Why should you keep your vitamin D level around 50 ng/ml?

Posted on September 19, 2011 by John Cannell, MD

Why should you keep your vitamin D level around 50 ng/ml? Four different sources, using four different rationales, and four different lines of reasoning, all lead to the same conclusion.

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About John Cannell, MD

Dr. John Cannell is founder of the Vitamin D Council. He has written many peer-reviewed papers on vitamin D and speaks frequently across the United States on the subject. Dr. Cannell holds an M.D. and has served the medical field as a general practitioner, itinerant emergency physician, and psychiatrist.
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4 Responses to Why should you keep your vitamin D level around 50 ng/ml?

  1. Angelo Kostas said on September 19, 2011 at 11:59 am

    I was pleased of my recent 25hydroxyVitD result (taken this past March) of 59 ng/ml. My oral supplementation regimen was 5ooo IU four days a week, and 10, ooo IU three days a week for four months (Novemeber – Feburary) to yield the aforementioned results. Currently, I take 5000 IU per day, seven days a week, and will be resuming my 10,000 IU into my regimen in a couple of months. Thanks Vitamin D Council for the guidlelines :)

  2. Richard Chura, D.C. said on September 22, 2011 at 8:16 am

    Over the past 3 1/2 years I have slowly brought my level from 14 ng/ml ! to a recent (April ’11) level of 63 ng/ml. It required a dose over the past year of ….15,000 to 20,000 IU DAILY, as lower 5,000-10,000iu dosages failed to raise me above 44ng/ml…. (I even found a bogus product through the Internet which allowed me to plummet from 44 in the spring of 2010 to 27 in the fall). I am curious as to whether this interval is due to my stature (6’5″ and 275lbs) ? or simply a long standing deficiency ( I moved to northern Michigan in the early 80s and soon began experiencing complaints I now recognize as potentially related to a lack of Vit D…)

  3. ruthiedicken@gmail.com said on September 22, 2011 at 11:14 am

    I am very grateful for your blog. I wonder if you could address the findings of higher vit d levels and increase in disease or a reverse J/u shaped curve?? My sister and I were discussing her level and she sent me this link: http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=13050&page=433 It references 3 studies that show increase risk in higher levels: Visser, Melamed, Jia. Thanks so much for all your hard work and analyses!

  4. Brant Cebulla said on September 22, 2011 at 2:20 pm

    Dr. Cannell spoke a little bit about the subject in a previous blog: http://blog.vitamindcouncil.org/2011/07/14/vitamin-d-blood-serum-levels-and-cancer/

    Dr. Grant has written a peer-reviewed paper critiquing u-shaped studies: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3092568/ He particularly addressed Melamed in a section.

    Also, if you have the time, check out this Harvard Forum YouTube show on the IOM vitamin D report. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBryEJXSaLk&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLADAC815C411BB3D1
    It’s an hour long, but I think around 45-50 minutes you can see renowned nutritionist Walter Willett’s agitation with what the IOM took away from those studies.

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