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Researcher calls for increased vitamin D recommendations

Category: Vitamin D Deficiency-Diagnosis and Treatment

Individuals who are already at risk for muscle and bone health problems may want to consider seeking a vitamin D test, as a new report suggests that as many as half of the people in North America and Europe either have insufficient levels of the nutrient or are vitamin D deficient.

The report was written by Anthony Norman, a noted biomedical and biochemistry scientist at the University of California - Riverside, and was published by the monthly newspaper, Endocrine Today.

In it, Norman writes that current dietary recommendations for vitamin D consumption are too low, and that this is contributing to an epidemic spread of vitamin D deficiency.

"There is a wide consensus among scientists that the relative daily intake of vitamin D should be increased to 2,000 to 4,000 [international units] for most adults," Norman said. "A 2000 IU daily intake can be achieved by a combination of sunshine, food, supplements, and possibly even limited tanning exposure."

Current vitamin D recommendations from most health organizations are for between 200 to 4000 IU daily.