The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends adult men and women up to age 70 take in 600 IU daily of vitamin D. But mounds of research show you need 5,000 to 10,000 IU of this essential nutrient per day to ward of chronic diseases–let alone achieve optimal good health.
Why such an enormous gap? Enter the smoking gun…
Researchers at University of California San Diego and Creighton University in Nebraska recently discovered the IOM’s Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for vitamin D is off by a factor of 10.
This discrepancy isn’t just a rounding error. It means the decimal point must move one place over. And it represents a huge, astronomical mistake. In fact, astronomers and other scientists call this degree of deviance “an order of magnitude.” They use orders of magnitude to calculate large, “astronomical” numbers like molecules in water, cells in the body, or stars in the universe!
A previous investigation at the University of Alberta School of Public Health used different data, but came to the very same conclusion. Men and women need 10 times more vitamin D than what the IOM recommends to reduce their risk of diseases related to vitamin D deficiency.
The researchers called on the IOM and all public health authorities to increase the RDA for vitamin D to 7,000 IU per day from all sources. This dose remains well below the upper limit of 10,000 IU, which the IOM previously specified as safe for adolescents and adults. (Although, it’s quite possible their upper limit figure could accordingly be too low as well.)
Dr. Cedric F. Garland, the lead researcher from UC San Diego, stated this huge IOM error has “broad implications for public health regarding disease prevention and achieving the stated goal of ensuring that the whole population has enough vitamin D to maintain bone health.”
Of course, the IOM focuses only on vitamin D’s role in supporting bone health. But, it turns out, they couldn’t even get that much right. Plus, it ignores all the evidence for all the other diseases related to this key nutrient in the rest of the body.
So–how can you “up” your vitamin D intake?
You can start by spending some time in the sun without sunscreen whenever you can. Your skin will activate vitamin D production on its own when exposed to strong sunlight. Unfortunately, from November to March, the sun isn’t strong enough in most parts of the country to activate enough vitamin D on your skin to give you optimal levels. So you must get the rest of your D from other sources.
You can find vitamin D in foods like fatty fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel), cheese, and eggs. That’s one more reason to avoid vegetarian and vegan diets.
I also recommend everyone take a daily supplement that contains 5,000 IU of vitamin D. You can now find vitamin D in an easy-to-use liquid form, which you can add to fruit juice or milk. You can also find it combined with astaxanthin, a powerhouse carotenoid from the sea.
Unfortunately, I still hear from well-meaning people who worry about taking “too much” vitamin D because of the false claims and controversies about overdose promulgated by the irresponsible mainstream.
Clearly, this overdose problem is a non-issue. In fact, we need 10 times more than the amount government has been steadfastly recommending all this time.
Are they really that stupid, or could it all be done on purpose? And you can be sure government bureaucrats and their co-dependents will take no accountability whatsoever for this egregious, inexcusable error.
This whole situation with vitamin D makes me wonder why give the mainstream any credibility at all when it comes to your nutrition?
To read more about the critical importance of getting enough vitamin D, click here.
Sources:
- “A Statistical Error in the Estimation of the Recommended Dietary Allowance for Vitamin D,” Nutrients, 2014: 6 (10): 4472-4475