“There’s been considerable controversy over how much vitamin D we really need, and this study suggests if you are not vitamin D deficient, then you don’t need to take a supplement,” she said.
“If we were to give everyone in Australia regular supplements, this study suggests there would not be a noticeable effect on health outcomes.”
The study findings come after preliminary findings of the report were published last year, showing vitamin D supplements did not protect most people from developing respiratory infections like colds and flus, although it did suggest a small reduction in the length or severity of these conditions.
Professor Neale said if people did want to continue taking vitamin D supplements without specific advice from their doctor, it appeared that taking lower doses daily may be better than taking larger doses on a monthly schedule.
Ultimately, she said she hoped the research would guide GPs and pharmacists away from prescribing vitamin D supplements as a general health supplement.
“There has been great enthusiasm [from medical professionals] to pushing people to quite high vitamin D levels without a solid evidence base,” she said.
“The D-Health Trial combined with other emerging evidence suggests we don’t need to do that, we just need to make sure people are not vitamin D-deficient.”
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The study ran for five years, and involved more than 21,000 Australians aged between 60 and 79 who were given either vitamin D supplements or a placebo in a double-blind system where neither they nor the researchers knew whether they were getting vitamin D or not.
There was a death rate of 5.3 per cent for those who took the vitamin D, compared to 5.1 per cent for those who took the placebo.
Vitamin D supplements have no health benefits for most people: study
Source: Philippines Alive
