Overview How Much vitamin D

All items in How much vitamin D 345 items

1,000 IU - provides a just barely measurable benefit

References which you can download

• 800 IU to maintain 30 ng/ml – Jan 2010
• 890 IU of vitamin D and 1200 mg Calcium improved bone density – July 2010
• Calcium and just 900 IU of vitamin D can improve Bone Density – July 2010
• Some Canadian elderly achieved 30 ng with just 560 IU – Jan 2010
• To increase vitamin D levels in children need 1000 or 2000 IU – June 2010
• 1200 IU of Vit D better than placebo for Japanese influenza - Mar 2010
• Vitamin D Recommendations both IU and ng - from around the world

Vitamin D Council has some good recommendations which have been nicely formatted by Knox

2,000 IU minimum- if you did not have a risk factor

Everyone older than 11 years should be taking AT LEAST 2000 IU of vitamin D daily everywhere around the world
I realize that the 2010 US standard specifies a minimum of 400 or 600 IU. But, the that is like a minimum wage - very difficult to live on
The US and the European Union both currently have an Upper Limit of 2000 IU which will probably be revised upward in late 2010.

You can see in the following chart, 20ng does not reduce the probability of any disease except rickets

Click here for more information

Yet, the Institute of Medicine of Medicine In Nov 2010 stated that only 20 ng is needed

The next chart shows that all 25 vitamin D experts at a meeting recommended a MINIMUM of 30 ng

Addressing vitamin D de?ciency in Canada - "A public health innovation whose time has come" April 2010 2000 IU for most people

Some studies found that 2000 IU did not help but did not harm either

Average of less than 2000 IU of vitamin D2 did not help bone health – July 2010
German seniors safely took 1500 to 3000 IU of vitamin D – June 2010

You need to see the dose/response relationship to understand that 2000 IU rarely provides a response greater than 30 ng/ml

4,000 IU per day if have single risk factor 

Co-factors, test blood in 3-6 months
Chicago Times on vitamin D: Depression, chest pain, fibromyalgia, Holick, 3000 IU without test - May 2010
Patients older than 65 needed 5,000 IU vitamin D – May 2010

10,000 IU - multiple risk factors

Over a billion people are vitamin D deficient,

Estimate your Risk Factor

High level of vitamin D helped Harvard cohort - Suggests up to 10,000 IU download file
British Medical Journal in Jan 2010 also suggested up to 10,000 IU

Bone Up extra co-factors; Cofactors: K2, Calcium, Boron,

Try it out at very very low risk:
1000 IU -> 5000 IU loading -> 2000 IU maint: after loading or summer

A slide from Grassroots - Dose / Response May 2011

Vit D recommendations table 2010?
Vitamin D safety and dose response Vieth 1999 download file

This June 2010 chart shows that some groups are below even the minimum recommendations

BMI was good predictor of vitamin D levels – Feb 2010
Vitamin D3 loading dose of 500000 IU for elderly – Aug 2009
Why vitamin D might not help me
The folly of a single RDA for vitamin D - Jan 2011
Should You Worry if You Store Vitamin D
Muscle strength in youth increased with 60,000 IU vitamin D per week and 1 g Calcium – April 2010

Sun is better than UV which is better than D3 which is better than D2
In each case the effect lasts much longer.
The non D3/D3 inputs have "photoproducts which we do not understand.

Take your vitamin D supplement with the largest meal of the day

Effectiveness increased 56% - May 2010

Start with just a single 4000 IU - to check for adverse reaction

Wait a few days to see if you are in the 3 in 1000 which have an adverse reaction
This is the only advice which I give which is not backed up with extensive data
Adverse reactions are very rare, but I feel it is much better to find out if you react poorly to vitamin D with just a low dose
The 1,000 IU could be just a portion of a dose which you anticipate taking
Adverse reactions are typically intestinal upsets.
Adverse reactions such as intestinal upsets are likely placebo effects or due to the ingredients other than vitamin D in the capsules. Drinking the capsule with a full glass of water should avoid this completely, (although it has never been shown that it actually exists.). Side effects with placebos in drug studies are always far more than 3 in 1000.

Very low cost - often < 5 cents per day

Vitamin D is available in many forms: capsule, oil, drop, chewable, gummie bear ...

A capsule of vitamin D ls smaller than a kernel of corn or a pea

Prefer oil. - but be aware that some of the oils can become rancid - smell a capsule in a bottle to make sure

Toxic level

You will get 10,000 in a single tanning session, so obviously 10,000 IU cannot be toxic

Take it daily, weekly, or monthly (e.g. 4,000 IU daily, 50,000 IU every 2 weeks, or 100,000 IU monthly)

Does not appear to matter much.

Formulas for how much vitamin D you need

• Dose response equation
• Formula for vitamin D LOADING dose – April 2010 loading, not on-going

Need to have more vitamin D for each of the following reasons

Age	Latitude	Season
Obesity	Skin color	Avoid Sun

Unhealthy people need even more vitamin D

And - the blood levels vary by 4X between individuals.

Why the vitamin D might not help you: not enough, etc

Vitamin D Council information which has been nicely formatted by Knox

Note: If you are taking chemotherapy and the medical professionals are not open to reducing the dose level you should avoid taking vitamin D. for many chemotherapy drugs vitamin D increases the effectiveness by 2X.

ALL Overviews related to vitamin D

Vitamin D interactions and contra-indications

• Vitamin D also helps prevent damage from X-rays, so women may not want extra vitamin D while getting Breast cancer treatment

CLICK HERE to see how many items there are in each vitamin D Category

• Would you be opposed to my getting more vitamin D a question to your doctor that minimizes his risk
• 2000 IU vitamin D was safe and helped elderly – Feb 2011 US Veteran's Admin.
• Dose response graph for 3600 IU.gif image
• Recommend 10,000 IU Upper Limit
• 10,000 IU OK with breast cancer
• Overview Seniors and vitamin D
• Overview: Bone fractures and vitamin D
• Drugs which reduce levels of vitamin D
• All items in How/When to take vitamin D 54 items
• All items in How much vitamin D 345 items
• Consuming more mono-unsaturated fat increased vitamin D – Aug 2011
• Dose Response Graphs
• Dose response equation square root of IU
• Charts of Disease incidence vs ng
• Recommendations for vitamin D both IU and nanograms/ml
• Is 50 ng of vitamin D too high, just right, or not enough
• 1600 IU daily Vitamin D raised adult blood levels above 20 ng – RCT Nov 2011
• Take vitamin D daily or weekly rather than less frequent intervals
• Very few people have an allergic reaction to Vitamin D start slowly so as to check for allergies

Cofactors are needed as you increase vitamin D level

	Low Risk (0-2)	Medium Risk (3-5)	High Risk (6-8)	Extreme risk (9+)
Daily Dose	1,000 IU	2,000 IU	4,000 IU	10,000 IU
Months before blood test needed	-	9 months	6 months	3 months
Cofactors	optional	2 pills/day	2 pills/day	4 pills/day
Limit Calcium	-	just co-factor	just cofactor	just cofactor

Dose/Response relationship varies with the amount of vitamin D already in the blood

• 1000 IU adds 9 ng if blood level was just 20 ng
• 1000 IU adds 2 ng if blood level was > 80 ng
  • This ignores variation due to body weight, obesity, and many other variables

CLICK HERE for details of the graph

Vitamin D supplementation - Grassroots Jan 2013 which has the following excellent charts

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