Vitamin D?

gateswi

I haven't done a lot of extensive reading on the subject, but after reading a couple of articles on the internet about Vitamin D, I started taking a daily supplement (courtesy Costco) that is 2000 units (which I believe is 20 times the currently recommended 100 units?).

My wife pointed out an article on the Yahoo homepage yesterday that downplayed the benefits of taking high levels of Vitamin D. The article didn't say that taking high levels was necessarily harmful, just that it probably doesn't do much. I live in Oregon, we get very little sunshine most of the year, especially right now during the winter months.

So is taking too much vitamin D actually harmful, or are the supposed benefits just exaggerated?

nikhil_c8

when my Doc did my blood test ..He found i was deficient in Vitamin D (he said a lot of people are)..So he put me on a 15000IU vitamin D (once a week). Now i take a 1000 IU vitamin D daily.

nisijam5

You should have your levels tested by the MD...then, follow his treatment plan...vit D is fat souble and is not excreted...you could actually overdose on it

JulieBoBoo

From what I understand the study in question only looked at one of the benefits of Vitamin D (strong bones) and concluded that low levels were sufficient.

They did not report on how much (if any) was sufficient for cancer prevention or any of the other benefits touted by Vitamin D.

Personally I have started taking the 1000 miu supplement since the beginning of November and have noticed that my seasonal depression symptoms seem much better this year. Of course this could be for a variety of reasons but I attribute at least some of it to my new vitamin regimen.

Grokette

I haven't done a lot of extensive reading on the subject, but after reading a couple of articles on the internet about Vitamin D, I started taking a daily supplement (courtesy Costco) that is 2000 units (which I believe is 20 times the currently recommended 100 units?).

My wife pointed out an article on the Yahoo homepage yesterday that downplayed the benefits of taking high levels of Vitamin D. The article didn't say that taking high levels was necessarily harmful, just that it probably doesn't do much. I live in Oregon, we get very little sunshine most of the year, especially right now during the winter months.

So is taking too much vitamin D actually harmful, or are the supposed benefits just exaggerated?

No, that article was so full of it.

It is so much a lie when there are facts quite the contrary regarding a LOT of people have low vitamin D levels.

I live in the midwest and my Vitamin D is very, very low. I take 5,000 IU a day and some days I take 10,000 IU when its cloudy. My levels have barely budged in the last 5 months. My blood work has raised ever so slightly and when I first started I was getting enough sun light every day.

Do you feel lethargic, low energy or even depressed? If you have any of those symptoms and given where you live, it is highly possible that your Vitamin D levels are low and taking a supplement will greatly improve your symptoms.

TrainingWithTonya

Only supplement it if your doctor tells you to. Excess vitamin D can cause hypercalcemia because of the fact that it regulates calcium absorption. Hypercalcemia can be deadly! Not enough vitamin D, however, can cause rickets (in children while developing), skeletal malformation (again generally in children), and osteomalacia (soft bones in adults). While you don't want the deficiency diseases, they at least aren't usually deadly. Have your doctor regulate how much to intake to make sure your levels don't get out of whack in either direction.