Black Teens May Require More Vitamin D, Study Finds

Black teens may require much more vitamin D for healthy intake than previously thought, according to a study published online last week at the Journal of Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Researchers administered 400 or 2000 IU of vitamin D to 49 black teens (male and female) daily for 16 weeks. A primary aim of the study was to determine if vitamin D intake influences arterial stiffness, so arterial stiffness was measured using carotid femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV), a common way of achieving this measurement.

The higher intake of vitamin D resulted in higher vitamin D levels in patients at weeks 8 and 16. Furthermore, at the completion of the trial, researchers determined that 400 IU of vitamin D resulted in an increase of PWV from baseline to post-test (from 5.38 to 5.71 meters per second). However, the higher dose of vitamin D resulted in a decrease in PWV (from 5.41 to 5.33 meters per second).

'Daily 2000 IU vitamin D supplementation may be effective in optimizing vitamin D status and counteracting the progression of aortic stiffness in black youth,' wrote the study author.

The average age of the patients was 16 years, yet the current "adequate intake" of vitamin D for this age, according to the National Institutes of Health...s Office of Dietary Supplements, is 200 IU.

To read the study abstract, click here.