New Telegraph

High-dose of Vitamin D supplements may be dangerous to health

The consumption of high doses of vitamin D via certain food supplements has been shown to result in a heart disease, loss of renal function, among other health challenges.

Going by the findings of the latest scientific research, if adults and children aged eleven and older consume a daily quantity of Vitamin D, no more than 100 μg, any impairments to health are unlikely.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) had set a UL value (tolerable upper intake level) of 100 μg for vitamin D.

This UL value included the intake of vitamin D from all sources, and thus included intake from supplements, normal dietary intake and intake from food that had been fortified with vitamin D.

On the contrary, the study showed that if high-dose vitamin D preparations were also consumed, this figure may be exceeded in combination with other sources of the vitamin.

From the perspective of nutritional science, the daily consumption of vitamin D preparations containing a 50 μg or 100 μg dose was not necessary, according to the study.

It was unlikely that impairments to health would result from the occasional consumption of such high-dose preparations.

On the contrary, if such high-dose vitamin D products were consumed on a daily basis over a longer period of time, the latest research did point to an elevated risk to health.

According to the findings of the study, the overdose of Vitamin D could lead to initial elevated calcium values in blood serum otherwise known as hypercalcaemia, a condition in which calcium level in the blood was above normal.

The clinical symptoms associated with hypercalcaemia in humans ranged from fatigue and muscular weakness to vomiting and constipation, and can even lead to cardiac arrhythmias and the calcification of blood vessels, the ‘technologynetworks.com’ reported.

In humans, vitamin D was formed in the skin following its exposure to sunlight. Dietary consumption generally makes up only a relatively small proportion of the vitamin D supply to the body.

Even without exposure to sunlight, a daily consumption of 20 μg of vitamin D was adequate to meet the body’s needs for this vitamin for the vast majority (97.5 per cent) of the population

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