The current Recommended Daily Allowances (RDA’s) for Vitamin D of 200 International Units (IU) need to be increased to 2,000 IU in order to achieve the serum levels of Vitamin D (in the form of the hormone 1,25 [OH]2D) that is considered optimal for adults. This is according to a new long-term study that examined both low (200 IU daily equivalent) and high (2,000 IU daily equivalent) Vitamin D supplementation on 340 children (168 female; 172 male) aged 10 to 17, over the course of one year. It was revealed that only the high-dose group achieved 1,25(OH)2D levels of 30 nanograms per millilitre (ng/ml). This level has served as an approximate basis for a significant amount of research (conducted among adults) examining many of Vitamin D’s health benefits, which not only include the traditional application of bone health, but an increasingly impressive anti-carcinogenic potential as well. The scientists noted that in both children and adults, 100 IU of oral Vitamin D is required to raise 1,25(OH)2D levels by 1 ng/ml. On that basis, the scientists declared that children with a 1,25(OH)2D level of less than 20 ng/ml required an oral Vitamin D intake of 2,000 IU per day.
These results lend further credence to the growing consensus among scientists and public health officials that RDA’s for Vitamin D need to be revised sharply upward. Reports in prestigious scientific journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine and the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition have also called for raises to the recommendations.
Source: Maalouf J, et al. Short-term and long-term and long-term safety of weekly high-dose vitamin D3 supplementation in school children. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2008 Apr 29. (Published online ahead of print).
For more information see D3-5000 or Vitamin D3
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