{"id":960035,"date":"2026-11-06T03:12:14","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T03:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/960035\/"},"modified":"2026-11-06T03:12:14","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T03:12:14","slug":"bbc-doctor-says-this-vitamin-d-supplement-is-all-you-need-for-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/960035\/","title":{"rendered":"BBC doctor says this vitamin D supplement is all you need for winter"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the autumn and winter months roll around, many of us count on the best vitamin D supplements<\/a> to top up what we\u2019re missing from sunlight. Vitamin D keeps your bones, teeth and muscles healthy, with deficiencies possibly leading to rickets in children or osteomalacia in adults. However making sure you have enough vitamin D doesn\u2019t have to be costly, according to doctor and BBC broadcaster Dr Xand van Tulleken, who recommends ditching expensive pills for a bottle that\u2019s just \u00a34 for a six-month supply.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so tempting to think that a larger dose might confer benefits but there is a huge amount of evidence that the low dose is optimal,\u201d says Dr Xand.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NHS guidance is that everyone should consider taking a daily vitamin D supplement of 10 micrograms (mcg) (the same as 400IU) during the autumn and winter,\u201d he reminds me. \u201cPeople at high risk of not getting enough vitamin D, including people with dark skin, all children aged 1 to 4, and all babies (unless they’re having more than 500ml of infant formula a day) should take a daily supplement throughout the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

His new book, Make Me Well: The Truth About the Wellness Industry, Supplements, and Personalised Health (\u00a310.44, Amazon.co.uk<\/a>), examines the supplement among others. In his research, he found a three-year Canadian trial<\/a> where healthy adults taking large doses lost slightly more bone density than those taking 400 IU. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe opposite of what people buy it for!,\u201d Dr Xand added.<\/p>\n

He also highlighted a trial conducted in Australia<\/a> where the older women who were given a large annual dose had more falls and fractures than those taking the placebo supplement. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn recent years that has been one fatality in the UK due to vitamin D overdose,\u201d says Dr Xand. \u201cMore isn\u2019t better. One scientist I spoke to begged me to help get the high doses off the high street.\u201d<\/p>\n

The health professional explains unless your doctor has specified otherwise, you should stick to 10mcg per day. The low dose might be the \u201cmost boring bottle, and the fancy, expensive 90 quid a year bottle will be a way higher dose, and it\u2019s totally unnecessary,\u201d he adds. <\/p>\n

So, which vitamin D supplement does Dr Xand van Tulleken recommend? <\/p>\n

\"BootsBoots vitamin D<\/p>\n

Working out at \u00a34 for 180 capsules, Dr Xand buys the Boots own brand bottle. This will last you six months and has the NHS recommended strength.<\/p>\n

For more, we\u2019ve reviewed the best omega-3 supplements <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When the autumn and winter months roll around, many of us count on the best vitamin D supplements…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":960036,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[49,48,84,395],"class_list":["post-960035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-nutrition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/960035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=960035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/960035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/960036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=960035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=960035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=960035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}