100 in
medicines or lost wages, and vitamin D may be more economical. (Laaksi,
AJCN, p. 714-717, 2007.)
