New Delhi: In July 2024, some doctors at the John Hopkins hospital conducted a large meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials, with an aim to prove that taking vitamin D supplements was linked with better cardiometabolic health. The findings were published online in the journal Engineering, and it found a daily median dose of 3,320 International Units (IU) was necessary to achieve these benefits. The participants for this trial who had consumed vitamin D, had better blood pressure (both systolic and diastolic), total cholesterol, fasting blood glucose, hemoglobin A1C, and fasting blood insulin.
Even at this point the study found that the effect of this dosage of Vit D was seen more strongly in non-Westerners, older adults, and in people with lower baseline vitamin D levels. Even for those with lower body mass index (BMI), and those who took the supplement for a longer period of time.
“Our findings suggest that higher vitamin D levels are required to maintain cardiovascular health in non-Westerners, obese, and older populations,” they wrote. “Consequently, consideration should be given to administering higher doses for longer durations when designing personalized intervention strategies aimed at enhancing cardiometabolic health in these populations.”
But today some medical professionals from the Asian subcontinent say this may not be entirely true and that supplements cannot be treated as any line of treatment for cardiac issues. Before we get into the debunk theory, here’s why it was proposed in the first place.
How does Vitamin D react in your body
From maintaining bone health to helping your body build immunity, Vit D supplements is a much needed nutrient. It helps the body to absorb calcium and phosphate, which are essential for strong bones, teeth, and muscles. A lack of this can lead to bone deformities in children and bone pain in adults. Vitamin D is also known to help the immune system fight off bacteria and viruses. It tempers the inflammatory response of some white blood cells and boosts the production of proteins that fight microbes.
That is not all, Vit D also helps the nerves carry messages between the brain and the body and it is also responsible for making your muscles move. In summary, vitamin D actually makes movement better, faster and without any serious health implications.
But it is found to be deficient in most individuals, in most continents. “The reason for this is that we don’t absorb a lot of Vitamin D naturally and it is not yet made a mandate for consumption as a supplement. It is also not advisable to prescribe Vitamin D to healthy individuals for a daily consumption. This and several other factors lead to a dearth of this in our body,” said Dr Deepak Rajvir Singh, a bone health physician.
How much do we need?
According to Akanksha Kulkarni, a dietitian nutritionist at Prowise Healthcare, it is necessary to get a blood test prior to supplementing to see what your current vitamin D levels are. “The test is performed by your GP, who will also give you guidance on how to administer the dose if necessary,” she advises. The reason why doctors are wary to prescribe continuous usage of this supplement is because vitamin D is known to build up to toxic levels if taken in excess for too long.
“That’s true. Vitamin D can cause calcium to build too high, contributing to kidney stones and even bone damage,” Kulkarni said, explaining the common signs of an excess calcium buildup in the body. Symptoms may include the following:
Nausea and vomiting
Extreme weakness followed by
Frequent urination
All doctors that you would visit for a daily check-up will insist that taking large amounts of vitamin D without visiting a doctor is to be avoided at any cost.
But for those who need it, this supplement is a must have. As for adequate dosage, the National Institute of Health’s Office of Dietary Supplements, has recommended 600 IU daily for adults between 19 years to 70 years of age. This amount rises to 800 IU over the age of 70. Up to 4,000 IU daily is considered to be safe. Anything above this should only be taken under a doctor’s supervision.
Why the debate now?
Cholesterol and hypertension are two biggest ills in medical history and doctors are doing everything possible to come up with their theories on how we can manage both. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble nutrient that’s essential for health and it’s produced in the skin when exposed to sunlight, and also available in food and nutritional supplements. The body uses cholesterol to make vitamin D, so some theorise that increasing vitamin D production reduces cholesterol levels. However, many have debunked this idea saying vitamin D has no effect whatsoever on low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.
Experts have argued that population studies show people with lower vitamin D levels are more likely to have high cholesterol, although this doesn’t prove a “cause and effect” relationship. A 2012 study, for instance, found vitamin D supplements had no cholesterol-lowering effects. Here researchers found that the supplements were in turn associated with an increase in LDL. But this study was met with considerable criticism until it was replaced by another study in 2014 linking Vitamin D to lowering cholesterol in the body.
In this study, it was found that consuming calcium and vitamin D supplements (taken together) showed improved cholesterol levels, especially in postmenopausal, overweight, or obese women.
Today, Indian scientists have claimed that Vitamin D is an essential nutrient and a very crucial part of our bodily system but there is absolute insufficient evidence to determine any relationship between your vitamin D intake and cholesterol levels. However, vitamin D provides a host of other benefits and it cannot be considered a deterrent in using vitamin D as part of your healthy lifestyle.
A study released earlier this year had published findings which suggested that vitamin D is linked to better cardiometabolic health. It said, people taking the supplement had better blood pressure, total cholesterol, and fasting blood glucose. Some groups did even better, such as those with vitamin D deficiency or lower BMI. However, now some medical professionals have said it may not always be true. Let’s investigate both sides of this debate Health News Health News: Latest News from Health Care, Mental Health, Weight Loss, Disease, Nutrition, Healthcare
