Vitamin D is known to be one of the essential vitamins. This has long been held by most doctors and nutritionists. Now there is a warning about vitamin D. Some say that vitamin D deficiency is overrated, and some speculate: is your doctor fooling you?
Vitamin D has largely been misunderstood. It is necessary for strong bones. There might also be some other health benefits to it. But how much is actually needed has not been certain, not even among nutritionists.
As of now, it is said that most Americans don't need additional vitamin D supplementation. Not when only 13 percent of Americans are in any danger of being deficient of the vitamin, according to CBS News. That's because the food is more available now, at least in most US states. The danger then of being deficient of the vitamin would be hard to come by unless one would somehow not be eating enough.
There are people though who are taking blood tests for vitamin D levels. Such tests are simply not necessary unless a bone loss is suspected, and that would only be true for those who are advanced in age or else undernourished. Reports have it that it is Medicare's fifth common test, even though it is not exactly necessary to take.
Right now there shouldn't be a lack of vitamin D sources. Milk and oily fish are some of the vitamin D sources. Food with milk as its ingredient should have some trace amounts of it as well. Many food and drinks are also fortified with vitamin D, as SF Gate reports. Too much vitamin D would actually lead to having high levels of calcium, which would not be good either.
"We're not saying that moderate-dose supplements are risky, but more is not necessarily better," explained Dr. JoAnn Manson of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. People have different levels of need for vitamin D, as age could be one factor for it.
Some people, including doctors, see the RDA as the maximum that people need for vitamin D. They then prescribe doses that go above that. This leads people to think that they don't have enough vitamin D.
People are already getting enough vitamin D from food. Supplements can help, but largely aren't necessary. Vitamin D deficiency is overrated, and some ask: is your doctor fooling you? Most likely, they are not. Many doctors rely on what the blood tests say. A report also says that vaping can lead to a higher risk of teen smoking.
