Vitamin D Supplementation

Dietary intake of Vitamin D-3 is a topic that hasn’t been thoroughly researched in the past. With vitamin D playing an important role in bone health, it is crucial for health care researchers to determine optimal absorption from a supplemental source for clinical patients that are at risk for deficiency. The aim of this study published by the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics was to determine if plasma vitamin D levels would be significantly impacted by a meal containing dietary fat. This study utilized three groups all containing a vitamin D supplement. The three groups were a non-fat including meal, a meal high in Monounsaturated Fatty Acid (MUFA), and a meal high in Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid (PUFA) meal. The participants used for the study were male and female adults over the age of 50 (50 total participants) spread across all three groups. Following a 12 hour fast, the participant consumed a 50,000 IU Vitamin D supplement along with their group indicated meal. The plasma vitamin D levels were taken before the meal, 10, 12, and 14 hours later. The results of the study indicated that Vitamin D absorption was significantly (32%) greater in subjects consuming meals with fat. Absorption wasn’t significantly altered by the fatty acid type (MUFA vs PUFA).

Though further research is needed to determine the optimum absorption of the supplement (necessary amount of fat needed and dosage of vitamin D), these results can be used by dietitians to effectively provide diet prescriptions for patients that are supplementing with a Vitamin D supplement.

-LL


Dawson-Hughes, B., Harris, S. S., Lichtenstein, A. H., Dolnikowski, G., Palermo, N. J., & Rasmussen, H. Dietary fat increases vitamin D-3 absorption. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 115(2), 225-230.

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