Canadian vitamin D intake recommendations are too low, study finds
Increasing intake could prevent 37,000 deaths annually and save billions
Current national vitamin D intake recommendations in Canada are too low and body weight must be taken into account to determine the appropriate vitamin D dose in any given individual, new research has found. This is currently not the case, posing a serious Canadian public health issue and having a significant impact on cost and health.
Studies have found that if Canadians increased their intake of Vitamin D, the estimated death rate could fall by 37,000 deaths annually, representing 16.1% of annual deaths. In addition, the economic burden would decrease by 6.9% or $14.4bn per year based on 2005 figures.1
'Vitamin D, the 'sunshine vitamin', is very important to our health. It is used by nearly every cell in the body and has an effect on every system – it acts as a protector and regulator, and enhances the functioning of our body's systems to protect against disease. Simply put, optimising vitamin D levels results in better health,' said David Hanley, Endocrinologist and Professor in the Departments of Medicine, Oncology, and Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary.
Simply put, optimising vitamin D levels results in better health
In the newly published study, The importance of body weight for the dose response relationship of oral vitamin D supplementation and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D in healthy volunteers, the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for vitamin D, 600 IU/d, was found to be much lower than the dose needed to achieve optimal vitamin D status when more than 20,000 measurements of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] were analysed.
The dose required for overweight or obese individuals to reach optimal 25(OH)D levels is actually 12,000–20,000 IU/d; 2–3 times higher than the amount needed by a normal weight individual, and 4–5 times higher than the tolerable upper level of intake currently recommended by Health Canada.
Given that two-thirds of the Canadian population is overweight or obese, this has significant public health impact.
The study also showed that vitamin D supplementation was safe up to 20,000 IU/d, even with normal weight.
'The public health and clinical implications of an error in the calculation of the recommended dietary allowance for Vitamin D are serious, particularly for residents of Canada,' said Paul Veugelers, Research Chair in Nutrition and Disease Prevention at the School of Public Health, University of Alberta and one of the authors of the new study.
'Current public health targets are not being met. Many Canadians will still be vitamin D deficient or insufficient, even if they follow Health Canada's recommendation of 600 IU per day,' he added.
