Your body can obtain Vitamin D in a number of ways. The fat-soluble vitamin is present in some foods and can be taken as a dietary supplement. Vitamin D is also produced and synthesized in your skin when it is exposed to ultraviolet rays from the sun. The vitamin is inert until it is activated through chemical processes in the liver and kidneys. Vitamin D plays an important role in your body, but fears of overdosing and vitamin D toxicity have triggered many concerns.
Function
Vitamin D is found naturally in only a few select foods, such as fish, oysters, margarine and certain dairy products, including cheese, butter, cream and fortified milk. The vitamin can also be added to other foods. Vitamin D is essential in helping your body absorb calcium, as well as regulating calcium and phosphorus levels in your blood. The vitamin also might help ward off osteoporosis, high blood pressure, cancer and a number of autoimmune diseases.
Toxicity
Having too much vitamin D in your system is known as toxicity. Vitamin D toxicities are rare. You cannot consume too much vitamin D through your diet or through sun exposure. A toxicity can occur, however, from too much vitamin D supplementation. An overdose of vitamin D supplements can cause calcium to build in your blood, a condition also known as hypercalcemia. Symptoms of hypercalcemia include nausea, vomiting, constipation, weakness, arrhythmias and kidney stones.
Treatment
The first thing you should do if you have toxic levels of vitamin D in your body is to stop taking any vitamin D supplements. You should cut back on eating any dairy products and other foods that contain vitamin D. Any calcium-rich foods should also be avoided. In addition, stop taking any medication if you have vitamin D toxicity. Recommended daily dosing for vitamin D is 600 international units, or IUs, for children and adults. The recommended dosage for senior citizens age 70 and over is 800 IUs per day.
Toxicity Research
According to the Vitamin D Council, many of the fears surrounding vitamin D toxicity are unwarranted. Doctor Reinhold Vieth of the University of Toronto and of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto believes the medical profession has triggered false alarms about vitamin D toxicity. He points to a lack of evidence of supporting claims that moderate doses of vitamin D can cause toxicity. Vieth notes one instance of toxicity during which a man took between 156,000 and 2,604,000 IUs of cholecalciferol, or vitamin D3, daily for two years. The man recovered without any serious side effects and was treated with steroids and sunscreen.
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