Researchers "Discover" What We've Known For Years

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Hi All,

Researchers are slowly but surely catching up with us. They have finally gotten around to testing vitamin D therapy for Crohn's disease patients. Imagine how much better the results might have been if they had actually used a more appropriate (larger) dosage.

For the study, researchers committed to a double-blind, randomized and placebo-controlled study that assigned 27 CD patients in remission to 2000 IU/day vitamin D supplementation or a placebo for up to 3 months.

Findings revealed that patients treated with the supplement were more likely to stay in remission longer, maintaining intestinal permeability. Furthermore, patients with higher blood levels of vitamin D also showed less reoccurring signs of the illness for longer periods, lowering inflammation levels--a marker of the autoimmune disease.

Vitamin D and Crohn's Disease: Supplement May Help Maintain Remission

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[Erica P-G]

How much D3 a day should a person aim for...lets say if you are mostly indoors as compared to outdoors?
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It depends on individual needs, but the average individual (who does not have an IBD) uses approximately 5,000 IU of vitamin D each day. The immune system can use up a lot of vitamin D when it is fighting inflammation, and it probably uses even more when a corticosteroid is being used. So we probably use much more while we are recovering.

Most of us here take somewhere between 3,000 and 7,000 IU, depending on how low our vitamin D level was when we started taking a supplement, time of year (less sun exposure is available in winter), and where we live (northern latitudes provide less vitamin D from the sun). The Vitamin D Council recommends starting with 5,000 IU and testing one's level after a few months to see whether the dosage needs to be increased, maintained, or reduced. This is for normal people, so it may be too low for someone who has an IBD, but at least it is a reasonable and safe amount.

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