A recent study investigated the vitamin D status of a large number of Europeans (nearly 56,000). This was done be assessing data from previous studies that has directly measured the 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 concentration in subjects. Pooling the result from these studies showed that irrespective of age, ethnic mix, or latitude, 13 % of the subject had serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D below 20 nmol/L (8 ng/mL) over the course of the year (18 % during the winter and 8 % during the summer). This level constitutes a severe deficiency, and would put the individuals at risk of osteomalacia or rickets. The authors suggested that based on the cut off level of < 50 nmol/L (20 ng/mL) defining a vitamin D deficiency, 40 % of the subjects tested were deficient of vitamin D. Therefore this large scale study provides evidence that large numbers of Europeans are deficient in vitamin D. This would increase their risk of severe metabolic disease including cancer, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, significantly.
The 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels associated with various health conditions (Taken from Khalsa, S. 2010. The vitamin D revolution. Second edition. Hay House, New York).
The 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels that constitute different vitamin D statuses (Taken from Khalsa, S. 2010. The vitamin D revolution. Second edition. Hay House, New York).
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