By: Dr. Pamela Egan, DNP, CDE
Experts Call for Increased Dose of Vitamin D3
FEBRUARY 01, 2008 – Hot off the Press, higher intakes of Vitamin D3 can help one reap even more health benefits than was previously known, according to newly published Risk Assessments.
Four nutrition experts, including two Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) scientists and two of the world’s preeminent vitamin D researchers, are urging the Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) to raise the vitamin D Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) five-fold, based on a safety evaluation of the latest scientific research. This research shows that vitamin D is safe at intake levels much higher than its current UL.
The paper, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN) concludes the safety profile of vitamin d should safely permit raising the UL for vitamin D to 250ug (10,000IU) per day from the current UL of 50 ug (2,000IU) per day.
The researchers from Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto and Creighton University report that the UL established by the Food & Nutrition Board is outdated. It is not based on current evidence and is viewed by many in the scientific community as being too restrictive-limiting research, commercial development, and optimization of nutritional policy. They provided an ample collection of human clinical trial data published since the 1997 recommendation which supports a significantly higher dosage.
There has been an increased consumer interest in the nutrient following a number of recent studies showing benefits of vitamin D3 associated with levels beyond what is typically provided in a multivitamin and most fortified food.
Even the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued a proposed rule to allow the inclusion of vitamin D in approved calcium and osteoporosis health claims.
New data continues to emerge regarding the health benefits of vitamin D beyond its role in bone health. Vitamin D3 deficiency has been associated with Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Diabetes, Cancer, Obesity, neuro-degenerative diseases, osteoporosis, depression, as well as others.
With the Skin Cancer scare and the avid use of sun block, Americans are not getting enough vitamin D3. We were meant to get a minimum of 20 minutes of sunlight in the nude daily. If this is not possible, then supplementation is in order.
Although many experts have been calling for a revision of the vitamin D UL in recent years, this study is the first to provide a quantitative basis and recommendation for an actual revised UL value. The absence of toxicity in the trials conducted in healthy adults that used a dose of 10,000 IU vitamin D3 supports the confident selection of this value as the UL.
With this new emerging research, stay tuned as many pain syndromes and chronic fatigue may be helped with this supplement. The safety of vitamin D which was demonstrated in these studies, should encourage the FNB to increase the UL for vitamin D in order to allow people the benefits of this wonderful nutrient.
- – Vitamin D3 may help lower blood pressure and cholesterol
- – Do you suffer from Vitamin D3 deficiency?
- – Vitamin D3: The Miracle of Sunshine
- – Vitamin D3 Sources
- – Side effects of Vitamin D3
Doctor Pamela Egan, DNP, CDE is a doctor, a board certified Adult & Family Nurse Practitioner, Certified Diabetes Educator & Clinical Specialist in Mental Health. She can be reached at 985-892-3031 or www.pamelaegan.com.