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Yes, this is very true. Popping high-dose Vitamin D or any high dose supplement (beyond what's in a multivitamin) can be dangerous longterm, and counterproductive of the benefits of the vitamins. It is best to check with a physician before doing so. In fact, everyone should discuss with their physicians before taking supplements because for certain conditions, as you point out, you may want to avoid certain vitamins.
Technically this is true, but if someone for whatever reason has not had the opportunity to consult with a physician or get a blood test, this should not deter them from taking a moderate vitamin D supplement (1000-2000 iu/day). The vast majority of modern Americans have a slightly or very low blood D level, and the benefit of this modest supplement far, FAR outweighs the vanishingly small risk that they will overdose.
I just think that "Better not take vitamin D without asking a doctor, you might overdose" is poor advice.
Technically this is true, but if someone for whatever reason has not had the opportunity to consult with a physician or get a blood test, this should not deter them from taking a moderate vitamin D supplement (1000-2000 iu/day). The vast majority of modern Americans have a slightly or very low blood D level, and the benefit of this modest supplement far, FAR outweighs the vanishingly small risk that they will overdose.
I just think that "Better not take vitamin D without asking a doctor, you might overdose" is poor advice.
I'd recommend a multivitamin which contains vitamin D if one is not or cannot get a blood test for whatever reason.
I'd recommend a multivitamin which contains vitamin D if one is not or cannot get a blood test for whatever reason.
Most multivitamins only provide 400 iu of D. Sure, you will never overdose taking only 400 iu/day, but this is such a low amount that it's not really much better than nothing.
The recommendation is generally not to take more than 4000 iu/day for extended periods of time. 1000 to 2000 is a good amount for the average person to aim for.
Technically this is true, but if someone for whatever reason has not had the opportunity to consult with a physician or get a blood test, this should not deter them from taking a moderate vitamin D supplement (1000-2000 iu/day). The vast majority of modern Americans have a slightly or very low blood D level, and the benefit of this modest supplement far, FAR outweighs the vanishingly small risk that they will overdose.
I just think that "Better not take vitamin D without asking a doctor, you might overdose" is poor advice.
That is why I mentioned, "beyond what's in a multivitamin."
M ost multivitamins only provide 400 iu of D. Sure, you will never overdose taking only 400 iu/day, but this is such a low amount that it's not really much better than nothing.
The recommendation is generally not to take more than 4000 iu/day for extended periods of time. 1000 to 2000 is a good amount for the average person to aim for.
This is not true at all. My multivitamin and all multivitamins I have taken are 1000 IU of Vitamin D.
Is one single high dose of Vitamin D enough to raise one’s levels?
From the link
A single high dose Vit.D will not do anything. I recently went thru severely low D3 level and had to be on high dose by prescription x 12 weeks, then wait x 8 weeks to see it it brought my level up. It did but only one point over the low normal. You need to know your Vit D number and not take it without being followed by a MD. Vitamin D TOXICITY is just as bad as low Vit D. I feel soon people are going to need ti know their Vit D levels just like they know their Cholesterol mostly because we now hide from the sunshine due to risks of skin cancers.
This isn’t to say Vitamin D isn’t good for overall health, which is in turn, is good in the case that someone did get COVID.
But Vitamin D itself is not going to prevent you from getting COVID or even prevent you from having serious symptoms like some of you seem to think. Vitamin D is a small part of a bunch of different preventive measures that “together” would likely help you if you got a COVID infection. It alone is not a silver bullet. Sorry.......
BUT vitamin D is still useful during the pandemic and especially in the winter when people working from home are getting near zero natural sunlight and therefore need to supplement their levels.
You need to know your Vit D number and not take it without being followed by a MD. Vitamin D TOXICITY is just as bad as low Vit D.
But much, much, much rarer. About 33-42% of the US population is deficient in vitamin D.
Possibly 1% have a level that is too high.
If you have not been taking a massive dosage of supplements for an extended time , you will not have a toxic blood level of vitamin D.
Quote:
Taking 60,000 international units (IU) a day of vitamin D for several months has been shown to cause toxicity. This level is many times higher than the U.S. Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for most adults of 600 IU of vitamin D a day.
I don't understand why people on this thread and elsewhere keep insisting that it may be DANGEROUS to take a moderate vitamin D supplement regularly. It is not dangerous.
Over 100 Scientists, Doctors, & Leading Authorities Call For Increased Vitamin D Use To Combat COVID-19
Scientific evidence indicates vitamin D reduces infections & deaths
To all governments, public health officials, doctors, and healthcare workers,
Research shows low vitamin D levels almost certainly promote COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths. Given its safety, we call for immediate widespread increased vitamin D intakes.
Vitamin D modulates thousands of genes and many aspects of immune function, both innate and adaptive. The scientific evidence1 shows that:
Higher vitamin D blood levels are associated with lower rates of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Higher D levels are associated with lower risk of a severe case (hospitalization, ICU, or death).
Intervention studies (including RCTs) indicate that vitamin D can be a very effective treatment.
Many papers reveal several biological mechanisms by which vitamin D influences COVID-19.
Causal inference modelling, Hill’s criteria, the intervention studies & the biological mechanisms indicate that vitamin D’s influence on COVID-19 is very likely causal, not just correlation.
Vitamin D is well known to be essential, but most people do not get enough. Two common definitions of inadequacy are deficiency < 20ng/ml (50nmol/L), the target of most governmental organizations, and insufficiency < 30ng/ml (75nmol/L), the target of several medical societies & experts.2 Too many people have levels below these targets. Rates of vitamin D deficiency <20ng/ml exceed 33% of the population in most of the world, and most estimates of insufficiency <30ng/ml are well over 50% (but much higher in many countries).3 Rates are even higher in winter, and several groups have notably worse deficiency: the overweight, those with dark skin (especially far from the equator), and care home residents. These same groups face increased COVID-19 risk.
It has been shown that 3875 IU (97mcg) daily is required for 97.5% of people to reach 20ng/ml, and 6200 IU (155mcg) for 30ng/ml,4 intakes far above all national guidelines. Unfortunately, the report that set the US RDA included an admitted statistical error in which required intake was calculated to be ~10x too low.4 Numerous calls in the academic literature to raise official recommended intakes had not yet resulted in increases by the time SARS-CoV-2 arrived. Now, many papers indicate that vitamin D affects COVID-19 more strongly than most other health conditions, with increased risk at levels < 30ng/ml (75nmol/L) and severely greater risk < 20ng/ml (50nmol/L).
Evidence to date suggests the possibility that the COVID-19 pandemic sustains itself in large part through infection of those with low vitamin D, and that deaths are concentrated largely in those with deficiency. The mere possibility that this is so should compel urgent gathering of more vitamin D data. Even without more data, the preponderance of evidence indicates that increased vitamin D would help reduce infections, hospitalizations, ICU admissions, & deaths.
Decades of safety data show that vitamin D has very low risk: Toxicity would be extremely rare with the recommendations here. The risk of insufficient levels far outweighs any risk from levels that seem to provide most of the protection against COVID-19, and this is notably different from drugs & vaccines. Vitamin D is much safer than steroids, such as dexamethasone, the most widely accepted treatment to have also demonstrated a large COVID-19 benefit. Vitamin D’s safety is more like that of face masks. There is no need to wait for further clinical trials to increase use of something so safe, especially when remedying high rates of deficiency/insufficiency should already be a priority.
Therefore, we call on all governments, doctors, and healthcare workers worldwide to immediately recommend and implement efforts appropriate to their adult populations to increase vitamin D, at least until the end of the pandemic. Specifically to:
Recommend amounts from all sources sufficient to achieve 25(OH)D serum levels over 30ng/ml (75nmol/L), a widely endorsed minimum with evidence of reduced COVID-19 risk.
Recommend to adults vitamin D intake of 4000 IU (100mcg) daily (or at least 2000 IU) in the absence of testing. 4000 IU is widely regarded as safe.5
Recommend that adults at increased risk of deficiency due to excess weight, dark skin, or living in care homes may need higher intakes (eg, 2x). Testing can help to avoid levels too low or high.
Recommend that adults not already receiving the above amounts get 10,000 IU (250mcg) daily for 2-3 weeks (or until achieving 30ng/ml if testing), followed by the daily amount above. This practice is widely regarded as safe. The body can synthesize more than this from sunlight under the right conditions (e.g., a summer day at the beach). Also, the NAM (US) and EFSA (Europe) both label this a “No Observed Adverse Effect Level” even as a daily maintenance intake.
Measure 25(OH)D levels of all hospitalized COVID-19 patients & treat w/ calcifediol or D3, to at least remedy insufficiency <30ng/ml (75nmol/L), possibly with a protocol along the lines of Castillo et al ‘20 or Rastogi et al '20, until evidence supports a better protocol.
Many factors are known to predispose individuals to higher risk from exposure to SARS-CoV-2, such as age, being male, comorbidities, etc., but inadequate vitamin D is by far the most easily and quickly modifiable risk factor with abundant evidence to support a large effect. Vitamin D is inexpensive and has negligible risk compared to the considerable risk of COVID-19.
Please Act Immediately
Signed by 100 scientists
Last edited by in_newengland; 12-13-2020 at 07:40 PM..
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