Vitamin D: are supplements really good?

Vitamin D supplements are not as effective as they appear, according to a recent Canadian study, which dampens enthusiasm

A recent analysis of the scientific literature has questioned many of the benefits associated with vitamin D supplements. A deficiency of this substance has highlighted the onset of health problems , both chronic and acute. An analysis conducted by a group of researchers led by Michael Allan, director of Evidence-Based Medicine of the University of Alberta , however, raised a doubt: the study seems to dampen the enthusiasm for vitamin D supplements. clarity.

Vitamin D: what are the benefits?

The analysis, published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine , took into account evidence of the effectiveness of taking vitamin D.

It is taken to reduce falls and fractures, improve depression and psychological well-being, prevent rheumatoid arthritis, treat multiple sclerosis and reduce the incidence of tumors and mortality.

It has emerged that it can help reduce the frequency of falls, but only if taken in combination with calcium. So the extent of the benefit is not yet well defined.

Dr Allan explained: “If you take a group of people at high risk of breaking a bone, then about a 15% chance of breaking it in the next 10 years, and you are treated with a reasonable dose of vitamin D for a decade , a fracture in about 1 in 50 people would be prevented.

Later, however, he added that: “many people would argue that taking a medicine for 10 years to avoid 1 in 50 fractures is probably not enough to make sense. And as far as we know, this is the best that vitamin D can do . “

Furthermore, if it is true that moderate supplementation should not harm a healthy person, it is equally so that it will not make them feel better :

“It is highly unlikely that a 40-year-old person will benefit from [taking] vitamin D. And when I say it is highly unlikely, I mean that [the benefit] is not detectable among current scientific knowledge . “

I mean, are supplements really as miraculous as they are sometimes sold to us? According to this research, not so much. The advice, as always, is to contact our trusted doctor, a nutritionist or an expert, who can always advise us what can do us good and what can be a real investment for our health.