Study Shows Too Much Vitamin D May Harm Your Heart
As the old adage goes, too much of anything can be a bad thing. Researchers have added Vitamin D to the list, according to a report presented at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association. The study found that higher than normal levels of vitamin D can cause atrial fibrillation, which makes the heart beat more rapidly and out of the normal rhythm.
The study followed 132,000 patients at a Utah based medical center and found the chance for developing atrial fibrillation jumped three times when the blood levels of Vitamin D were high. While most people get their daily requirement of Vitamin D from sunlight, a few natural food sources have vitamin D such as oily fish like tuna or salmon are among the best. Small amounts can also be found in cheese and egg yolks. Most people get their daily requirement of vitamin D from sunlight. People are often encouraged to take supplements in order to boost levels of Vitamin D especially when living in a place with a colder climate where you are more likely to stay indoors and bundle up, unintentionally blocking sunlight that would raise the body’s vitamin D levels.
The potential hurdle with recommending Vitamin D supplements to a general population is that not everyone is alike, not all bodies built the same. Everyone absorbs medications at a different rate. Dr. Jared Bunch, director of electrophysiology research at the Intermountain Medical Center in Utah and the study’s lead author, recommended that blood levels need to be tested to make sure that the levels of vitamin D levels are in safe range. Bunch said that high levels of vitamin D only occur when people take supplements since consumers assume that supplements sold over the counter are safe. Bunch said, “People are looking toward therapies considered to be a natural to treat a broad variety of disease states and as a means of prevention…We see patients who take a tremendous amount of vitamin supplements.”
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