Take Vitamin D Supplements with Meals

What do you do if you’re one of the 42% of Americans with vitamin D deficiency, are put on a vitamin D supplement regimen, and your levels still don’t budge?

That kept happening to this group of docs at the Cleveland Clinic. “In our practice,” they wrote, “it is common to see patients treated with vitamin D supplements who do not achieve an appreciable rise in their [vitamin D] level after therapy despite large prescribed doses.”

So, they did a few experiments, and concluded that “[t]aking vitamin D with the largest meal improves absorption and results in higher [blood] levels of [vitamin D].” Just that one simple change in timing “results in about a 50% increase in [blood] levels of [vitamin D] achieved.” They conclude: “It therefore seems reasonable to ask patients to take vitamin D supplements with their largest meal because it may be a cost-effective strategy that could very well help patients to achieve optimal serum levels of [vitamin D].”

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.

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• Forrest KY, Stuhldreher WL. Prevalence and correlates of vitamin D deficiency in US adults. Nutr Res. 2011 Jan;31(1):48-54.
• Mulligan GB, Licata A. Taking vitamin D with the largest meal improves absorption and results in higher serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D. J Bone Miner Res. 2010 Apr;25(4):928-30.

Image thanks to plant nutrition via Flickr

• nutrient absorption
• supplements
• vitamin D supplements