The Vitamin D Facts

Vitamin d toxicity is one of those enduring myths.  Yes, you can overdose on vitamin d…but you’d have to really work hard at it!  But there’s a small grain of fact in the myth about vitamin d being so toxic.

And that grain of fact is called cod liver oil.

Vitamin D Toxicity and Cod Liver Oil

If you’re over, say, 45 years old, you probably got to take cod liver oil in one form or another while you were growing up.  My brothers and sisters got the liquid, but by the time I came around, at least it was in pill form (and not so bad-tasting).

Cod liver oil is indeed a great natural source of vitamin d.  However, it’s also an excellent source of vitamin a — and that’s the rub.  It’s far, far easier to get toxic with vitamin a.  And by the time you took enough cod liver oil to get your vitamin d tank full, you were dangerously close to your limit for vitamin a — and that’s not counting what’s in the food you eat!

Is Vitamin D Toxic in Any Amount?

Well, too much of anything isn’t good for you, but it would be really, really hard to overdose on natural vitamin d (also known as D-3).  It would take well over 30,000 IU a day over the course of several weeks to build up toxicity to a serious level.

An overdose of synthesized vitamin D-2 (available only by prescription) is possible, but since it is prescription only, it’s unlikely to happen (it’s in injection form).

You can find out more about this fascinating vitamin on the vitamin d facts page.  Enjoy the information!

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