Natural Medicine Community Responds to New Vitamin D Recommendations

On November 30, 2010, the Institute of Medicine’s Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) released its vitamin D report. Reuters reported that the FNB advised, “most people in the United States and Canada get plenty of vitamin D and calcium, and may damage their health by taking too many supplements.” Indeed, in contrast with popular recommendations for higher vitamin D intake to reduce disease risk, the FNB recommended that North Americans need on average 400 IU of vitamin D a day. The FNB also concluded high doses of vitamin D (more than 4,000 IU/day) could cause damage to kidneys and other tissue.

Concerned by these recommendations, the Natural Medicine Journal is soliciting responses from our community. Read what your colleagues think about the report here:

• Let the Science and Evidence Guide Clinical Decision-Making on Vitamin D for the Benefit of Patients, by Alexander G. Schauss, PhD, FACN
• Broad-Brush Recommendations Are a Disservice to the Public, by Geovanni Espinosa, ND
• Media Coverage Further Confounds Recommendations, by Susan W. Ryan, DO

Care to weigh in? Email your analysis to dsb@naturalmedicinejournal.com and we’ll include your response in our round-up. Note: Responses may be edited for length, style, and clarity.