Americans worry too much about Vitamin D deficiency.
Doctors underline that Vitamin D might be harmful or at least unnecessary for many Americans. Although it is great for your bones and reduces the risks of other long-lasting health issues, Vitamin D receives too much attention from the public.
Based on the latest survey, public health specialists concluded that people rely too much on pills to deal with problems which they don’t have. Worse, there is a common misconception among many adults that you must have a high daily intake of vitamin D.
When people take too many pills, doctors can misinterpret these patients’ blood tests due to the high levels of vitamin D in their blood. Based on the statistics, less than six percent of Americans under 70 years have a vitamin D deficiency, whereas just 13 percent of them have an elevated risk because they don’t get enough.
According to study authors, it is true that these numbers are concerning, but that doesn’t point to the fact that all Americans should take dietary supplements every day. The frequency of blood tests has significantly increased over the past few years, even if they are recommended only when people have serious problems with their bones.
These tests are widely popular across the United States as they increased by 83 percent between 2000 and 2010. Furthermore, 8.7 million blood tests were done in 2015, with $40 each. Vitamin D test ranks fifth in Medicare’s records, immediately after cholesterol level tests and higher than blood sugar, prostate cancer screening, and UTIs.
According to Dr. Kenny Lin, preventive medicine specialist at Georgetown University, many patients usually ask for a blood test. The use of Vitamin D pills among Americans increased from five percent of adults in 1999 to 19 percent in 2012.
While it is true that it is hard to get enough of this vitamin during winter, there are plenty of drinks and foods rich in vitamin D, besides fish and milk. People who exaggerate taking this vitamin, have an elevated risk to suffer from constipation, nausea, abnormal heart rhythms, and kidney stones because they have too much calcium in their blood
According to Dr. JoAnn Manson from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, moderate doses of dietary supplements are not dangerous, but that doesn’t suggest that they are recommended. It means that when it comes to Vitamin D, less is more.
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