Vitamin D supplementation in the knockout test successively failed

Health: Why do people need vitamin D?

One thing is for sure: a true vitamin D deficiency is harmful to health. But this is not the case with most people in Germany.

Vitamin D * It is the precursor to a biological hormone, explains Professor Helmut Schatz of the Board of Directors of the German Society of Endocrinology (DGE). It is especially important for bone health, but it also affects muscle function. Unlike other vitamins, a person takes only a small portion of vitamin D through food – for example through fatty sea fish. The body makes up 80 to 90 percent of the skin itself with the help of sunlight.

Germany is not particularly sunny. So more and more people seem to think that they have a vitamin D deficiency. Pharmacies alone sold vitamin D preparations for around 177 million euros in 2017. This is calculated by IQVIA, the company that monitors the pharmaceutical market.

When is there a deficiency in vitamin D?

Birgit Niemann of the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) explains that we’re only talking about deficiency when people show symptoms, that is, patients. There were widespread deficiency symptoms with iodine, for example. Therefore, the consumption of iodized salt has been recommended across the board in Germany since the 1980s. Niemann asserts, “This is not the case with vitamin D.” “We explicitly do not share the opinion that there is a global vitamin D deficiency in Germany.” BfR doesn’t just care if the population is lacking in something – the institute also wants to know how people are optimally cared for. “There is still room for improvement with many vitamins,” Nieman says. Vitamin D * She also belongs to her.

When asked if it is Nutritional supplements * It is necessary and reasonable, He answers BfR: “Data on nutrient intake indicate that few vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin D, calcium, folic acid and iodine, are not consumed by some populations in Germany according to the intake recommendations of the German Dietetic Association (DGE eV). However, it is generally not possible to equalize it. In short supply or even deficiency. In individual cases, nutritional supplements can be beneficial. For example, additional calcium intake can be beneficial for people who do not consume dairy products. Table Salt has also been iodized for many years in order to improve iodine intake in Germany Widely “.

Other than drugs that have passed through Nutritional supplements * In Germany there is no formal approval procedure in which actual harm to health must be proven. According to the BfR, the product range on the German market is randomly checked by the official food inspectorate. The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment explicitly recommends only one nutritional supplement: “To improve or secure a sustainable supply of adequate amounts of folic acid, women who wish to have children and during pregnancy are advised to selectively regulate their diet. Nutritional supplements * To supplement. Folic acid has a positive effect on the safe closure of the neural tube in the embryonic stage and reduces the risk of so-called neural tube defects, such as “open back” (spina bifida) in newborns.

Vitamin D deficiency: when does it become critical?

The Robert Koch Institute According to the half of adults in Germany, a serum concentration of 50 nanomoles per liter (nanomol / L) or 20 nanograms per milliliter (ng / ml), which is considered optimal, does not reach. Do they all have a flaw? Neiman says, “No.” “But it is possible that they are at risk of a shortage of supplies.”

Because there is always a risk of decreased supply if the serum concentration is below the optimum value. However, doctors only speak of a deficiency when the value is much lower – 10 ng / ml for moderate deficiency and 5 ng / ml for severe deficiency. Both are relatively rare, says Schatz.

Infants, who are given vitamin D across the board, are at greater risk, as some do: for example, people who never leave home or only veiled, older adults over 65 and people with darker skin tones. For these groups, prophylactic administration of vitamin D may be considered, says Schatz.

What does vitamin D deficiency mean for health?

But the lack of supply doesn’t seem like something you’d like to have. But what does that actually mean in specific terms? “That’s the crux of the problem, we don’t know,” says Schatz.

In several studies, scientists have tried to find out whether people with low levels of vitamin D die early, whether they develop cancer often or have heart attacks.

A number of studies have also found a relationship between respiratory disease, rheumatism, or diabetes, and a low concentration of vitamin D in the blood. “But the question here is: Does a low level of vitamin D increase the risk of developing rheumatism, for example? Or is the opposite true: Does the disease affect the level of vitamin D?”

Vitamin D excess: also possible naturally

If you really want to know whether or not you are receiving adequate care, Stiftung Warentest recommends that you have a blood test by your family doctor. However, if the patient does not see a reason for conducting the examination, then the patient must pay around € 20 himself. The review is not part of the regular examination.

And who would think that without Nutritional supplements * If you can’t make ends meet, Schatz says, you can swallow these pills at your own expense. Doses of at least 800 to 1,000 international units (IU) do not harm the body. If someone takes more than 4,000 IUs without a medical reason, but their kidneys, for example, may suffer.

And then there is still the natural way Vitamin D * To refuel: the sun. Anyone wishing to contribute to the optimum supply of their body should go to the door every day. “You don’t have to lie in the sun half the day to do this,” Nieman says. “25 minutes a day is enough.” About a third of the body should be exposed to sunlight.

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