With January slipping by faster than any of us can believe, here’s a reminder to put “getting your vitamin D tested or retested” on your calendar for late February.
Ideally we should strive for a 50 to 60 ng/ml level of vitamin D, all year round. To determine how much supplementation you need in each season, not only test your vitamin D level in late February but also toward the end of summer in late August. With this information, you can accurately adjust your vitamin D dose.
1. Keep track of how much of vitamin D you take during the different seasons, and note when you change doses. This way when you get your blood test you will know how much vitamin D you took to obtain that vitamin D level.
2. As a rule of thumb, for every 1,000 IU increase in vitamin D supplement, your vitamin D level increases by 10 ng/ml.
3. It takes two months to see the full effect of a change in vitamin D dose.
• Lower than 32 ng/ml is deficient
• 33-49 is adequate
• 50-60 ng/ml is optimum
• Greater than 100 ng/ml is excessive
Experts now agree that a 32 ng/ml is the minimum adequate vitamin D level 25 necessary to protect bone. A level of 50-60 ng/ml is optimum for significant protection against many cancers, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and heart disease.
At the Center for Better Bones we find good evidence that having an adequate vitamin D blood level reduces your risk of fracture by 50%, while at the same time significantly decreases your vulnerability to diabetes, cancer, heart disease, periodontal disease, high blood pressure and even cognitive decline! For the latest new research on vitamin D and a free chart depicting the degree to which various diseases can be prevented by adequate vitamin D supplementation take the time to visit my friends at www.grassroots health.net. Or, learn more with my article Vitamin D: the benefits are more than ever imagined.