Report: Skip the Megadose of Vitamin D
(Nov. 30) -- Dietary guidelines being released today call for a slight increase in the amount of vitamin D people need every day for good health but warn against megadoses of the "sunshine vitamin," saying there's no proof they prevent cancer and that they could in fact be harmful.
"More is not necessarily better," Dr. Joann Manson of Harvard Medical School, who co-authored the report, told The Associated Press.
The report from the prestigious Institute of Medicine says most people in the U.S. and Canada from ages 1 to 70 need 600 international units of vitamin D daily. That's up from the 400 IUs under today's government-required food labels and above the 1997 guidelines from the institute that called for 200 to 600 IUs, AP noted.
Most people are getting the amount of calcium they need from their diets, the report found, and supplements are not needed, The New York Times reported. Calcium and vitamin D work together to help build strong bones.
"For most people, taking extra calcium and vitamin D supplements is not indicated," Dr. Clifford J. Rosen, a member of the panel, told The Times.
The guidelines could slow the vitamin D craze. The sale of supplements has soared as some scientists recommend 2,000 IUs a day amid studies suggesting low vitamin D levels increase the risk of cancer and heart disease, AP said. The report out today suggests an upper limit of 4,000 a day.
"This is a stunning disappointment," Dr. Cedric Garland of the University of California, San Diego, who was not part of the study, told AP. The risk of colon cancer could be cut if people got enough vitamin D, he said.
Low levels of vitamin D have also been linked to stroke, diabetes, breast cancer, auto-immune diseases, infections and depression, and studies have suggested many Americans don't get enough vitamin D because they spend time inside and wear sunscreen when they go out, according to The Wall Street Journal.
But the institute didn't find enough evidence to prove a link to those chronic diseases, the newspaper said. The new guideline was created solely to promote bone health, the Journal said.
The new guidelines will affect the recommended daily allowances listed on food packages and the makeup of school lunches and other federal nutrition programs, according to the newspaper.
Some experts were disappointed.
The recommended 600 IUs of vitamin D is "way too low," Creighton University professor of medicine Robert Heaney told USA Today. Heaney, who has studied the benefits of D, says people should consider getting about 4,000 IUs daily.
"For me, it's a no-brainer," he told the newspaper. "There is a large body of evidence for benefit at intakes above the IOM recommendations. There is no risk, and very little cost, so why not take a chance of a benefit if there's any possibility?"
The latest study to report no cancer protection from vitamin D, and the possibility of a greater risk of pancreatic cancer, came last summer from the National Cancer Institute, AP said. A megadose of more than 10,000 IUs daily is known to cause kidney problems, AP said.
"Everyone was hoping vitamin D would be kind of a panacea," Dennis Black, a University of California, San Francisco, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics, told the Times.
The guidelines may dampen enthusiasm for the vitamin, he said. "I think this will have an impact on a lot of primary care providers," he told the paper.
For calcium, the report recommended the levels that are already accepted, about 1,000 milligrams for most adults, 700 to 1,000 mg for children, and 1,300 mg for teens and menopausal women, AP said.
"More is not necessarily better," Dr. Joann Manson of Harvard Medical School, who co-authored the report, told The Associated Press.
The report from the prestigious Institute of Medicine says most people in the U.S. and Canada from ages 1 to 70 need 600 international units of vitamin D daily. That's up from the 400 IUs under today's government-required food labels and above the 1997 guidelines from the institute that called for 200 to 600 IUs, AP noted.
Most people are getting the amount of calcium they need from their diets, the report found, and supplements are not needed, The New York Times reported. Calcium and vitamin D work together to help build strong bones.
"For most people, taking extra calcium and vitamin D supplements is not indicated," Dr. Clifford J. Rosen, a member of the panel, told The Times.
The guidelines could slow the vitamin D craze. The sale of supplements has soared as some scientists recommend 2,000 IUs a day amid studies suggesting low vitamin D levels increase the risk of cancer and heart disease, AP said. The report out today suggests an upper limit of 4,000 a day.
"This is a stunning disappointment," Dr. Cedric Garland of the University of California, San Diego, who was not part of the study, told AP. The risk of colon cancer could be cut if people got enough vitamin D, he said.
Low levels of vitamin D have also been linked to stroke, diabetes, breast cancer, auto-immune diseases, infections and depression, and studies have suggested many Americans don't get enough vitamin D because they spend time inside and wear sunscreen when they go out, according to The Wall Street Journal.
But the institute didn't find enough evidence to prove a link to those chronic diseases, the newspaper said. The new guideline was created solely to promote bone health, the Journal said.
The new guidelines will affect the recommended daily allowances listed on food packages and the makeup of school lunches and other federal nutrition programs, according to the newspaper.
Some experts were disappointed.
The recommended 600 IUs of vitamin D is "way too low," Creighton University professor of medicine Robert Heaney told USA Today. Heaney, who has studied the benefits of D, says people should consider getting about 4,000 IUs daily.
"For me, it's a no-brainer," he told the newspaper. "There is a large body of evidence for benefit at intakes above the IOM recommendations. There is no risk, and very little cost, so why not take a chance of a benefit if there's any possibility?"
The latest study to report no cancer protection from vitamin D, and the possibility of a greater risk of pancreatic cancer, came last summer from the National Cancer Institute, AP said. A megadose of more than 10,000 IUs daily is known to cause kidney problems, AP said.
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These days, more people are taking vitamin D supplements and know their vitamin D levels through tests at medical checkups. Sales of vitamin D have risen from $40 million in 2001 to $425 million last year, the Journal said."Everyone was hoping vitamin D would be kind of a panacea," Dennis Black, a University of California, San Francisco, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics, told the Times.
The guidelines may dampen enthusiasm for the vitamin, he said. "I think this will have an impact on a lot of primary care providers," he told the paper.
For calcium, the report recommended the levels that are already accepted, about 1,000 milligrams for most adults, 700 to 1,000 mg for children, and 1,300 mg for teens and menopausal women, AP said.
