#56 - Can you overdose on Vitamin D?

You Are My Sunshine Print by LilyCole on Etsy, $45

Dear Vitamin D...you are my sunshine. It's dark and icky here in Kentucky about half the year and the other half of the year I have to wear sunscreen because I sun-fry too easily.

So we all know that you can get too much sun...especially those of us who are super pale. Because of my paleness, I tend to avoid the sun and last year I had some routine bloodwork done which uncovered a serious Vitamin D deficiency. My doctor prescribed 50,000 i.u. (international units) of Vitamin D weekly for 6 weeks to get my vitamin D levels up. Because vitamin D is fat soluble, it is stored in your fat.

Thinking back on this, I can't help but wonder whether you can overdose on vitamin D. I ask this because my vitamin has vitamin D in it and so does my calcium supplement. During the winter it's unlikely I am exposed to the sun enough to make any vitamin D of my own but during cycling season, I'm outside often. So, can you get too much of a good thing when it comes to vitamin D??

There is no risk of overdosing from Vitamin D from sun exposure because our bodies have a built in overdose prevention system (the darkening of our skin). However, supplemental vitamin D bypasses our built in defense mechanism since you can take vitamin D regardless of how dark your skin has gotten.

It is unlikely a person will overdose on Vitamin D3 (the type contained in many vitamin supplement pills). But, it can happen. The main symptom of vitamin D overdose is excessive accumulation of calcium in the body which causes lack of appetite, nausea, and may lead to kidney problems. Since my multi-vitamin and calcium supplement together only contain 2000 i.u. of vitamin D, there doesn't appear to be a risk of overdose considering I get little to no sun most of the year and wear sunscreen during the summer months. For more information about vitamin D dosing, the Mayo Clinic has a nice little article so click here.

*Disclaimer: I'm just doing research and sharing what I learn. This is not advice.*