Nature Made Says Individuals May Need More Vitamin D than IOM Suggests

While the Nature Made vitamin brand has commended the Institute of Medicine (IOM) for upping its Dietary Reference Intake (DIR) recommendations for vitamin D, the company points out that some individuals may require more vitamin D than the DIRs suggest.

“Although these new recommendations show great progress in understanding vitamin D, experts agree that vitamin D needs are unique and should be based on an individual’s actual blood levels of the nutrient, and while food sources are available, most people do not consume enough dairy or fortified foods to obtain adequate vitamin D,” the company stated in a press release.

Nature Made also pointed out that it offers vitamin D supplements in a range of doses, depending on the needs of an individual. For consumers that need high doses of vitamin D, for instance, the brand offers a 5000 IU supplement. It also offers 1000 IU and 2000 IU supplements.

Individualized vitamin D needs can vary-for instance, due to a person’s level of sunlight exposure. Also, seasonally, Americans who live in the northern half of the United States may not be able to produce adequate levels of vitamin D in the fall and winter months, the company said.

“This variation in vitamin D levels means that one blanket DRI, no matter how well researched, cannot ensure the best guidance in vitamin D intake for an entire population,” it stated.

More consumers may be catching onto the idea of individualized vitamin D assessments, the company said, stating that vitamin D level tests increased nearly 90% in 2008.

In its report released today, the IOM announced an increased DRI for children from 200 IU/day to 400 IU/day. For adults, the DRI was increased to 600 IU/day, and for adults over the age of 71, the DRI was increased to 800 IU/day. An Upper Level Intake level has now been set at 4000 IU/day.