• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content

Vitamin D, Covid, and Skin Color

  • What is Vitamin D?
  • Does Vitamin D Protect Against Covid-19?
  • Melanin and Vitamin D: are they related?
  • What are the recommended Vitamin D levels?
  • How Can I Increase Vitamin D Levels?
  • Is too much Vitamin D dangerous?
  • Vitamin D will not prevent COVID
  • Useful Links and Resources
  • About Us
  • Home

Is too much Vitamin D dangerous?

Yes, Vitamin D can be toxic if it accumulates to excessive levels in our bodies.  Vitamin D is fat-soluble, which means it gets stored in our tissues instead of being excreted.  So, when somebody ingests excess amounts of Vitamin D, especially over an extended period of time, Vitamin D can build up to dangerous levels.  Because Vitamin D promotes absorption of Calcium from our food, the biggest risks are mostly related to excessive Calcium absorption, and can include kidney stones, constipation, heart irregularities, psychosis, and even death [1,2]. 

On the other hand, sun exposure cannot cause Vitamin D toxicity because sunlight destroys any excess Vitamin D produced by our skin [3,4].

The safest ways to maintain healthy blood levels of Vitamin D are regular short exposures of large areas of your skin to sunshine, and regular supplementation with moderate doses of Vitamin D capsules.  It can be dangerous to ingest large doses of Vitamin D.  If you are concerned that you might be Vitamin D-deficient, you should consult your physician.

REFERENCES

  1. Marcinowska-Suchowierska, E. et. al.  2018.  Vitamin D Toxicity-A Clinical Perspective.  Front. Endocrinol. 9:550.

  2. Galior, K. et. al.  2018.  Development of vitamin D toxicity from overcorrection of vitamin D deficiency: A review of case reports.  Nutrients  10:953.

  3. Holick, M. et. al.  1981.  Regulation of cutaneous previtamin D3 photosynthesis in man: skin pigment is not an essential regulator.  Science.  211:590.

  4. Holick, M.  2006.  Resurrection of vitamin D deficiency and rickets.  J. Clin. Invest.  116:2062.