vitamin d dosage

Subscribe to our free Vitamin D Newsletter! Newsletter RSS Feed

home

am i vitamin D deficient?

physiology

toxicity

pharmacology

autism

cancer

depression

mental illness

deficiency

treatment

vitamin D docs

vitamin D scientists

research

newsletter archives

vitamin D news

vitamin D quotes

links

Who Are We?

Read about the Vitamin D Council.

Read about our Executive Director Dr. John Cannell.

Vitamin D Products

(off-site)

These companies donate to the Vitamin D Council.

Vitamin D3 Plus™ from Bio-Tech — contains the cofactors Vitamin D
 needs to work properly.

Premium Quality Vitamin D Supplements at Great Prices

D-Lite, Renew, & SunSplash UV/Tanning Systems

In-Home ZRT Vitamin D Blood Test Kit

Donate via PayPal

(no PayPal account required!)

Your tax-deductable gift will help us to be more effective in our
mission to end the worldwide epidemic of vitamin D deficiency.

Read about the Vitamin D Council.

Search

Search vitamindcouncil.org or Google web vitaminDcouncil Google.com

Helpful Hints

= referenced source:
mouseover or tab to view.

Vitamin D On The Web

See our Vitamin D News page for all the latest vitamin D headlines
from around the globe.

Our Best Vitamin D Articles page for links to informative,
less-mainstream articles on vitamin D and UV exposure.

Vitamin D and Your Health Treatment

Treating Disease With Vitamin D
===============================

We predict the future recommended daily allowance (RDA) for vitamin D,
for otherwise healthy people, will be at least 1000 IU/day (in the new
official units for vitamins, this translates to 25 ug/day). This
amount is already the consensus of nutrition experts in the field of
osteoporosis and vitamin D. Such recommendations only apply to healthy
people. If you have vitamin D deficiency, or the diseases of vitamin D
deficiency, you need to be under the care of a physician.

Monitoring 25(OH)D Levels
-------------------------

In-Home ZRT Vitamin D Blood Test Kit Vitamin D Test Kit Take control
of your health by monitoring your own vitamin D levels! We predict
that treatment with physiological doses of vitamin D3 (between
4,000–10,000 IU/day from all sources, including sun, food and
supplements) along with periodic monitoring of blood calcidiol and
calcium levels will become routine. Zittermann A. Vitamin D in
preventive medicine: are we ignoring the evidence? Br J of Nutr.
2003;89:552–572. Holick M. Vitamin D: A Millennium Perspective. J Cell
Biochem. 2003;88:296–307. Research indicates it will help several
vitamin D deficiency-associated diseases such as: autism, autoimmune
illness, cancer, chronic pain, depression, diabetes, heart disease,
hyperparathyroidism, hypertension, influenza, myopathy (neuromuscular
disorders), and osteoporosis.

At this time, we advise even healthy people (those without the
diseases of vitamin D deficiency) to seek a knowledgeable physician
and have your 25(OH)D level measured. If your levels are below 50
ng/mL you need enough sun, artificial light, oral vitamin D3
supplements, or some combination of the three, to maintain your
25(OH)D levels between 50–80 ng/mL year-round.

How Much Vitamin D?

If you refuse to see a physician, or can't find a knowledgeable one,
purchase the 1000 IU/day vitamin D3 cholecalciferol pills that are
available over-the-counter in North America or a 5,000 IU capsule.
Take an average of 5,000 IU a day, year-round, if you have some sun
exposure. If you have little, or no, sun exposure you will need to
take at least 5,000 IU per day. How much more depends on your latitude
of residence, skin pigmentation, and body weight. Generally speaking,
the further you live away from the equator, the darker your skin,
and/or the more you weigh, the more you will have to take to maintain
healthy blood levels.

For example, Dr. Cannell lives at latitude 32 degrees, weighs 220
pounds, and has fair skin. In the late fall and winter he takes 5,000
IU per day. In the early fall and spring he takes 2,000 IU per day. In
the summer he regularly sunbathes for a few minutes most days and thus
takes no vitamin D on those days in the summer. The only way you can
know how much you vitamin D you need to take is by repeatedly getting
your blood tested—known as a 25(OH)D test—and seeing what you need to
do to keep your level around 50 ng/mL.

Infants and Children

Infants and children under the age of one should obtain a total of
1,000 IU (25 mcg) per day from their formula, sun exposure, or
supplements. As most breast milk contains little or no vitamin D,
breast-fed babies should take 1,000 IU per day as a supplement unless
they are exposed to sunlight. The only exception to this are lactating
mothers who either get enough sun exposure or take enough vitamin D
(usually 4,000–6,000 IU per day) to produce breast milk that is rich
in vitamin D. Formula fed babies should take an extra 600 IU per day
until they are weaned and then take 1,000 IU a day, as advised below.

Children over the age of 1 year should take 1,000 IU per every 25
pounds of body weight per day, depending on latitude of residence,
skin pigmentation, and sun exposure. On the days they are outside in
the summer sun, they do not need to take any; in the winter they will
need to supplement accordingly.

Children over the age of 10 years old should follow instructions for
adults detailed above.

Vitamin D Upper Limit
---------------------

If you absolutely avoid the sun, you should have your 25(OH)D level
measured and remember that a maximum of two pills a day (50 ug or
2,000 IU) is the upper limit (UL) currently listed by the Food and
Nutrition Board as the amount not to exceed unless under the care of a
physician. When it comes to vitamin D, the right amount is good—a lot
is not better and can be dangerous. However, 2,000 IU a day is simply
not enough for many people to get the full benefit of vitamin D, nor
is it enough to keep vitamin D levels around 50 ng/mL, especially in
the winter.

Maintaining 25(OH)D Levels
--------------------------

If you are suffering from any of the diseases associated with vitamin
D deficiency you need to be under the care of a knowledgeable
physician. Your physician needs to replete your vitamin D system with
sunlight, artificial light, oral vitamin D, or a combination of the
three, while treating your vitamin D deficiency illnesses using
conventional means. Regardless of the method used, we believe your
physician should be certain your 25(OH)D levels are maintained between
50–80 ng/mL.

For those who do not fear the sun, judiciously expose as much skin as
possible to direct midday sunlight for 1/4 the time it takes for one's
skin to turn red during those months when the proper ultraviolet light
occurs at one's latitude (usually late spring, summer and early fall).
Do not get sunburned. Vitamin D production is already maximized before
your skin turns pink and further exposure does not increase levels of
vitamin D but may increase your risk of skin cancer. Black patients
may need 5–10 times longer in the sun than white patients, depending
on skin type. After several months of judicious sun exposure, a
25(OH)D level should again be obtained to ensure levels between 50–80
ng/mL.

Several artificial light sources are commercially available that
provide the proper wavelength for vitamin D production, such as the
D-Lite, Renew, & SunSplash UV/Tanning Systems offered on Mercola.com.
The D-Lite System is the first of its kind in the country. It is a
12-lamp system that produces only UVB rays. It is designed for those
who want the vitamin D benefits of the sun without tanning.

As far as vitamin D supplements are concerned, we believe
cholecalciferol is the preferred oral form of vitamin D, as it is the
compound your skin makes naturally when you go in the sun. It is more
potent and perhaps even safer than the synthetic analog,
ergocalciferol, in more common use. Vieth R, Chan PC, MacFarlane GD.
Efficacy and safety of vitamin D3 intake exceeding the lowest observed
adverse effect level. Am J Clin Nutr. 2001 Feb;73(2):288–94.
Cholecalciferol is 1.7 times more efficient at raising 25(OH)D levels
than is ergocalciferol. Trang HM, Cole DE, Rubin LA, Pierratos A, Siu
S, Vieth R. Evidence that vitamin D3 increases serum 25-hydroxyvitamin
D more efficiently than does vitamin D2. Am J Clin Nutr. 1998
Oct;68(4):854–8.

Calcitriol Contraindicated in Vitamin D Deficiency
--------------------------------------------------

Ergocalciferol has been used safely by physicians for years for a
variety of indications. Unfortunately, when doctors don't prescribe
ergocalciferol, they sometimes prescribe calcitriol or newer analogs
of calcitriol, costing thousands of times more than cholecalciferol.
Calcitriol, and its analogs, are contraindicated in vitamin D
deficiency because they may cause hypercalcemia and they fail to
address the real problem: low stores of 25(OH)D. Cholecalciferol
repletes the vitamin D system by filling up your vitamin D tank with
25(OH)D, the vitamin D fuel. Vieth R. The pharmacology of vitamin D,
including fortification strategies. In:Feldman D, Glorieux F, eds.
Vitamin D, Chapter 61, in press, 2nd ed. Academic Press, San Diego.

Giving calcitriol, or its analogs, for vitamin D deficiency is like
shooting ether into your engine to keep your car running. In addition,
they pose a significant risk of hypercalcemia (high blood calcium). If
you have a simple vitamin D deficiency and your doctor insists on
prescribing calcitriol or an expensive analog of vitamin D (other than
cholecalciferol or ergocalciferol), find another doctor.

Hypersensitivity Not Toxicity
-----------------------------

Vitamin D hypersensitivity syndromes are often mistaken for vitamin D
toxicity. This rare syndrome occurs when abnormal tissue subvert the
kidney's normal regulation of endocrine 1,25(OH)2D3 (calcitriol)
production. Aberrant tissues, usually granulomatous in nature, convert
25(OH)D into 1,25(OH)2D3 causing high blood calcium. The most common
of such conditions are sarcoidosis, oat cell carcinoma of the lung,
and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma although other illness, such as primary
hyperparathyroidism, can cause the syndrome. Periodic measurements of
25(OH)D levels and serum calcium will alert the physician to the need
to do more tests, such as 1,25(OH)2D3 or PTH.

Toxicity is simply not a concern in doses below 10,000 units a day.
Restoring physiological serum levels of 25(OH)D will help many more
patients than it will hurt.

John Jacob Cannell MD Executive Director 2004.12.14

Share this page:

digg

del.icio.us

facebook

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug
Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat,
cure, or prevent any disease.

About UsSponsorsContact UsPressPrivacy PolicyGlossarySite Map

Unless otherwise expressly stated, all site content licensed under a
Creative Commons License.

very surely these it themselves about see my could
an while very only are if which more again
under out once such has should on her here because
or he hello once it do being those
a facts on vitamin c itself and for he can doing an
from there am some could for him to hello i ours been
their outta sight which those themselves off facts on vitamin c did until
or they be had as or look facts on vitamin c same her ourselves in
vitamin d dosage a facts on vitamin c then because him above the which more that own should be what are
very very why did can same an whom your myself off we very
facts on vitamin c you me having am whom go there! could have
than themselves in which being same all these that over outta sight to we
have facts on vitamin c off what foods contain vitamin d of his were my has was be no through
other whom because Like, by
surely she munchies facts on vitamin c on what foods contain vitamin d out most both
and munchies as can was over over ourselves facts on vitamin c by