Vitamin D is an essential nutrient that’s needed for healthy bones, muscles, and immune function. It’s also linked to improved mood and reduced inflammation. Your body produces Vitamin D from sunlight, which is why it’s nicknamed the “sunshine vitamin.”
Unfortunately, it’s hard to get enough vitamin D from sunlight alone. This is because you need to expose enough parts of your body to the sun for a sufficient amount of time – your face, arms, hands, and legs – for 5-30 minutes a day. And with today’s focus on sunscreen (rightly so), not much UV light reaches your skin, although there is some debate on the topic. Cloud cover, skin color, and time of day also affect how much vitamin D your body produces. And in cold weather, you’re covered up and spending more time indoors.
Only a few foods naturally contain vitamin D. These include egg yolks, mushrooms, cod liver oil, beef liver and fatty fish (tuna, herring, salmon, swordfish and sardines). Additionally, some foods are fortified with vitamin D, including milk, yogurt, cheese, orange juice and cereals.
Overall, this explains why one in four people have vitamin D levels that are too low to maintain healthy and strong bones.Additionally, there has been confusion and debate for many years about how much vitamin D we need. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) currently recommends that most people get 20 mcg a day.However, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommends 15 mcg for people ages 1 to 70, including pregnant and breastfeeding women, and does not increase to 20 mcg until age 71.
In an effort to clear up some of the confusion, the Endocrine Society has released new guidelines outlining in detail who may benefit from vitamin D supplementation. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and MetabolismPublished on June 3, 2024The guidelines development committee was made up of clinical and research experts from various disciplines. They made these recommendations after thoroughly reviewing the research that has been done on vitamin D. Although these guidelines are aimed at clinical practitioners, the basic recommendations that have been made so far are detailed below.
No need for routine testing for vitamin D deficiency
The committee said there is no need to routinely test for deficiency unless people have signs and symptoms of vitamin D deficiency, such as depression or high blood pressure.
Most people don’t need supplements
For the general population, healthy adults under age 70, the committee recommends not taking vitamin D supplements but rather taking the 15 mcg daily recommended by the Institute of Medicine (IOM).
Adults over 70 need to get more vitamin D
This recommendation is based on evidence that getting a little more vitamin D at this age may lower the risk of death, especially for people over 75. The IOM already recommends 20 mcg per day for people over 70, and the committee has made the same recommendation based on the research.
Children and adolescents need more vitamin D
Children and adolescents aged 1 to 18 years should get more than the recommended daily intake of vitamin D. The committee says this is to prevent rickets (a bone disease) and lower the risk of respiratory infections. Based on the studies they evaluated, the committee recommends 30 mcg per day.
More Vitamin D Needed During Pregnancy
The committee says that based on the evidence, taking about 63 mcg of vitamin D per day during pregnancy may reduce the risk of pre-eclampsia, intrauterine mortality (stillbirth), preterm birth, small for gestational age (baby being smaller than expected for their birth age) and neonatal mortality (baby dying after birth).
High vitamin D intake may improve prediabetes
Based on the evidence, the committee recommends that people with prediabetes increase their vitamin D intake. This is in addition to lifestyle modifications such as diet, exercise, and stress management. The reason is that it may help prevent prediabetes from progressing to diabetes. The average total amount from available studies was 88 mcg per day. The average amount supplemented was 25 mcg per day, the committee said. This was in addition to consuming vitamin D-fortified foods.
Supplement Recommendations
According to the committee, your total daily intake of vitamin D can come from fortified foods, vitamins that contain vitamin D, and/or vitamin D supplements. The general recommendation is to take a small amount every day, rather than larger amounts taken less frequently — that is, don’t take a large vitamin D supplement once a week or once a month.
Conclusion
The new guidelines say that for most people, regular testing of vitamin D levels is not necessary, and they recommend that certain groups, including children, teenagers, adults over 70, adults at risk of diabetes, and pregnant women, get a little more vitamin D.
Calculating how much vitamin D is in the foods you eat can be tedious and confusing, especially when you include foods that contain natural vitamin D. And how do you know how much vitamin D your body produces from sunlight? Too much vitamin D can have negative health effects, so it’s important to work with your doctor or registered dietitian to make sure you’re getting the amount of vitamin D your body needs, especially in areas where supplements are recommended.
