New vitamin D guidelines are ridiculous at best, and at worst, dangerous

Don’t be surprised if one of these days the Institute of Medicine tells us that vitamin D supplements are unnecessary.

IOM officials might point out that D just doesn’t appear improve health issues. So, there you go! End of story on vitamin D!

But what they might NOT point out is that THEY lowered the guideline for D deficiency.

Advice and dissent

The IOM motto is, “Advising the nation. Improving health.”

Believe me. This advice, you don’t need. And it certainly won’t improve your health.

Two years ago, I told you about the new IOM guideline for vitamin D deficiency. It dropped the minimum blood level of D by one-third. And that changed everything. It meant that most people wouldn’t need a vitamin D supplement.

A new study confirms that. Researchers at Loyola found that nearly 80 million Americans would no longer require D supplements under the new guideline.

Unbelievable! Given what we know about D benefits, that would be a national health disaster.

But IOM claims that vitamin D research is too contradictory to use the higher cutoff for deficiency. And they largely based their decision on safety concerns.

Well, I’ve read their report. And their safety concerns are ludicrous.

Keep in mind that summer sun exposure creates 10,000 IU of vitamin D in just 30 minutes. And the IOM admits that vitamin D toxicity would be unlikely at levels up to 10,000 IU daily.

Yes. I’d say that would be VERY unlikely! Furthermore, if you take 5,000 IU daily, you will probably never be deficient. Not by old standards, new standards, or ANY standards.

So the safety issue is a complete non-issue.

I have no idea why the IOM would recommend such a ridiculous guideline that would undercut vitamin D supplement use. Again and again, we’ve seen studies showing a wide range of health benefits when D is sufficient.

In fact, a new study reveals just how devastating it might be if 80 million people stopped taking their daily D.

Researchers measured blood levels of more than 182,000 subjects. Their health records were tracked for nearly two years.

Results: Those with the lowest D levels had a higher rate of deaths from all causes compared to subjects with the highest levels.

If this were the first study to show such a clear link between D and good health, I’d say let’s wait and see what further research shows. But this is among HUNDREDS of studies that demonstrate D benefits.

Makes you wonder what kind of medicine they’re taking over at the Institute of Medicine. Whatever it is, it seems to be clouding their minds.

Sources:
“Nearly 80 Million Americans Won’t Need Vitamin D Supplements Under New Guidelines” Loyola University Health System press release, 10/19/12, newswise.com

“Mortality Rates Across 25-Hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) Levels among Adults with and without Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate

“Serum vitamin D levels inversely related to risk of dying over two year period” Life Extension, 8/25/12, lef.org