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Posted 3/16/07CLICK TO PRINT

NAME: Vitamin D3
DESCRIPTION: Vitamin D is both a vitamin and a hormone: It's a vitamin because your body cannot absorb calcium without it; it's a hormone because your body manufactures it in response to your skin's exposure to sunlight.

The two major forms of vitamin D are D3 (cholecalciferol) and D2 (ergocalciferol); calciferol means "calcium carrier" in Latin.
FUNCTION: Vitamin D promotes retention and absorption of calcium and phosphorus, primarily in the bones. It is used commonly in conjunction with calcium to treat osteoporosis.

Vitamin D3 is increasingly found to be important to sustain good health of not only bones, but other tissues such as the brain, intestines, muscle and immune function as well.

SOURCES: There are very few food sources of vitamin D; the best sources are coldwater fish. Other foods with smaller amounts of vitamin D include oysters and dairy products.

Many products, such as milk and cereal are fortified with vitamin D.
DOSAGE: The official U.S. and Canadian recommendations for daily intake of vitamin D are as follows:
• Infants 0–12 months, 200 IU (5 mcg)
• Males and females 1–50 years, 200 IU (5 mcg) 51–70 years, 400 IU (10 mcg); 71 years and older, 600 IU (15 mcg)
• Pregnant or nursing women, 200 IU (5 mcg)
DATA: There have been studies done on sunlight-deprived subjects ranging from submarine personnel (who were given 400 IU daily) to Islamic women (given 600 IU daily), both concluding that these people needed additional vitamin D supplementation to maintain proper bone health. One study recommendis doses of 1,000 IU daily for sun-deprived individuals.

Research as to whether or not vitamin D may help prevent cancer of the breast, colon, pancreas, prostate, and skin have yielded mixed results.

It has been suggested that since vitamin D levels in the body drop in the wintertime, vitamin D supplements might be helpful for seasonal affective disorder ("winter blues"). Hoever, a study of 2,217 women over 70 years of age found no benefit.
CAUTIONS: Insufficiencies of vitamin D may result in severe loss of calcium and consequently a softening and weakening of bones (rickets).

Too much vitamin D may have the opposite effect of taking calcium from the bones and depositing it in the heart or lungs, reducing their function.

People with sarcoidosis or hyperparathyroidism, and those taking thiazide diuretics or calcium-channel blockers should not take vitamin D without first consulting a physician.
FOR MORE
INFORMATION:		 "Can vitamin D supplementation prevent winter-time blues?" Study abstract from The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging (Mar-Apr 2006) on PubMed.gov.

Brigham Women's/Faulkner Hospitals' website entry on Vitamin D.
RELATED
PRODUCTS:		 Vitamin D3 (Jarrow Formulas) Each bottle, 100 caps. Each capsule, 400 IU of the fat-soluble vitamin D3 in the form of cholecalciferol.
DISCLAIMER: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.