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It has been nearly a year since the Institute of Medicine (IOM) issued a new report on Vitamin D and Calcium. The report found that calcium and vitamin D are so important for bone health that new recommendations for the public were made.
- Men and women under the age of 50 need 1,000 milligrams (mg) of calcium and 600 international units (IU) of vitamin D per day.
- Women age 50 and older need 1,200 mg calcium and 600 IU vitamin D per day and women age 70 and older need 1,200 mg of calcium and 600 IU of vitamin D per day.
- Men over the age of 50 need 1,000 mg calcium and 600 IU per day and men over the age of 70 need 1,200 mg of calcium and 800 IU of vitamin per day.
The recommendations are different for pregnant women, children, and infants so be sure to consult your doctor or dietitian regarding supplement use.
To give you an idea of how much calcium and vitamin D are in food, one cup of milk has about 550 mg of calcium and 120 IU of vitamin D. Calcium is mainly in dairy, including milk and cheese, but it can also be found in non-animal sources, such as broccoli, some breakfast cereals, juice, and soy milk. Our bodies are able to make vitamin D as long as we have access to sunlight. Food sources of vitamin D include fatty fish (like salmon, tuna, and sardines), dairy, eggs, and some breakfast cereals. Be sure to check out the food label, as both of these nutrients are listed there. Supplements, such as multivitamin pills, can be a good source of calcium and vitamin D as well, but only if you are not getting enough from your diet.
Despite the importance of this vitamin, The IOM also determined that certain groups of people are at risk for low blood levels of vitamin D. These groups include people who live in northerly latitudes, people who live in intuitions (like prisons and mental health facilities), and people with dark skin. This is because these three groups of people may have less access to sunlight.
Just when you were thinking that more is better, there are upper levels for each calcium and vitamin D. So, if you eat more than the maximum level, which is 2,000 – 2,500 mg calcium and 4,000 IU vitamin D, it can actually have a negative impact on your health. Bottom line, don’t go overboard!
Quote from an expert:
“The new recommendations on Vitamin D are conservative and target vitamin D doses to maintain health.”
-Nida Shaikh, MS, RD, LD
Miriam Abouelnasr MS, RD, LD spent a year at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia working for the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program. She is currently a registered dietitian and working towards her PhD in nutrition at Emory University in Atlanta. She enjoys dairy, but especially chocolate soy milk!
Reference:
Ross, Catherine A., et al "The 2011 Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium and Vitamin D: What Dietetics Practitioners Need to Know." Journal of the American Dietetic Association (2011): 524-527.
Miriam..
ReplyDeleteMost people cant run lab tests on their body chemistry to see if they are taking in an effective amount of these critical elements and proteins. What would be your recommendation to the main stream person to know they are feeling better or can tell a difference in their physical lives from taking the right and consistent amounts of calcium and Vit D?
mark
I think most people are unaware/don't keep track of how much calcium and vitamin D they actually have per day through the food they eat. I too, somewhat like the comment before mine, am a bit lost as to how one is supposed to know/keep track of how much of these vitamins they have had - how would one know they had enough, or even worst, exceeded the maximum daily requirement.
ReplyDeleteWould you think it would be best for everyone to take these vitamins - perhaps in a multi-vitamin - rather than risk not having enough per day?
-Rita Wakim
I like the concept of this and I think the information is clearly important (get more, but not too much more). One way you might address some of these comments would be to add pictures to your blog to visually present what they should be shooting for each day. I think that might address some of the previous comments.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think it would be helpful to explain why vitamin D and calcium are important -- i.e., what do these nutrients do for me? This taps into Rita's question a little bit about how you know if you've gotten enough (by how your body feels or what you might notice).
So -- what would you tell someone who wanted to know why they needed these nutrients?
“The new recommendations on Vitamin D are conservative and target vitamin D doses to maintain health.”
ReplyDeleteThis quote doesn't say much - I think it needs to be expanded or placed somewhere else. End with a bang! I need to drink more milk.
~Kiran / Ariela's former student