The vitamin D, also known as “Sunshine Vitamin”, is made in your skin when you’re exposed to sunlight. 

Vitamin D is crucial for bone health and immune system function.

Almost every cell in your body has a receptor for vitamin D. It’s essential to many processes, including bone health, immune system function, and can help protect against cancer.

Significant amounts of vitamin D can also be made in your skin when exposed to UV rays from sunlight. Any excess vitamin D is stored in your body fat for later use.

Despite that, vitamin D deficiency is one of the most common nutrient deficiencies in the world.

So, should we take vitamin D supplements? Before taking it, let’s discuss what food sources can give vitamin D. 

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that’s involved in many essential body functions. 

There are two forms of vitamin D in the diet and supplements:

• Vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol): found in some mushrooms.
• Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol): found in oily fish, fish liver oil, and egg yolks.

It turns out that vitamin D recommendations aren’t one size fits all: A number of factors — from your age and sex to your ethnicity and geographical location — can affect your recommended intake.

Assuming that a person gets virtually no vitamin D from sunshine — and that this person gets adequate amounts of calcium– the IOM committee recommends getting the following amounts of vitamin D from diet or supplements (Note that the IOM’s upper limit is not a recommended intake, but what the IOM considers the highest safe level): (reference)

• Infants age 0 to 6 months: adequate intake, 400 IU/day; maximum safe upper level of intake, 1,000 IU/day
• Infants age 6 to 12 months: adequate intake, 400 IU/day; maximum safe upper level of intake, 1,500 IU/day
• Age 1-3 years: adequate intake, 600 IU/day; maximum safe upper level of intake, 2,500 IU/day
• Age 4-8 years: adequate intake, 600 IU/day; maximum safe upper level of intake, 3,000 IU/day
• Age 9-70: adequate intake, 600 IU/day; maximum safe upper level of intake, 4,000 IU/day
• Age 71+ years: adequate intake, 800 IU/day; maximum safe upper level of intake, 4,000 IU/day

Talking with your doctor before supplementing is even more important if you’re managing a chronic condition. Not only are the benefits of vitamin D supplements unclear for certain health conditions but there’s a chance the supplement may do more harm than good if you’re taking a medication that interacts poorly with it.

In addition, taking a supplement that contains too much vitamin D can  also be toxic in rare cases. It can lead to hypercalcemia, a condition in which too much calcium builds up in the

blood, potentially forming deposits in the arteries or soft tissues. It may also predispose people to painful kidney stones.

So, better be advised to study carefully how much you are taking.