What about Vitamin D ?
Category: General News
There is controversy about how much vitamin D we need to take in to be healthy. A great deal of research has been done recently about this vitamin, which is especially likely to be deficient in people with little sun exposure. Today,with a readily available blood test to measure serum levels of vitamin D, the trend is to supplement vitamin D until levels higher than the old standards are achieved.
Despite or at least in exception to the link below, I suggest the following:
1.It is worthwhile to measure Vitamin D levels in adults.
2.It is reasonable and safe to supplement with Vitamin D3 to serum levels of 40-70 nanograms per ml.
3.Some individuals require much more vitamin D3 than others to acheive these levels. Old recommendations of 400 international units/daily are often not adequate. Over the counter vitamin D3 capsules are available in 2000 to 4000 IU sizes. There is also a long acting prescription version of vitamin D3 containing 50,000 IU’s; this is taken periodically.
4. Evidence is evolving in the medical literature for various benefits of adequate vitamin D, including improvement in arthitis, bone density, circulatory problems, cancer prevention, memory/cognitive function and many other areas of interest.
So when you come in for a check up, let’s talk more about vitamin D.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/02/health/02well.html?scp=1&sq=vitamin%20d&st=cse
