Vitamin D
Alternate Names : Cholecalciferol
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin. It can be dissolved
in fat. Vitamin D is carried through the body by fat and stored in fat
tissue. Getting too much can be harmful. Vitamin
D can be produced in the body, as well as, obtained from the diet.
Information
If the body does not get enough vitamin D and calcium,
a person is at higher risk for bone mass loss, which is known as
osteoporosis.
Low levels of vitamin D also increases the risk of bone softening, known
as osteomalacia, in older adults. Children who do not get enough vitamin D
over a long period may develop rickets, which is defective bone growth. Fortifying milk
with vitamin D has made rickets extremely rare in the US.
Vitamin D is measured as micrograms (mcg) of
cholecalciferol (koh-li-kal-sif-ah-rall). The Recommended Dietary Allowance,
called RDA,
for men and women, 25 to 50 years old, is 5 mcg per day. Children need
twice as much daily vitamin D as adults, because
their bones are still growing. Pregnant and lactating women also need
10 mcg per day.
Another common measurement for vitamin D is International
Units, known as IU. The RDA, in IUs, for vitamin D for adults is 200
IU per day; for children, it is 400 IU per day; and for pregnant and lactating
women, it is 400 IU.
In 1997, the recommendations were revised for vitamin D,
doubling the amount for adults over age 50, going up to 400 IU or 10
mcg daily. People over age 70 need 600 IU or 15 mcg per day.
No one should have more than 2000 IU or 50 mcg per day of
Vitamin D.
Because vitamin D dissolves in fat, it can build up in the
fat tissues of the body. This can pose a problem for people taking high
doses of vitamin D. While it is almost impossible to get too much vitamin
D from foods or sunlight, it is easy to get too much from supplements.
High doses of vitamin D can be toxic and cause:
kidney stones or damage
weak muscles
weak bones
excessive bleeding
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