By Nathan Seppa
A scientific panel has called for tripling the recommended dietary allowance of vitamin D for most children and adults and increasing the amount slightly for older people. The committee of scientists, convened by the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine, also doubled the upper level of vitamin D that adults and older children can safely take in any given day from 2,000 international units to 4,000 IU.
The panel also bumped up calcium targets, a less controversial move. The report, requested by the U.S. and Canadian governments, was released November 30.
Vitamin D recommendations hadn’t been changed since 1997. And despite a wave of studies suggesting that the “sunshine vitamin” has benefits going far beyond bone health, the panel restricted its rationale to just that. Apart from aiding bone fitness, the panel said, the benefits of vitamin D “are currently not supported by evidence that could be judged either convincing or adequate.”