New info on how much vitamin D to take....
Today's Post: Monday, 10-5-2009
They once believed RDA or best to take level of vitamin D was 400 iu.
1. Since, there is information that most people’s bodies will use 3,000 iu of vitamin D if it’s available; & getting lots of sunshine tends to cause people to make over 15,000 iu, it’s begun to look as if the 400 iu level is very possibly as much as seven times too low. The real RDA for vitamin D3 looks to be between 3,000 iu and 10,000 iu a day.
2. The safe to take amount of vitamin D daily is clearly at least 10,000 iu.
But that leaves two questions. In today’s world where people wear clothes and often hats when outside &/or use sunscreen and are outside far less than people were as recently as 100 years ago, what is the minimum amount of vitamin D to get good health effects? & How much is enough to actually be undesirable or dangerous?
Last Friday, I read two sources that may have these answers.
One reports research that suggests the true MDR, or minimum level of vitamin D3 it’s good for people to take to protect their health is about 1,000 iu a day.
The other reports directly that taking 100,000 iu of vitamin D3 is actually dangerous. For young people that number is less by the difference in the size of the young person compared with an average adult size. So if the average healthy adult human is 160 pounds, a 40 pound child would have one fourth the level that an adult would, etc.
3. The research showing results that suggest the true MDR of vitamin D is 1,000 iu (or 700 iu for partial health benefits, was done on the finding that having older people take vitamin D resulted in significantly less falls. Since falls in older people often cause death, disability, and sharply increased medical costs, that’s quite valuable to know.
However, amounts less than 700 iu a day had no effect. 700 iu a day reduced falls by 19 % & 1,000 iu a day reduced falls by 26 %. (Somewhat more vitamin D might work better or might not for this purpose. The researchers note that research has not been done.)
(Strength training for legs, specific balance training, and doing tai chi as well as taking actions that prevent reduced circulation to your inner ear -- & help prevent heart disease, strokes, and age related mental decline as well -- also help to reduce falls.)
This study does suggest that the minimum amount of vitamin D3 it’s best to take each day is in the range between 700 & 1,000 iu a day.
4. The news report summary of this research that I found online added that too much vitamin D could be harmful but did NOT specify how much is too much.
5. So I took my own advice and entered, “Vitamin D” AND Wikipedia into Yahoo.
The Wikipedia entry quoted studies showing that in adults, sustained intake of 100,000 IU per day can produce toxicity within a few months. And, for babies (birth to 12 months) the tolerable UL is 1,000 IU. (100,000 iu of vitamin D is 2500 micrograms.)
Other sources suggest the threshold for vitamin D toxicity in humans is 500 to 600 micrograms per kilogram body weight per day. 500 mcg equals 20,000 iu, so if the average healthy adult weighs 154 to 165 pounds, 7 to 7.5 kg, times 20,000 iu per kg which equals 140,000 to 150,000 iu.
A. Since the evidence is that 10,000 iu is clearly safe since our bodies make considerably more than that when exposed to sunshine; & taking 100,000 iu or more in supplement form is clearly risky or harmful, my take is that only those who have gotten a pretest from a doctor showing vitamin D deficiency or undesirably low readings should take more than 10,000 while those taking as much as 50,000 iu should also be getting post tests regularly so that when they get to desirable levels they can cut back to 10,000 iu or less.
B. But, taking 1,000 iu a day to 10,000 iu a day of the more effective vitamin D3 looks to be both safe and desirable. Since vitamin D3 is quite inexpensive, this looks like a good idea.
So, if you are quite conservative or want to take less in the summer time, take 400 iu in your multivitamin and 1,000 iu in addition. If you want to be sure to get enough & are less conservative, taking 400 iu in your multivitamin and 10,000 iu in addition looks to be safe.
(I do in between myself. I take 400 with my multivitamin & 2800 additional daily, totaling 3200.)
C. But it looks like you should only take much over 10,000 iu if you have tested as deficient and are working with your doctor.
Some doctors are having their patients take 50,000 iu. But they only suggest that for people who have very low levels and have their patients discontinue taking much when they reach desirable levels and try them on 10,000 iu to see if the levels stay high enough. I’ve heard that some people are so deficient they actually stay on 50,000 for a while. But that is NOT a safe do-it-yourself project.
Today's Post: Monday, 10-5-2009
They once believed RDA or best to take level of vitamin D was 400 iu.
1. Since, there is information that most people’s bodies will use 3,000 iu of vitamin D if it’s available; & getting lots of sunshine tends to cause people to make over 15,000 iu, it’s begun to look as if the 400 iu level is very possibly as much as seven times too low. The real RDA for vitamin D3 looks to be between 3,000 iu and 10,000 iu a day.
2. The safe to take amount of vitamin D daily is clearly at least 10,000 iu.
But that leaves two questions. In today’s world where people wear clothes and often hats when outside &/or use sunscreen and are outside far less than people were as recently as 100 years ago, what is the minimum amount of vitamin D to get good health effects? & How much is enough to actually be undesirable or dangerous?
Last Friday, I read two sources that may have these answers.
One reports research that suggests the true MDR, or minimum level of vitamin D3 it’s good for people to take to protect their health is about 1,000 iu a day.
The other reports directly that taking 100,000 iu of vitamin D3 is actually dangerous. For young people that number is less by the difference in the size of the young person compared with an average adult size. So if the average healthy adult human is 160 pounds, a 40 pound child would have one fourth the level that an adult would, etc.
3. The research showing results that suggest the true MDR of vitamin D is 1,000 iu (or 700 iu for partial health benefits, was done on the finding that having older people take vitamin D resulted in significantly less falls. Since falls in older people often cause death, disability, and sharply increased medical costs, that’s quite valuable to know.
However, amounts less than 700 iu a day had no effect. 700 iu a day reduced falls by 19 % & 1,000 iu a day reduced falls by 26 %. (Somewhat more vitamin D might work better or might not for this purpose. The researchers note that research has not been done.)
(Strength training for legs, specific balance training, and doing tai chi as well as taking actions that prevent reduced circulation to your inner ear -- & help prevent heart disease, strokes, and age related mental decline as well -- also help to reduce falls.)
This study does suggest that the minimum amount of vitamin D3 it’s best to take each day is in the range between 700 & 1,000 iu a day.
4. The news report summary of this research that I found online added that too much vitamin D could be harmful but did NOT specify how much is too much.
5. So I took my own advice and entered, “Vitamin D” AND Wikipedia into Yahoo.
The Wikipedia entry quoted studies showing that in adults, sustained intake of 100,000 IU per day can produce toxicity within a few months. And, for babies (birth to 12 months) the tolerable UL is 1,000 IU. (100,000 iu of vitamin D is 2500 micrograms.)
Other sources suggest the threshold for vitamin D toxicity in humans is 500 to 600 micrograms per kilogram body weight per day. 500 mcg equals 20,000 iu, so if the average healthy adult weighs 154 to 165 pounds, 7 to 7.5 kg, times 20,000 iu per kg which equals 140,000 to 150,000 iu.
A. Since the evidence is that 10,000 iu is clearly safe since our bodies make considerably more than that when exposed to sunshine; & taking 100,000 iu or more in supplement form is clearly risky or harmful, my take is that only those who have gotten a pretest from a doctor showing vitamin D deficiency or undesirably low readings should take more than 10,000 while those taking as much as 50,000 iu should also be getting post tests regularly so that when they get to desirable levels they can cut back to 10,000 iu or less.
B. But, taking 1,000 iu a day to 10,000 iu a day of the more effective vitamin D3 looks to be both safe and desirable. Since vitamin D3 is quite inexpensive, this looks like a good idea.
So, if you are quite conservative or want to take less in the summer time, take 400 iu in your multivitamin and 1,000 iu in addition. If you want to be sure to get enough & are less conservative, taking 400 iu in your multivitamin and 10,000 iu in addition looks to be safe.
(I do in between myself. I take 400 with my multivitamin & 2800 additional daily, totaling 3200.)
C. But it looks like you should only take much over 10,000 iu if you have tested as deficient and are working with your doctor.
Some doctors are having their patients take 50,000 iu. But they only suggest that for people who have very low levels and have their patients discontinue taking much when they reach desirable levels and try them on 10,000 iu to see if the levels stay high enough. I’ve heard that some people are so deficient they actually stay on 50,000 for a while. But that is NOT a safe do-it-yourself project.
Labels: how much vitamin D is enough, how much vitamin D is too much, how much vitamin D is unsafe, how to prevent falls in older people
posted by David at 2:48 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home