Comment by stavros
What I don't understand is how it's possible for 90% of people to have a vitamin D deficiency, or whatever that crazy number was. Surely by that point it's just normal?
What I don't understand is how it's possible for 90% of people to have a vitamin D deficiency, or whatever that crazy number was. Surely by that point it's just normal?
I don't know how it was approached for vitamin D, but it's all about the model they choose, which in the first instance is just something they pull out of thin air. For many water soluble vitamins and minerals the model is based on a threshold for urine excretion; up the dose until the study group is excreting as much as they take in. Until someone figures out otherwise--i.e. that it's too little, too much, or that other considerations need to be made--that's the basis for the RDA.
Set aside pills.
Vit d deficiency is a known problem because of our indoor lives and sunscreen culture, so FDA requires by law supplementation of foods. Like milk. But because the RDA is wrong, these foods get supplemented with insufficient amounts.
Case in point, seasonally adjusted the typical American gets in a day average ~1800iu from the sun and ~200iu from supplemented dietary intake (2000iu total, deficient). If we were to acknowledge the RDA is wrong then milk etc could have 30x more supplementation bringing the average up and filling the gap better
Its also normal to be overweight and need glasses, doesn't mean that it isn't a problem.