I told Dr. Bernal-Mizrachi that I take 10,000 IU of vitamin D every day and that the vitamin D level in my blood is 83 ng/dl. "The fact that you have that level is great," he replied. "Most of the studies in cancer prevention are in that levels. But I may be a little cautious about taking that much, particularly during the summer months." In an ongoing clinical trial he says that he is using 4,000 IU of vitamin D daily to achieve values of 40 ng/dl.
The study that Circulation just reported says that about 1 billion people have low levels of vitamin D -- levels below 80 nmol/L. Dr. Bernal-Mizrachi told me that to convert to ng/ml we divide by 2.49. So low levels mean below 32 ng/dl.
The study also says that low vitamin D levels nearly double our risk of developing cardiovascular disease. But now we have an easy and inexpensive way to reduce the risk of the most serious complication that we face.
