How to take a vitamin D supplement

Vitamin D fulfills up to sixty different functions in our body. It is not only used for fix calcium in the bonesbut also to keep the immune system in good condition.

A sufficient contribution prevents allergies, flu, autoimmune diseases, cancer, etc. The deficiency is also related to insomnia, lack of concentration, apathy, migraines, chronic pain and fibromyalgia.

How much vitamin D do you need?

To determine the values ​​in the blood, the concentration of a metabolite, 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (calcidiol), is looked at. According to research, optimal levels of this metabolite should be between 40-70ng/ml. There are many people, even in our sunny country, who do not reach them.

To get all the vitamin D you need, you need to synthesize it in the skin around you. 15,000 IU exposing themselves to the sun’s rays daily without protection for 20 to 60 minutes depending on the time of day, the season of the year, the latitude in which we live, the type of skin and the surface of the body exposed.

The dose can be completed with foods that contain vitamin D and, if necessary, with a supplement.

What is the recommended dose for a vitamin D supplement?

An adult of 70-80 kg can take a supplement of up to 5,000 IU per day to reach the optimal level of between 40-70ng/mL in blood.

There are still those who supplement with 800 IU a day for fear of an alleged toxicity above that dose. In most cases it is totally insufficient. It has been seen that it can be supplemented up to 10,000 IU per day in people with severe deficiency of this vitamin without risk of toxicity.

The most physiological way to take a vitamin d supplement It is daily in the morning, which is when the body is best prepared to synthesize and use the vitamin. One of the reasons to do it this way is that in the intestine we have Peyer’s patches, which are part of the immune system and receive vitamin D from food – or from supplements – to carry out their functions.

Take her with a little oil or during a main meal It is important, since vitamin D is liposoluble, that is, it dissolves in fat; Only in this way can a correct absorption at the intestinal level be guaranteed.

It is convenient to perform blood tests every 3 months to correctly monitor the effect of supplementation.