Overview
Vitamin D is very essential for your overall health [1]. Even if a patient follows a healthy and balanced diet, the patient may still require supplements to achieve optimal blood levels. It plays several roles in keeping your body’s cells healthy and functioning the way they should. When there is a deficiency of Vitamin D, supplementation will be recommended to alleviate symptoms. Vitamin D is involved in calcium absorption, immune function, and protecting bone, muscle, and heart health. It occurs naturally in food and can also be produced by the human body when the skin is exposed to sunlight.
It is also possible for this vitamin to build up and reach toxic levels in your body and having negative effects on the body. Taking extremely high doses of vitamin D3 for long periods may lead to excessive buildup in your body.
Vitamin D toxicity [2] occurs when blood levels rise above 150 ng/ml, which is when the vitamin stores in body fat and is slowly released into the bloodstream. In some patients, symptoms can persist up to several months after stopping supplement intake.
Toxicity isn’t a common occurrence, and usually develops in people who take long-term, high-dose supplements without paying attention to their blood pressure levels. In some cases, you may be taking a Vitamin D supplement that contains higher amounts than is listed on the label and this puts you at a risk of developing toxicity. Studies have shown that it is impossible to reach dangerously high blood levels through diet and sun exposure alone.
This write-up discusses six possible side effects of getting excessive amounts of this essential nutrient.
Below are the six main side effects [3] of excessive amounts of this nutrient.