Did You Know?

Many Mothers-to-Be Have Low Vitamin D

January 2010

Many mothers-to-be are not getting enough vitamin D, even those taking supplements at the recommended doses, says a new study from Northern Ireland. Almost all of the women in the study had blood levels of the vitamin below 80 nmol/l, a level which is widely considered to be the cut-off for vitamin D sufficiency, showing that current recommendations may be insufficient. Dr. Maria Barnes from the University of Ulster, Coleraine, said that as their study was observational, it was impossible to determine the dose of vitamin D required to improve maternal vitamin D status. “Clearly such recommendations can only be established following a number of well-designed studies during pregnancy,” Dr. Barnes said. “However, from our study it is evident that general dietary supplementation given to pregnant women may be inadequate to maintain or improve vitamin D status, particularly during wintertime,” she added.

British Journal of Nutrition 102(6):876–881, 2009

New to Natural Health?
Tools
Customer Service