And back in the 18th century, there were still plenty of doubts in western civilization that consuming fruits and vegetables prevented scurvy. As I see it, Vitamin D3 supplementation is in a similar position today.
I dunno. There have been a number of studies, like this huge meta-study, that shows Vitamin D supplementation doesn’t do much of anything regarding bone health:
**Our findings suggest that vitamin D supplementation does not prevent fractures or falls, or have clinically meaningful effects on bone mineral density. There were no differences between the effects of higher and lower doses of vitamin D.** There is little justification to use vitamin D supplements to maintain or improve musculoskeletal health. This conclusion should be reflected in clinical guidelines.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8….
Plenty more where that came from.
I think your Vitamin C analogy is a good one, but probably for different reasons than you. Humans need fresh fruits and vegetables as well as fresh meat which contains Vitamin C to prevent scurvy. The race to the South Pole was decided in part by the Norwegians who understood that, and the British (who should have known better) who didn’t. British sailors after all were called “limeys” after their daily dose of lime juice mixed in with their grog to prevent scurvy.
Humans have evolved over millions of years–and especially over the last 200,000 or so years when we began cooking our food–to obtain all of our nutritional requirements from food. No supplements necessary. So if we eat something reasonably close to what our ancestors’ ate and spend some reasonable amount of activity outdoors we should pretty much hit all our nutritional requirements. The cure for scurvy wasn’t Vitamin C supplements, it was to eat fresh fruits and vegetables.
Do some people need Vitamin D supplements? Sure! Some babies, some people in northern latitudes, some asthma patients, etc. But the science says most people who maintain a healthy lifestyle don’t need to.
So why all the hype? I recommend reading the whole article (soft paywall) but there are strong links to the medical testing industry, and incredibly the tanning salon industry.
Enthusiasm for vitamin D among medical experts has dimmed in recent years, as rigorous clinical trials have failed to confirm the benefits suggested by early, preliminary studies. A string of trials has found no evidence that vitamin D reduces the risk of cancer, heart disease or falls in the elderly.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/18/business/vitamin-d-michae…