Vitamin D Overdose? - Is it possible to take too much?
- drbrandanlee
- Oct 10, 2024
- 3 min read
Let's address a common misunderstanding about Vitamin D.
Vitamin D is one of the four fat-soluble vitamins. Some vitamins are water-soluble, meaning if you consume too much, your body will clear it out through your urine. Fat-soluble vitamins, on the other hand, are stored in your body's fat reserves, so your body will tend to keep accumulating fat-soluble vitamins rather than excreting excess.
This mechanism of storing fat-soluble vitamins in your body's tissues has led to the concern of overdosing on Vitamin D. While it is, in fact, possible to take too much Vitamin D and could be dangerous, worries about taking too much are grossly exaggerated. In a population plagued by low or deficient Vitamin D levels, scaring people with statements like: "Watch out, you can take too much Vitamin D!" has likely hurt more people than it has helped.
This poses a critical dilemma: The vast majority of the population is too low in Vitamin D and has a tremendous amount to gain by improving their Vitamin D levels. However, they may have an unwarranted fear that they will hurt themselves by supplementing. At ImmuneStrong Kids, we would never advocate doing anything radical or extreme; instead, we believe the solution to this dilemma comes through education and lending some critical context.
Here are several vital points to consider:
The National Institutes of Health, in a StatPearls article from 2023, states that "Vitamin D toxicity, also known as hypervitaminosis D, occurs when serum levels of 25(OH)D exceed 150 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL)." The average adult in the US and Canada has a Vitamin D level of 26 ng/ml. This means the average adult would need to elevate their Vitamin D level more than five times their current level to reach 150 ng/ml. This is not easily done.
Many of the relatively few documented cases of Vitamin D toxicity resulted from an industrial accident. A fascinating New England Journal of Medicine case report reviewed an incident where gallons of milk were accidentally fortified with up to 930,000 IU of Vitamin D3. Typically, a gallon of milk would have about 1600 IU of Vitamin D. This industrial accident resulted in 580 times the average amount of Vitamin D in the milk. The case report looked at eight patients who suffered symptoms of Vitamin D toxicity after consuming this over-fortified milk. All eight made a full recovery.
We believe the data makes a compelling case that we should strive to have a Vitamin D level of 40 - 60 ng/ml. Notice that the upper limit of this range is less than half of the established toxicity level of 150 ng/ml.
In her groundbreaking book Vitamin K2 and the Calcium Paradox, Dr. Kate Rhéaume-Bleue discusses the role of fat-soluble vitamins and how they often work in synergy. As the author of this article, I am not speaking for Dr. Rhéaume-Bleue. Still, after reading her book, I came to believe that adding Vitamin K2 to a Vitamin D3 supplement would help reduce the risk of Vitamin D toxicity.
This topic reinforces the importance of testing and working with a doctor who is well-educated about Vitamin D. The average consumer who works with a doctor to assess and minimize rare contraindications and risk factors and thoughtfully takes a quality Vitamin D3/K2 supplement as part of a healthy diet and lifestyle has a very low risk of achieving toxic levels. We recommend utilizing the power of Vitamin D testing to ensure that your blood levels stay in the optimal range of 40 - 60 ng/ml.
To ensure accurate test results, it is essential to avoid consuming supplements containing Vitamin D for 48 hours before the test. Consuming a Vitamin D supplement too close to the test can give falsely high results. It would be a shame to take a Vitamin D test and then be unable to trust the results because a Vitamin D supplement caused an artificially high score.
The next time someone brings up a concern about taking too much Vitamin D, be sure to share this article with them.
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