Vitamin D, the so-called sunshine vitamin, is a necessary ingredient for any healthy lifestyle. Lacking in vitamin D raises risks for impaired cognitive thinking, cardiovascular disease, weakened bones and even cancer. The body needs sunlight in order to produce healthy levels of vitamin D, so it should come as no surprise that those who live in cloudier climates are less likely to get the vitamin D production they need and more likely to struggle with deficiencies. While D3 vitamin supplementation can help to offset this loss, there have been some concerns that taking too many of these supplements present a danger of toxicity — concerns that have been debunked by a new round of research.
A study conducted at the Mayo Clinic evaluated over 20,000 people who had bolstered their vitamin D levels with supplements between 2002 and 2011. Of these patients, only 8 percent exhibited vitamin D levels above 50ng/mL and less than 1 percent were above 100ng/mL. Even among this minority, only one case was actually found to incur "true acute vitamin D toxicity," with a level of 364ng/mL. This particular individual "had been taking 50,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D supplements every day for more than three months," writes MPR, far outside of the norm.
While it's important that vitamin D supplement users research just how many IUs of vitamin D they're taking in on a regular basis, this research at least puts to rest the idea that, outside of rare occurrences caused by unusually high doses, vitamin D supplements present any danger of toxicity.
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