How Much Vitamin D is Needed?
As health care advocates, we have been taught to always ask whether a particular treatment is supported by the evidence and if yes, what that evidence looks like. Yet many of us in practice -- me, for one -- don't always do so.
Taking Vitamin D supplements is a good case in point. More and more people are being tested for their Vitamin D levels and as a result, taking increasing amounts of Vitamin D supplements to reduce their risk for a variety of illnesses.
As reported on Page 1 in The New York Times on November 30th (click here), a committee was convened by the Institute of Medicine to examine the data to determine how much Vitamin D people were getting and how much was needed for optimal health. The committee concluded that the evidence for the benefits of high levels of Vitamin D was "inconsistent and/or conflicting and did not demonstrate causality." They furthermore concluded that most people have adequate amounts of Vitamin D without the need for supplements.
Have you an experience to share about Vitamin D?
Posted December 1, 2010.
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