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More people using vitamin D supplements

Category: Vitamin D Deficiency-Diagnosis and Treatment

A growing number of people are receiving unhealthy vitamin D test results. This may be one of the reasons why more people than ever are taking nutritional supplements containing the nutrient.

A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that more than 50 percent of U.S. adults currently take some form of dietary supplement. This number is up significantly compared to the last time the agency conducted the survey, which was in 1994.

While calcium supplements were the most commonly used, particularly among women, the results of the survey showed that vitamin D is one of the fastest growing nutrients increasing by more than 6 percent among some groups. Many adults of both genders are now taking the supplements.

"Of particular importance is vitamin D, which is found naturally in very few foods," the report's summary stated. "Estimates of the population intake may be greatly underestimated if dietary supplements are not taken into account."

Vitamin D is found naturally in some types of fish and mushrooms. However, there are few other natural food sources.