It helps the body absorb calcium and phosphorous and protects against bone loss.īecause vitamin D is primarily produced through skin synthesis after exposure to sunlight, the VITAL study also focused on the effect of supplements on people with darker skin pigmentation more than 5,000 of the 25,871 participants in the study were African American. Vitamin D is created when people are exposed to sunlight and can also be found in a handful of foods, including fatty fish such as salmon and fortified dairy products. VITAL researchers soon will report results on other outcomes, including heart failure, diabetes, cognition and autoimmune disorders, she said.
"However, the evidence to date is that moderate to high vitamin D supplementation does not appear to reduce the risk of heart attacks or strokes." "There is some promising research that vitamin D may reduce the risk of heart failure, and that requires additional research," Manson said. Manson, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and chief of preventive medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, said even study participants with lower levels of vitamin D at the start of the study did not see a decreased risk of heart attack or stroke from supplementation. "And the answer, based on available research, seems to be no." JoAnn Manson, the lead author of VITAL, published in the New England Journal of Medicine. "The key question is, do you need more vitamin D than what is required for bone health in order to have optimal heart health?" said Dr. Researchers studied more than 25,000 people across the United States taking either a daily vitamin D supplement of 2,000 IUs or a placebo. In June, an analysis in JAMA Cardiology that included 21 clinical trials showed vitamin D supplements do not reduce the risk of having or dying from a heart attack or stroke.Ī highly publicized 2018 study called VITAL was part of that analysis. It was a really strong association."īut associations don't always mean causation. "The link was that individuals who have low blood levels of vitamin D have increased risk of a lot of bad things," she said, "including increased risk of heart attacks, stroke, heart failure and even increased risk of death. Erin Michos, an associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore. "Initially there was a lot of enthusiasm for vitamin D treatment for cardiovascular disease, and this was based on observational data," said Dr. But recent studies found vitamin D supplements did not bolster heart health.
Vitamin D plays an important role in overall health, but if you've been taking supplements to strengthen your heart, recent research may disappoint you.Īlthough vitamin D is best known for its role in developing strong bones, low blood levels have been linked to an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.