Vitamin D Deficiency: Understanding Persistent Low Levels & Next Steps

Question
Hello Dr. Saleeby,

I am male, 35 yrs old, never smoked, never drank alcohol, never did drugs in all my life.  I do not exercise.  The only ATTENTION on my routine yearly blood exam report was a deficiency in Vitamin D.   I have taken Vitamin D 400 IU in a multivitamin daily and Vitamin D 1000 IU dry preparation daily for the past year.  I just did a regular blood test and again, for the second year in a row, my Vitamin D is 76 nmol/L.  My doctor recommended that I take another 1000 IU daily.  Is this really enough?  

I've also read that a fat soluble gel preparation is a better choice.

Thank you,

SK in Ottawa, Canada

Answer
SK,

I think with a serum level of 76 you are FINE with your current replacment strategy.  Better than 40 is goal.  So you have exceeded that.  Make sure you take a quality Vit D3.

Read further on Vitamin D here:  http://docsaleeby4.blogspot.com/2010/10/vitamin-d-story.html

Also get out and exercise, that is one of the BEST things you can ever do.  Smart Exercise, don't do anything that would hurt yourself.  Keep your BMI under 25% too.

Cheers,

JP/