> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.foodconsumer.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Vitamin D deficiency and diseases
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/vitamin_d_2611100902/
- Published: 2010-11-26T09:59:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T15:52:32.000Z
- Description: Nimitphone and Michael Holick recommend at least 400 IU of vitamin D daily for children and 2,000 IU for adults, defining deficiency as 25-hydroxyvitamin D below 20 ng/ml. They link low levels to cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, autoimmune and neurological conditions.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Vitamins, Nutrition, Vitamin D, #vivvo-import

Nimitphone H and Michael Holick of Boston University published an article in the Nov 23, 2010 issue of Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care saying that children and adults should take at least 400 IU and 2000 IU of vitamin D per day respectively to prevent vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency.

Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency are defined as a 25-hydroxyvitamin D level less than 20 and 21-29 ng/ml respectively, according to the authors.

Nimitphone and Holick said vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency have been associated with a range of medical conditions including cancer, heart disease, type II diabetes, infectious diseases, autoimmune diseases, metabolic bone diseases and neurological disorders.

They also reported that recent research found the skeletal muscle and brain have vitamin d receptors and the central nervous system can activate vitamin d. And vitamin D status has been correlated with poor performance in neurocognitive testing in elderly people.

The authors said vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency have recently also associated with muscle weakness, depression, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis and a lower motor neuron-induced muscle atrophy.

Dr. Michael Holick is a world-famous expert D expert and a professor of medicine, physiology and biophysics at Boston University.

He has recently authored a book tiled The Vitamin D Solution in which he says a 3-step strategy can lead to curing our most common health problems.

David Liu