Hi Carly,

Here is an excerpt from an article by the vitamin d council. The question posted on their website was.... Am I vitamin D deficient...

<<There is no way to know for certain until you get a 25-hydroxyvitamin D test, also called a 25(OH)D. Levels should be above 50 ng/ml (125 nmol/L) year-round, in both children and adults. Thanks to Bruce Hollis, Robert Heaney, Neil Binkley, and others, we now know the minimal acceptable level. It is 50 ng/ml (125 nmol/L). In a recent study, Heaney, et al expanded on Bruce Hollis's seminal work by analyzing five studies in which both the parent compound (cholecalciferol) and 25(OH)D levels were measured............. IMPORTANT........ They found that the body does not reliably begin storing cholecalciferol in fat and muscle tissue until 25(OH)D levels get ABOVE 50 ng/ml (125 nmol/L). The average person starts to store cholecalciferol at 40 ng/ml (100 nmol/L), but at 50 ng/ml (125 nmol/L) virtually everyone begins to store it for future use. That is, at LEVELS BELOW 50 ng/ml (125 nmol/L), the BODY USES UP THE VITAMIN D AS FAST AS YOU CAN MAKE IT, OR TAKE IT, INDICATING CHRONIC SUBSTRATE STARVATION, NOT A GOOD THING. 25(OH)D levels should be between 50–80 ng/ml (125–200 nmol/L), YEAR ROUND.

So that is the reason why knowledgable doctors instruct their vitamin D deficient patients to start out with large doses of D(3) as a means of plumping up the supply until it reaches a healthy serum level. Then a daily maintenance dose is recommended according to follow up blood test results for that particular individual. If you were to take small doses at the onset or consume a product that was not easily metabolized, you would find that your serum levels would remain in the deficient range which only defeats the purpose of supplementing in the first place.

I hope this information is helpful!

Bryanna