Side Effects of Vitamin D

Is There A Thing Such As Too Much Vitamin D?

Vitamin D is good for our body and especially for our bone and joint health. There are situations that call for us to have stronger bones and more than flexible joints. This makes Vitamin D extremely important for us.

This vitamin also functions as a hormone by playing several roles in keeping our body’s cells normal, healthy and functional. Most of us are not able to get it naturally so they opt for supplements which are readily available in the market. Although very rare this vitamin can also build up in our body and reach toxic levels. Here we are going to discuss some potential side effects of taking too much or excessive Vitamin D over a period of time.

Vitamin D Deficiency and Toxicity

Vitamin D helps in calcium absorption and also enhances our immune function. Needless to mention it protects our bone density, muscle and heart health. We can ingest it through various foods that we eat on a daily basis. It can also be produced by our body when we expose our skin to the sun. If you are a fan of fatty fish, you are fortunate because you will most likely not suffer from Vitamin D deficiency. People who are not able to get enough sun exposure and can’t manage time to supplement it in their diets are at a bigger risk of getting heart diseases and joint pain and deterioration at an early age. This is the reason this deficiency has become very common. Studies suggest that close to 1 billion people in the world don’t get enough of it to keep healthy and happy.

Supplements

You can find easily good supplements for Vitamin D and these are very common. Both Vitamin D2 and Vitamin D3 are available in the market and can be taken in supplement form. Typically Vitamin D2 is found in abundance in plants whereas Vitamin D3 is produced by our body in response to the sunlight we receive. Vitamin D3 is effective in increasing our blood levels significantly and tests done over a period of time conclude that 100 IU of Vitamin D3 raises your blood levels by 1 ng/ml (2.5 nmol/l. However, extremely high levels of Vitamin D3 in your body can result in blood levels rising above 150 ng/ml (375 nmol/l). You still need to know that toxicity isn’t common and typically occurs in people who are dependent on long-term, high-dose supplements. Therefore, avoid consuming too much Vitamin D by taking supplements with higher amounts than prescribed. More on this in our next post, so stay tuned.