Vitamin D oversight
June 16, 2026
22 min
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189 of 364
June 16, 2026
Vitamin D oversight
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Dr John Campbell Episodes Around June 16, 2026
Episode 189 of 364 — walk the feed in the order it was published.
22:02This episodeVitamin D oversight
Summary
A Statistical Error in the Estimation of the Recommended Dietary Allowance for Vitamin D (2014)
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4210929/
US, nearly 15 times too low
UK, 0ver 22 times too low
IOM calculation
600 units (15 mcg), 97.5% of people will achieve
63 nmol/L
(25.2 ng/ml)
Correct calculation
600 units (15 mcg), 97.5% of people will achieve
26.8 nmol/L
(10.7 ng/ml)
Requirements based on correct calculation
8,895 IU of vitamin D per day may be needed to accomplish that 97.5% of individuals achieve serum 25(OH)D values of 50 nmol/L or more.
The "Average" vs. "Individual" Mistake
Canada studies
Diet gives 232 IU of vitamin D per day
Institute of Medicine (IOM), RDA vitamin D 600 IU per day, (aged 1 to 70 years)
Now called the National Academy of Medicine
https://nam.edu
UK is even worse
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-d/
UK, 400 iu or 10 mcg
600 iu per day to achieve serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels of 50 nmol/L or more in 97.5% of healthy individuals.
Levels of 50 nmol/L or more have been shown to benefit bone health and to prevent disease and injury.
The IOM based their RDA for vitamin D on an aggregation of 10 supplementation studies, (32 dose protocols)
carried out during winter months, at locations above 50th parallel
IOM regressed the 32 study averages, dose: plasma ratio
On the basis of this, IOM estimated that 600 IU of vitamin D would achieve an average 25(OH)D level of 63 nmol/L
Requirements based on correct calculation
8,895 IU of vitamin D per day
This dose is well in excess of the current RDA of 600 IU per day and the tolerable upper intake of 4000 IU per day.
The public health and clinical implications of the miscalculated RDA for vitamin D are serious.
With the current recommendation of 600 IU, bone health objectives and disease and injury prevention targets will not be met.
We recommend that the RDA for vitamin D be reconsidered to allow for appropriate public health and clinical decision-making.
The Big Vitamin D Mistake
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5541280/
Explanation of the statistical error
The "Average" vs. "Individual" Mistake
The Institute of Medicine’s goal was to find a vitamin D dose that ensures 97.5% of individual people reach a healthy blood level (50 nmol/L).