Vitamin D benefits may be confusing for some

Every week, there is conflicting news about vitamin D. Some researchers claim that this vitamin can help strengthen bones and prevent heart disease and others claim the exact opposite. Deficiencies of vitamin D have been attributed for the cause of medical disorders including high blood pressure, dementia, tuberculosis, spinal cord disorders, obstructive lung disease and the list is endless.

While vitamin D seems to be getting a lot of press, there is no solid evidence to back up the claims by the researchers. All the studies so far are weak and the associations to vitamin D are loose.

Some doctors, nutritionists and alternative health care practitioners seem to be pushing the public to take more calcium or vitamin D. However, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) is cautioning consumers against it. While too little vitamin D is bad, so is too much.

So far, no one has ever shown that taking mega doses of vitamin D is beneficial. In addition, many healthcare practitioners have resorted to measuring levels of vitamin D in blood. The IOM states that screening the public for vitamin D deficiency is really not necessary because there is no evidence that such a deficiency does exist in the American population. The only exceptions are African Americans, obese and pregnant women.

The best advice for the public today is to ensure that they get their vitamin D from eating natural foods like salmon and green leafy vegetables.