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Comment by kylehotchkiss | Hacker News Reader

Can these studies lead to a recommendation for how much vitamin D supplements for adults to take to reduce likelihood of severe infection?

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"It is often difficult to determine how much vitamin D supplementation is needed to obtain the “sweet spot.” For these reasons, you should routinely get your vitamin D levels tested and rely on dietary sources or supplementation to boost your levels when necessary."

http://blog.wellnessfx.com/2013/08/14/the-vitamin-d-sweet-sp...

In the UK, the NHS (National Health Service) recommends a daily vitamin D supplement of 10 micrograms (400 IU). In a previous discussion on Hacker News a few days ago, some posters mentioned this was a low and outdate dosage.

However, the NHS site also warns against taking more than 100 micrograms (4000 IU) of vitamin D. In the previously mentioned HN discussion, some posters stated they take more than this (some have been told to by their doctors).

What the NHS website says:

Taking too many vitamin D supplements over a long period of time can cause too much calcium to build up in the body (hypercalcaemia). This can weaken the bones and damage the kidneys and the heart.

If you choose to take vitamin D supplements, 10 micrograms a day will be enough for most people.

Do not take more than 100 micrograms of vitamin D a day as it could be harmful.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23119949 [2] https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-...

The calcium build up of the reason they often add vitamin K2 to vitamin D supplements. I am not qualified to say if it works at preventing the build up but it's often the stated rationale.

In the US the only dosage I see available in the stores is 4000IU so what I usually do is take 1 every 2-3 days.

I don't know what you mean by "these studies" as the link is to only one study.

This study does a pretty questionable job of establishing that any amount of vitamin D levels reduces likelihood of severe infection. It doesn't even attempt to say what level of supplementation would lead to what vitamin D levels. So I think the answer to your question is a firm, "No."

There are general vitamin D recommendations available a google search away.

I take a 2000 IU pill every day since a few years. I think that's both safe and sufficient for normal people.

Nit pick: Vitamin D reduces the likelihood of dying if you get infected, not the likelihood getting it in the first place.

From what I can tell, it's still not clear that vitamin D isn't a just biomarker.

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