Vitamin D supplements do not prevent disease, says new research

A recent study published in the British Medical Journal has revealed there is no evidence that Vitamin D actually works.

The findings came from a study conducted by researchers at the University of Aberdeen and University of Auckland in New Zealand.

Vitamin D supplementation alone, the authors said, does not prevent disease.

“We conclude current evidence does not support the use of vitamin D supplementation to prevent disease,” said Mark Bolland, a professor from Auckland.

The researchers argued in the article that people at risk of a vitamin D deficiency should be urged to get exposed to sunlight and offered low dose supplements.

Those who are not at risk of a deficiency, they stressed, should eat a healthy and balanced diet and get regular short bursts of sunlight.

The researchers advised that only people with severe vitamin D deficiency may benefit from taking supplements.

Vitamin D is a group of compounds in the human body that’s responsible for increasing intestinal absorption of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphate, and zinc.

It is a fat-soluble vitamin which belongs to compounds that include vitamins D-1, D-2, and D-3.

Vitamin D is essential for bone and muscle health, and its deficiency can lead to bone deformities such as rickets in children and osteomalacia (a condition which results in bone pain and tenderness) in adults.

The biggest source of vitamin D is sunlight and it can also be found in foods such as eggs yolks, oily fish,  cereals among others.