How much Vitamin D do we need in Minnesota? - KMSP-TV

Nearly two years since the esteemed U.S. Institute of Medicine revised the recommendations for daily vitamin D intake, a controversy has been brewing the medical world.

Thursday, researchers at Loyola University-Chicago calculated 78.7 million adults once considered to have insufficient vitamin D levels now have sufficient levels under the new guidelines. A Minnesota doctor says that is "garbage" based on his own research at Allina.

Vitamin D is needed primarily for healthy bones. Low levels can cause bone softening, a disease called rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults.

So, the question now is how much Vitamin D should we be taking in? Especially in Minnesota winter's, should we be taking supplements, since we're not outside as much? Also, should more people be getting blood tests to see where their Vitamin D level is and if it's low, what are the next steps to take?

"The enthusiasm for vitamin D is outpacing the evidence," says JoAnn Manson, an endocrinologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston who heads the Vital Study, a clinical trial of 20,000 people looking at whether high levels of vitamin D can prevent cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and other illnesses.