The new guidelines on vitamin D – what you need to know

"Experts recommend everyone consider vitamin D supplements over winter," says a headline in today's Daily Mail, while The Guardian urges "Tuck into tuna, salmon and eggs or take vitamin D pills – official health advice". The headlines were prompted by new advice on vitamin D from Public Health England (PHE), which says that children and adults over the age of one should have 10 micrograms (mcg) of vitamin D every day. This means that some people may want to consider taking a supplement. The advice is based on recommendations from the government's Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) following its review of the evidence on vitamin D and health (PDF, 4.2Mb). How has the new vitamin D advice been reported? In general the new government advice on vitamin D has been reported accurately. However, the Guardian's headline, "Tuck into tuna, salmon and eggs or take vitamin D pills – official health advice" is misleading. While it's important to eat these foods as good sources of vitamin D, the advice is to consider taking vitamin D supplements because it is difficult to get enough from food alone. Meanwhile, the Express headline, "Everyone should take vitamin D: Health chiefs warn millions are at risk of deficiency," overstates the advice. We are simply being asked to consider taking supplements. And, although roughly one in five people has low vitamin D levels, this is not the same as a vitamin D deficiency. It is not accu...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: QA articles Food/diet Pregnancy/child Source Type: news