Levels of 50 nmol/L (20 ng/mL) or above are adequate for most people for bone and overall health. Levels below 30 nmol/L (12 ng/mL) are too low and might weaken your bones and affect your health. Levels above 125 nmol/L (50 ng/mL) are too high and might cause health problems.
The normal range of 25-hydroxy vitamin D is measured as nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL). Many experts recommend a level between 20 and 40 ng/mL. Others recommend a level between 30 and 50 ng/mL.
Definition of vitamin D deficiency
A range of below 75 nmol/L (or 30 ng/ml) of serum/plasma 25(OH)D concentration is considered vitamin D deficiency by most authors [11, 12].
Vitamin D Levels
Healthy Bones Australia recommends a vitamin D level of at least 50 nmol/L at the end of winter and during summer higher levels are common in the range of 60-70 nmol/L. Your doctor will only test your vitamin D level (with a blood test) if you are at risk of vitamin D deficiency.
Today, 25(OH)D less than 12 ng/mL is considered evidence of severe vitamin D deficiency.
Having inadequate levels of vitamin D may correlate with unintentional weight gain. A study on women over the age of 65 found that participants with a lower vitamin D level experienced more weight gain. A systematic review of 23 different studies found similar associations between vitamin D deficiency and obesity.
Vitamin D deficiency is most commonly caused by a lack of exposure to sunlight. Some disorders can also cause the deficiency. The most common cause is lack of exposure to sunlight, usually when the diet is deficient in vitamin D, but certain disorders can also cause the deficiency.
Therefore, conditions that affect the gut and digestion, like celiac disease, chronic pancreatitis, Crohn's disease, and cystic fibrosis, can reduce vitamin D absorption.
The Vitamin D Council. The Endocrine Society has a Clinical Practice Guideline. This guideline recommends a minimum vitamin D level of 20 ng/mL, but to guarantee sufficiency they recommend between 30 and 50 ng/mL for both children and adults.
Recent findings: Low vitamin D levels are associated with increased symptoms of depression and anxiety. For this reason, vitamin D screening should be performed in the prevention and treatment planning of these mood disorders.
Vitamin D stimulates hair follicles to grow, and so when the body does not have enough, the hair may be affected. A vitamin D deficiency may also be linked to alopecia areata, an autoimmune condition that causes patchy hair loss.
Besides boosting mood and promoting calcium absorption, recent studies have shown that vitamin D may also aid in weight loss. For people with extra belly fat, a vitamin D supplement may be beneficial.
In general, the two main causes of vitamin D deficiency are: Not getting enough vitamin D in your diet and/or through sunlight. Your body isn't properly absorbing or using vitamin D.
IBS and Vitamin D deficiency
Symptoms include a combination of diarrhoea or constipation, bloating, urgency (the need to use a restroom in a hurry), white or yellow mucus in the stool and the sensation of incompletely passing stools.
[9,10] Low vitamin D leads to bone abnormalities (e.g., osteomalacia, osteopenia, and osteoporosis) and worsens muscle strength. [11] In otherwise healthy individuals, fatigue can be a manifestation of low vitamin D levels and its impact on reduced maximum functioning of skeletal muscles via vitamin D receptors.
It can take anywhere from 1-6 months to raise vitamin D levels with supplements.
Growing evidence has demonstrated that vitamin D has a role in sleep regulation [12]. Specifically, vitamin D deficiency (VDD) can increase risk of sleep disorders and is associated with sleep difficulties, shorter sleep duration, and nocturnal awakenings in children and adults [13,14,15].
Most people with vitamin D deficiency are asymptomatic. However, if you're exhausted, your bones hurt, you have muscle weakness or mood changes, that's an indication that something may be abnormal with your body. Symptoms of vitamin D deficiency may include: Fatigue.
Some side effects of taking too much vitamin D include weakness, dry mouth, nausea, vomiting, and others. Taking vitamin D for long periods of time in doses higher than 4000 IU (100 mcg) daily is possibly unsafe and may cause very high levels of calcium in the blood.
"Adequate levels of magnesium in the body are essential for the absorption and metabolism not only of vitamin D but of calcium as well," Dean states. "Magnesium converts vitamin D into its active form so that it can help calcium absorption.