Are You Getting Enough Vitamin D?
The UC Berkeley Wellness Letter recently featured an article on Vitamin D.
Vitamin D plays an important role by working with calcium to keep bones strong. Several studies have also investigated its potential to reduce the risk of a variety of ailments including cancer, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, hypertension, and age-related muscle weakness.
Vitamin D is manufactured by your skin when it is exposed to the sun. How much is made depends on the time of day, season, distance from the equator, pigmentation (darker skin makes less), how much of your body is exposed to the sun, and your age (older people produce less). It is fat soluble, which means the body can store it for days or even months when you don’t get any sun exposure or consume it.
Vitamin D is found in very few foods. Fatty fish (salmon, tuna, and sardines) are naturally rich, and milk is fortified with it, as well as some soy milks, orange juice, margarines, and breakfast cereals. Unfortunately, it is difficult to get adequate amounts of Vitamin D from food alone; therefore, supplements are often necessary.
People over 60, obese, live at northern latitudes, have darker skin, or are rarely outdoors are typically deficient in vitamin D. In the northern U.S. and in Canada, vitamin D levels drop dramatically in winter. Some recent studies have shown that many young people have low blood levels of vitamin D.
A recent meta-analysis in Archives of Internal Medicine of 18 studies found that people taking D supplements (usually 400 to 800 IU a day) had a 7% reduction in total mortality rates.
The amount of D in a multivitamin (usually 400 IU) and/or from exposing your face and arms to the sun for short periods may not be enough to reach desirable blood levels. An intake of even 800 to 1,000 IU may not even be enough for some people.
The official Institute of Medicine recommends daily intakes for vitamin D of 200 IU (international units) for people under 50, 400 IU for those 51 to 70, and 600 IU for those 71 and older. People typically don’t consume that much vitamin D, unless they drink lots of milk and/or take a multivitamin. However, many researchers believe those guidelines are too low, and that it should be around 800 to 1,000 IU a day. Some people with low blood levels of D may need even higher intakes to reach the desirable range.
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