Online CPR Certification Blog
Americans are taking a lot of vitamin D
Date: October 17th, 2017
What happens when you take too much Vitamin D? One of the side effects is vitamin D toxicity. Again, since the job of Vitamin D in the body is to help the system absorb Calcium, there could be too much calcium in the blood, which is not good at all. The study discussed below shows that Americans may be consuming too many vitamin D supplements.
What are the allowed Vitamin D units
Researchers say that US adults take too much of these supplements. It is advised that one takes only 600 international units daily if they are aged 70 and below while those above 70 have a higher amount per day, which is 800 international units.
The head of research Mary Rooney, University of Minnesota, said that in the case of vitamin D a lot is not such a good idea. She went on to say that despite the limited report on the side-effect of high-dose supplements, it has been hinted on various studies that there is potential harm, for example, excess calcium in the blood. This calcium may start depositing in the blood vessels; as reported by Rooney and her team.
People take too much of these supplements because they fear that they do not have enough of this vitamin. Vitamin D is important for your bone health. Vitamin D can be naturally available to you if you bask in the sun; this is why it is called the sunshine vitamin. It is also in foodstuff like milk, fish, and others.
Samantha Heller, a nutritionist, talks about the benefits of having the correct amount of vitamin D in your system. Vitamin D helps your overall immune system. It also helps prevent some disease, for example, some cancers.
She also mentioned vitamin D deficiency, and how common it is worldwide. She encouraged people to take vitamin D supplements in enough amounts.
Get Vitamin D from the sun as much as you can
Heller, who was not in the study, also said that our bodies were designed to get a lot of vitamin D from the sun, so we should try and get out more often. She, however, advised that one ought to use sunscreen to protect one from the U.V rays that could cause skin cancer.
While Heller felt that there were many vitamin D deficiencies cases, Rooney and her colleagues felt that people had taken too much vitamin D.
The researchers assessed data from the National Surveys of about four thousand people from 1999 to 2014. Through the years more people started using the supplements. People had become more concerned about their health and safety.
It was found that the trend of increasing supplement use was increasing without discrimination covering all parts of humanity despite their age, race or gender. It was also found that a person above 70 is more likely to take excess vitamin D. Women are also like to take too much vitamin D as well as whites.
Rooney advised that one enlists the help of a doctor while taking your supplements.