Get thee to some Vitamin D!

June 4, 2008 5:40 PM

What is the best way to get Vitamin D (other than sunshine!) to support optimum calcium absorption?

I suffer from a loss of bone density and take Fosamax weekly. In addition, I have increased the amount of calcium in my diet.

My doctor recommends that I take 400-800 mg of Vitamin D each day to increase the rate of calcium absorption. He told me an over the counter variety of Vitamin D in pill form would be fine to take.

As I react negatively to calcium tablets and am gaining my calcium through food, I need a plain old Vitamin D tablet to work with my food/calcium - not a calcium with Vitamin D tablet. Or is there another way to get some Vitamin D? Any recommendations?

posted by suzeQ to health (10 comments total)

Are you a milk drinker? Most commercially available milk, and milk products such as yogurt, are fortified with Vitamin D. Here's the Wikipedia page on Vitamin D, which lists other food sources.
posted by amyms at 5:48 PM on June 4

See NIH table here. Looks like fatty fish might be your best bet.
posted by rkent at 6:49 PM on June 4

I suggest Dry Vitamin D.
posted by SoulOnIce at 6:52 PM on June 4

I think you mean IU rather than mg. (IU are 'international units' which are internationally agreed units for various vitamiins). 400-800IU is around the usual recommended amount and translates to 10-20 micrograms.

Oily fish is a good idea. Not only is it high in vitamin D, but also in Omega-3 fatty acid. There's some evidence (although nothing conclusive) that Omega 3 can help with bone density. Unless you really like oily fish, though, it may be difficult to get the amount of vitamin D your doctor has recommended from dietary sources alone.
posted by xchmp at 8:23 PM on June 4

Go with the classic, cod liver oil. 400 IU/tsp. Carlson's lemon flavor is not bad.
posted by Durin's Bane at 8:53 PM on June 4

Oh, if you do go with the CLO, the link I provided is to the manufacturer who charges more than most other internet vitamin/supplement stores, so google it or MeMail me.
posted by Durin's Bane at 8:59 PM on June 4

Some types of actual oily fish (rather than the oil) also has the added benefit of containing lots of little bones and therefore lots of calcium. Tinned salmon seems to be good for this.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 3:19 AM on June 5

I have been diagnosed as being Vitamin D deficient (for no apparent reason). I hate fish. So I just take a plain Vitamin D supplement that I pick up at the drug store. It's tasteless and doesn't seem to cause stomach upset or other problems common with large multi-vitamins.
posted by hydropsyche at 3:57 AM on June 5

I was diagnosed with osteopenia (on my way to osteoporosis of I didn’t start absorbing calcium any better). In addition to my daily OTC calcium malate citrate, I take an Rx vitamin D in a 50,000 IU capsule twice a week. It’s inexpensive and tiny, and so much easier than trying to take massive doses daily. The one caution my doctor makes is that it’s such a massive dose, we have to watch for hypercalcemia (kidney failure due to too much calcium). I have labs every other month to watch for that.
posted by cdadog at 8:06 AM on June 5

There's a blog run by a doctor and he keeps mentioning that Vitamin D supplements must be oil based for proper absorption...
posted by Arthur Dent at 4:19 PM on June 5