Vitamin D - Fact and Fiction

The media has been full of information lately about Vitamin D. Not all of it has been correct.
Everyone from the your local newspaper to Dr. Oz have been pushing the public to increase their intake of Vitamin D. The claimed health benefits range from increased energy to cancer prevention and reductions in heart disease. While Vitamin D is an important nutrient some of its benefits are well documented and others are not. This newsletter will attempt to clarify these issues, but first a bit of the basics...
Most of the studies involving Vitamin D have been epidemiological studies. For example, scientists noticed that people living in lower latitudes where it is sunnier where less likely to have colon cancer. They postulated that these people had higher sun exposure and higher vitamin D levels and therefore Vitamin D might explain the difference. The problem with studies like this is that there may be many other differences between these groups of people like diet, race, ethnic background, availability of heath care etc. which may have lead to the difference in cancer rates.
The most reliable type of study is a double blind placebo controlled study. This sort of study is the best way to identify whether there is a real correlation between two factors such as Vitamin D intake and cancer. To date no well designed placebo controlled studies have been done that show a reliable link between increased vitamin D intake and cancer reduction, and NONE have looked at the benefits or risks of measuring and then supplementing low vitamin D levels
Unfortunately there has been a rush to judgment on this issue within the media and even among some in the medical community in an effort to be on the leading edge. Many have begun telling people to have their vitamin D levels checked and have even recommended taking very large doses of Vitamin D if the levels are low. At the moment there is no evidence that this approach is beneficial or even safe.
Please visit the link below for more information on Vitamin D from the National Institutes of Health.
NIH Vitamin D Fact Sheet
Everyone from the your local newspaper to Dr. Oz have been pushing the public to increase their intake of Vitamin D. The claimed health benefits range from increased energy to cancer prevention and reductions in heart disease. While Vitamin D is an important nutrient some of its benefits are well documented and others are not. This newsletter will attempt to clarify these issues, but first a bit of the basics...
- Where do we get Vitamin D?
- How much Vitamin D do we need?
- Is it possible to get too much vitamin D?
- What are the known benefits of vitamin D?
- If all of this is old news, why all the recent attention to vitamin D?
Most of the studies involving Vitamin D have been epidemiological studies. For example, scientists noticed that people living in lower latitudes where it is sunnier where less likely to have colon cancer. They postulated that these people had higher sun exposure and higher vitamin D levels and therefore Vitamin D might explain the difference. The problem with studies like this is that there may be many other differences between these groups of people like diet, race, ethnic background, availability of heath care etc. which may have lead to the difference in cancer rates.
The most reliable type of study is a double blind placebo controlled study. This sort of study is the best way to identify whether there is a real correlation between two factors such as Vitamin D intake and cancer. To date no well designed placebo controlled studies have been done that show a reliable link between increased vitamin D intake and cancer reduction, and NONE have looked at the benefits or risks of measuring and then supplementing low vitamin D levels
Unfortunately there has been a rush to judgment on this issue within the media and even among some in the medical community in an effort to be on the leading edge. Many have begun telling people to have their vitamin D levels checked and have even recommended taking very large doses of Vitamin D if the levels are low. At the moment there is no evidence that this approach is beneficial or even safe.
- As a patient what should I do?
Please visit the link below for more information on Vitamin D from the National Institutes of Health.
NIH Vitamin D Fact Sheet
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