There is a lot of confusion today about how much
vitamin D we should be getting in our diet.
The official DRIs (the new term for RDAs) established
by the Food & Nutrition Board of the National Academies
of Science is around 400 IU for most adults. And the UL
(upper limit for safe use) for almost everyone has been
set at 2,000 IU for years.
Almost all experts agree that those levels are too low.
Some doctors (including some that are popular on TV or
the internet) have advised that everyone should be
taking 5,000 to 10,000 IU of vitamin D/day.
However, that's probably too much. Many experts warn
that some people are likely to develop vitamin D
toxicity at that level of intake.
Yet, we are hearing that anywhere from 40% to 60% of
Americans are deficient in vitamin D.
No one wants to be deficient in vitamin D, but most
people are confused. They just don't know how much
vitamin D they should be getting in their diet.
This is where Shaklee research has really led the way.
Shaklee has done three clinical studies to determine
what vitamin D intake should be and how to get the
vitamin D that you need.
In the Landmark study (Nutrition Journal, 6:30, 2007)
they demonstrated that people consuming a variety of
Shaklee supplements for 20 years or more generally had
optimal levels of vitamin D in their blood.
They followed that with a study (submitted for
publication) comparing Shaklee supplement users and
non-Shaklee supplement users and showed that 1,000 IU
of vitamin D from Shaklee supplements was associated
with optimal blood levels of vitamin D for most people.
And they have just completed a study with non-Shaklee
users showing that supplementation with 1,000 IU of
vitamin D from Shaklee supplements was sufficient to
bring their blood levels of vitamin D from inadequate
to adequate.
So you might be tempted to think that all you need to
do is get 1,000 IU of vitamin D from Shaklee
supplements and you will be fine.
It's not quite that simple.
You will notice I said that 1,000 IU of vitamin D from
Shaklee supplements resulted in an optimal blood level
of vitamin D for MOST people.
But that doesn't mean that everyone in the study had
optimal blood levels. There were some people who took
1,000 IU of vitamin D, but still had low blood levels.
That's because there is tremendous individual variation
in our need for vitamin D.
Our dietary vitamin D requirements are influenced by a
number of factors such as the time of year, our age,
our skin color, our weight, our exposure to sunlight
and where we live.
Because of that Shaklee has lead the way again with a
simple on-line quiz http://bestself.myshaklee.com/us/en/pop_VitaminD_Quiz.s.html
that anyone can take to determine
their personal vitamin D requirements and a vitamin D3
supplement to help people customize their intake to
match those requirements.
Finally, someone has taken the confusion out of vitamin
D supplementation!
However, I do have one final note of caution. There are
some genetic differences that also influence vitamin D
requirements, so I do recommend that you have your
blood levels of vitamin D3 determined at your next
doctor's visit.
To Your Health!
Dr. Stephen G Chaney
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