You may have seen a recent New York Times article suggesting that taking Vitamin D and/or Calcium beyond what you may be getting in your diet is not necessary. Full Article
We understand that it can be very confusing trying to navigate what researchers are continually reporting. It can also be frustrating; as it seems that they often change their minds or give one negative for every positive. Recognizing all this, Restorative Health would like to point out a few things concerning Vitamin D and Calcium usage, just to make our recommendations clear and concise.
It is important to remember that researchers, such as the Institute of Medicine cited in the New York Times article, are not taking the individual into consideration as they release their broad findings. With that in mind, Dr. Threlkel and Dr. Safayan follow the rule of moderation and common sense with a scientific basis. To put this in perspective, in the case of Vitamin D, most medical doctors prescribe 50,000 IU once a week for 4-6 weeks. However, Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, meaning it will be stored in the body and can become toxic more quickly than water soluble vitamins.
At Restorative Health, most of our patients receive no more than 5,000IU on a daily basis. This method more closely emulates the amount we would hope to get through our diet, which our bodies are designed to process. For that reason this dose is much less likely to become toxic. In addition, we monitor blood levels of Vitamin D to ensure our patients are always using the correct dose for them. In sum, at Restorative Health we use an individualistic approach, which maintains an appropriate, healthy level of supplementation for each patient.
February 1, 2011 at 5:10 pm |
From what I understand, Vitamin D is naturally produced by UV exposure. It’s understandable then that requirements can change. Especially when one considered absorption rates.