How often should you take vitamin D?

Vitamin D plays a crucial role in calcium and phosphate metabolism and therefore contributes significantly to the hardening of the bones. Strictly speaking, vitamin D is not a vitamin, but a hormone. It can be produced by the body itself and acts as a messenger in numerous metabolic processes. But how often should you take vitamin D?

Vitamin D: Frequency and doses

« There are hardly any different information and recommendations on the normal range as with 25-oh vitamin D, » explains Kai-J. Lüthgens, specialist in laboratory medicine in Stuttgart on request. In particular, the daily dosage raises questions. The German Society for Nutrition (DGE) recommends 800 IE a day, and healthy adults are also recommended in the guidelines of the endocrine society. According to internist and metabolic expert Helena Orfanos-Boeckel, the span of vitamin D is large. In her guide « nutrient therapy – the practical guide » she writes that required doses can be between 500 and 20,000 IE. « The preventive need is individual, that has to be measured, » she emphasizes.

By the way: Healthy adults advise the endocrine society in its Guidelines for the prevention of diseases from regular routine tests, since according to the organization, they only make sense in specific medical indications. Therefore also pays in Germany usually only a testwhen the doctor sees a necessity.

How often should you take vitamin D?

« In people who need little vitamin D every day (…) it has proven itself to take the dose every day, » writes the doctor. The endocrine society also prefers daily supplementation compared to rarer, highly dosed gifts to ensure stable blood levels and minimize the risk of overdose.

Who with one daily income of swords can be vitamin D but also less often in higher quantities. « If you need 3000 IE every day, you can also switch to 1 x 20,000 IE per week, » writes Orfanos-Boeckel. According to the consumer center, higher -dose preparations are to be regarded as medicinal products. A doctor should therefore be consulted before taking it. This only makes sense because the European Food Safety Authority for Vitamin D has formulated a maximum of 4000 IE. Don’t be afraid: If you have a defect, you have to take higher doses at first – but only until it is balanced and the daily maintenance dose – the amount that is necessary to keep healthy blood values.