Excessive Vitamin D Intake Could Harm Your Health
Vitamin D is vital for the immune system, cell, and muscle growth as it reduces inflammation and helps regulate blood pressure. Besides, it is known as a vitamin that could protect the heart.
According to Alkhaleej Today, vitamin D plays a significant role in calcium metabolism and a critical need for the body. If having less vitamin D leads to deficiency, excessive intake leads to toxicity.
Vitamin D toxicity
Vitamin D is also known as sun vitamin. It is one of the fat-soluble vitamins essential for a human body's proper functioning, as per a report. This vitamin is mainly associated with building calcium and can be ingested through vitamin D nutrients found in the sun, food, and supplements.
Also, vitamin d is vital in maintaining the healthy functioning of body cells. People who feel a lack of nutrients often choose supplements to meet the body's daily required vitamins. This process of accumulating nutrients could lead to vitamin d poisoning. Excessive vitamin D could result from eating enormous amounts of vitamin D supplements.
The toxicity due to excessive vitamin D occurs when the blood levels rise above 150mg/mL as the vitamin is stored in the body fat and is slowly released into the bloodstream. However, despite this, toxicity is unusual and only occurs exclusively to people who took long-term high-dose dietary supplements without monitoring their blood levels.
Side effects of excessive vitamin D intake
Here are some of the health risks of excessive vitamin d intake, as explained by a nutritionist:
- Nausea and vomiting- these are the most common side effects of vitamin D poisoning. A person may experience vomiting and nausea due to the high level of calcium in the blood. However, these are not common to every individual.
- Constipation, stomach pain, or diarrhea- digestive complaints are commonly associated with food intolerance or irritable bowel syndrome caused by vitamin D toxicity or high blood calcium levels.
- Bone loss- vitamin D helps metabolize calcium that is crucial for healthy bones. However, too much vitamin D in the body leads to low levels of vitamin K2 in the blood, which plays a significant role in maintaining healthy bones. That's why it is crucial to take the average amounts of vitamin D supplements.
- Renal failure- kidneys are responsible for the excretion process to eliminate waste products from the body. Having an overdose of vitamin D affects kidney function. If excessive vitamin D intake continues, the risk of developing kidney failure will increase.
- High levels of calcium in the blood- being overdosed in vitamin D could increase in calcium that may cause calcium deposition on skin and tissues. It also negatively affects the bones. Excessive vitamin D that causes an increase in calcium may lead to high blood pressure, loss of bones, fatigue, dizziness, and kidney damage.
Latin Post recently reported that new research discovered a correlation between being vitamin D deficient and a higher risk of COVID-19.a study found that more than 80% of the coronavirus patients are vitamin D deficient.
Researchers on the new study of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism observed 216 COVID-19 patients in a hospital in Spain, wherein patients were matched to controls from another dataset.
All patients who underwent the study were provided with the best treatment. But 50 of them were randomly assigned to get calcifediol, a form of vitamin D3 that can immediately increase vitamin D levels in a human body.
Check these out:
Vitamin D May Help Treat COVID-19, New Research Shows
COVID-19 Patients: 80% of Them Are Vitamin D Deficient, Study Claims
Fauci Says Take Vitamin D If You're Deficient. How to Know If You Are?