Only a select group of women will get a modest benefit from 800 IU of vitamin D

Created June 2017

Effect of Two Different Multimicronutrient Supplements on Vitamin D Status in Women of Childbearing Age: A Randomized Trial.

Nutrients. 2017 Jan 4;9(1). pii: E30. doi: 10.3390/nu9010030.

* Non-pregnant women, 58% were on contraceptives, German winter * . . .” users of hormonal contraceptives had higher baseline levels and a stronger increase in 25(OH)D levels . . .” * “ . . age ≥18 to ≤45 years, body mass index (BMI) 17 to 30 kg/m2, good physical and mental health. . . “ * Note: Women need more than 800 IU if start at a lower level of vitamin D * obese * pregnant or recently pregnant * not on contraceptives * dark skin * taking a variety of drugs * in poor health (>100 diseases are associated with low vitamin D) * elderly (gut, liver, and kidney do not process vitamin D as efficiently) 1. See also VitaminDWiki Raising Vitamin D level to 20 nanograms rarely results in any benefits 40 nanograms has been proven many time to provide benefits * Vitamin D helps women in many ways – review April 2015 * ALL of the top 10 health problems of women are associated with low vitamin D * Needed more than 1600 IU of vitamin D during pregnancy – RCT May 2013 * Dark skin pregnancies 2.6 times more likely to have low vitamin D – March 2017 * 3,800 IU Vitamin D during pregnancy did not help much – RCT Jan 2017 * Vitamin D needed to get children to just 20 ng in winter 800 IU white skin, 1100 IU dark (Sweden) – RCT June 2017 * Note: women weigh more than children, thus will need more than 800 IU * Winter youths need at least 1200 IU of vitamin D to maintain 20 nanograms – RCT 2016

The pills contained much more than Vitamin D

Perhaps the added vitamind increased the response

Women on contraceptives started with higher level and had bigger responses

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Pilz S1, Hahn A2, Schön C3, Wilhelm M4, Obeid R5.

1 Division of Endocrinology and Diabetology, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 15, 8036 Graz, Austria. stefan.pilz@chello.at.
2 Institute of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Leibniz University of Hannover, Am Kleinen Felde 30, 30167 Hannover, Germany. hahn@nutrition.uni-hannover.de.
3 BioTeSys GmbH, Schelztorstrasse 54-56, 73728 Esslingen, Germany. c.schoen@biotesys.de.
4 Department of Mathematics, Natural and Economic Sciences, University of Applied Science Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 55, 89081 Ulm, Germany. wilhelm@hs-ulm.de.
5 Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, University of Aarhus, Hoegh-Guldbergs Gade 6B, Building 1632, DK-8000 Aarhus, Denmark. rima.obeid@uks.eu.

The German Nutrition Society raised in 2012 the recommended daily vitamin D intake from 200 to 800 international units (IU) to achieve 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels of at least 50 nmol/L, even when endogenous vitamin D synthesis is minimal such as in winter. We aimed to evaluate this recommendation in women of childbearing age. This is a single-center, randomized, open trial conducted from 8 January to 9 May 2016 in Esslingen, Germany. We randomized 201 apparently healthy women to receive for 8 weeks a daily multimicronutrient supplement containing either 200 IU (n = 100) or 800 IU vitamin D3 (n = 101). Primary outcome measure was serum 25(OH)D. 196 participants completed the trial. Increases in 25(OH)D (median with interquartile range) from baseline to study end were 13.2 (5.9 to 20.7) nmol/L in the 200 IU group, and 35.8 (18.2 to 52.8) nmol/L in the 800 IU group (p < 0.001 for the between group difference). At study end, levels of ≥50 nmol/L were present in 70.4% of the 200 IU group and in 99% of the 800 IU group. Participants on hormonal contraceptives had higher baseline levels and a stronger increase in 25(OH)D. In conclusion, daily supplementation of 800 IU vitamin D3 during wintertime in Germany is sufficient to achieve a 25(OH)D level of at least 50 nmol/L in almost all women of childbearing age, whereas 200 IU are insufficient.

PMID: 28054964 PMCID: PMC5295074 DOI: 10.3390/nu9010030

Tags: Intervention Pregnancy Women