A new research report has found that the standard recommendation on the daily vitamin D requirement is not enough to establish healthy levels of the vitamin in black and obese individuals.
The published report in the journal BioMed Central Obesity studied the effects of taking vitamin D supplements in 70 black participants who belong anywhere between overweight and obese.
These healthy participants are aged below 50 years old and are living in the southeastern United States, according to Science Daily.
The upper daily limit for the supplementation is at 4,000 international units (IU), previously at 2,000 IU, as recommended by the Institute of Medicine. The recommended daily dose of vitamin D set by the institute is 600 IU for most children and adults.
Researchers found out that 600 IU was not enough to restore a desired level of the vitamin in the blood within 16 weeks. They also discovered that more than triple the suggested dose was needed to establish healthy levels of the vitamin in the blood.
However, upper limit dosing restored vitamin D at the desired level of 30 nanograms per milliliter, with the 4,000 IU-dosing restoring levels quicker by eight weeks.
"We hope these studies will give physicians better guidelines for some of their patients," said Yanbin Dong, a cardiologist and geneticist at the Georgia Prevention Institute at Georgia Regents University, according to a report from Science Daily. Dong added that a more personalized treatment regimen was the ideal approach to determine healthy levels of vitamin D in an individual.
Vitamin D deficiency is most likely in overweight blacks because they have darker skin,which means sunlight is not absorbed efficiently. Fat from overweight and obese patients also decreases the vitamin's bioavailability.
The body produces vitamin D when bare skin receives the right amount of sunlight exposure. Aside from exposure to sunlight, another way to get vitamin D is through supplements. One cannot get the right amount of vitamin D through dieting, as stated by the Vitamin D Council.
Vitamin D is needed for bone development, and a deficiency is linked with bone problems like rickets, but recent studies have shown that vitamin D can do a lot more in protecting the body from different health problems.
