Vitamin D shows no clear evidence of benefits despite hundreds of studies

The multiple claims for the benefits of vitamin D supplementation are unfounded, say two extensive meta-analyses published in the BMJ this week.1 2

Researchers argued that “universal conclusions about its [vitamin D’s] benefits cannot be drawn” and said that further studies and better designed trials were needed.

In an editorial commentators said that doctors should stop ordering expensive tests for 25-hydroxyvitamin D for asymptomatic patients, apart from those with bone related conditions.3

In the first study researchers from the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States carried out an umbrella review of 268 literature reviews and meta-analyses of observational studies and clinical trials that had looked at the health outcomes associated with naturally circulating vitamin D and those from taking vitamin D supplements.1

Altogether they found that 137 different health outcomes were reportedly linked to vitamin D but found no convincing …