Getting enough vitamin D is vital to bone health and may help decrease high blood pressure and your risk of certain cancers. If you don’t get enough of the nutrient from sunlight, fish, eggs or fortified cereal and milk, vitamin D supplements may prove beneficial. But for some people, vitamin D supplements can cause serious health consequences, including kidney stones – especially when taken in excess. See your doctor to determine the origin of your kidney stones.
Concern
When there is imbalance of natural fluids and minerals such as calcium oxalate in your urine, there isn’t enough fluid to flush the minerals and they begin to stick together, or crystallize. This crystallization can turn into kidney stones. According to the Mayo Clinic wbesite, there are several types of kidney stones. One type, calcium stones, can come from eating too many foods with high oxalate levels such as spinach, rhubarb, chocolate and nuts. In some cases, however, high doses of vitamin D can cause this type of stone.
Symptoms
Symptoms of kidney stones are the same whether they come from calcium, uric acid or other causes. Signs of kidney stones include changes in urine color, pain during urination and an increasing need to urinate, severe pain in your back and sides, nausea and vomiting, and chills or fever. Always seek medical attention rather than trying to diagnose or treat the kidney stones yourself.
General Limits
The current recommended amounts of vitamin D are daily intakes of 600 International Units, or IUs, for most adults, and 800 IUs for adults over 70. The established upper intake level, or UL, describes the amount considered dangerous. The current suggested daily ULs for vitamin D are 4,000 IUs for children and adults over 9. It’s almost impossible to get too much vitamin D from foods or sunlight; most vitamin D toxicity comes from overusing supplements.
Kidney Complications
If you may be prone to kidney stones, the UL of vitamin D might be lower for you than for the general population, according to the Office of Dietary Supplements, or ODS, at the National Institutes of Health. Just as calcium and vitamin D work together to promote bone health, they may work together to raise the risk of calcium deposits in your urine. The ODS cites research indicating that women taking both 1,000 milligrams of calcium and 400 milligrams of vitamin D – both considered healthy doses – increased their chances of developing kidney stones. Ask your physician about the latest research regarding vitamin D supplements for your age and gender, as well as for people with similar medical histories.
