Know What's a Normal
Vitamin D Level so You’ll
Know More than Your Doctor

Ask your doctor what a Normal Vitamin D Level is and, likely, he won’t even know the right name of the Vitamin D blood test to look up to find the answer. Most likely, he won’t even know why you want the vitamin d blood test in the first place! But because you will have read this, you will have the information you’ll need to educate your self and your doctor on the overwhelming amount of Vitamin D research that shows what a Normal Vitamin D Level and a Low Vitamin D Level is. Most often there are no Symptoms of Vitamin D Deficiency until it is too late and you have a serious chronic illness,that you probably haven't even related to the Low Vitamin D Level in the first place.

And even though Vitamin D is VERY safe and rarely has any problems with Vitamin D Overdose or toxicity, there is a small chance of taking too much. But unless you are taking VERY large doses of Vitamin D for extremely long periods of time, most people should have their Vitamin D levels checked, not because the level might be too high, but because you probably have Vitamin D Deficiency, in other words, your Vitamin D Blood Test will likely be too low - even if you are otherwise healthy! Either way, having your Vitamin D levels checked and knowing what a normal Vitamin D level is, is extremely important for your health.

What is the Vitamin D blood test called?

First of all, the Vitamin D blood test checks Vitamin D serum levels and is called

Vitamin D 25 Hydroxy level
OR
25(OH)D level
OR
25OHD level
OR
25 hydroxyvitamin d Level
that’s a letter O and not the number 0.

Serum, by the way, is the yellowish component of blood that is left when the blood clots. If you decide that you want to ask for this test, come armed to your doctor’s appointment with this information in the likely event that he doesn’t know the name of the blood test for Vitamin D. If your doctor is not Understanding Blood Test Results and were to order simply ‘Vitamin D level’, ‘Vitamin D serum level’, ‘Vitamin D blood test’ or 'Blood test for Vitamin D' - you could get the wrong test.

There is another blood test for Vitamin D, called Vitamin D, 1,25 Dihydroxy level or 1,25(OH)(2)D. Studies show that the Vitamin D, 1,25 Dihydroxy level does not significantly change until the normal Vitamin D level, or 25(OH)D, drops to levels that are considered a VERY severe Vitamin D deficiency.

In other words, if your doctor unknowingly orders a Dihydroxy Vitamin D serum level, he could report back to you that you have a normal Vitamin D level when you are actually severely deficient!

ALL clinical trials and Vitamin D research that tests Vitamin D serum levels are done using the Vitamin D 25 Hydroxy Test, and your doctor should use that one too.

What is a normal Vitamin D level?

The question that you REALLY want to know is,”what are OPTIMAL Vitamin D levels.” Every laboratory has a ‘reference range’ that is unique and depends upon many different factors. Often they take a range of ‘healthy’ individuals and create an average range after excluding a certain percentage from the low range and the high range. Voila, they determined the normal Vitamin D level. But in the
Symptoms of Vitamin D Deficiency page, you learned that a very high percentage of the population, if not MOST of a seemingly healthy population, has a low Vitamin D level- either from simply not getting enough or from poor Vitamin D Absorption.

The Vitamin D blood test is called 25 (OH) D or Hydroxyvitamin D level

"Vigilance of one’s vitamin D status
by the yearly measurement
of vitamin d 25 hydroxy level should be
part of an annual physical examination."
-Michael F. Holick, 'The Vitamin D Epidemic and its Health Consequences'

So, if you take a blood test for Vitamin D and get an average number for a population that is Vitamin D deficient, then you have numbers that are on the low side, right? One study summed this up very well by saying,

“Historically, a 'normal' nutritional vitamin D status has been defined as just about any circulating level of vitamin d 25 hydroxy in asymptomatic subjects.”

You don’t want to have a low or even normal vitamin D blood test. You want to have an OPTIMAL vitamin d 25 hydroxy level.

So what is an Optimal Vitamin D 25 Hydroxy Level?

Well, there is Vitamin D research that addresses this question specifically, so we’ll use these studies to help you to decide.

The article, ‘Calcium and Vitamin D Diagnostics and Therapeutics’ states,

“It is quite possible that there are two levels of vitamin D sufficiency. One level requires that the serum vitamin d 25 hydroxy levels be at least 20 ng/mL to satisfy the body's requirement for… calcium absorption, bone calcium mobilization and bone mineralization. The second level may need higher circulating levels of vitamin d 25 hydroxy for maximum cellular health...”

These are the Vitamin D levels that they suggest:

Normal Vitamin D Level Recommendations
	Minimum Optimal (ng/ml)	High End of Optimum (ng/ml)	Toxic Level (ng/ml)
Bruce Hollis(ng/ml)	32		>250
Vitamin D Council (ng/ml)	50	80
Vitamin D, A Neglected ‘Analgesic’ for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain(ng/ml)	30	50	>150
Dr. Mercola (ng/ml)	50	65	>100 (excess)
The Use of Vitamin D in Clinical Practice (ng/ml)	40	70	> 150

Previously considered 'Normal' vitamin d 25 hydroxy lab values are:

20-56 ng/ml

50-140 nmol/L

Their suggestion for the Lowest Optimal vitamin d 25 hydroxy values are:

45-50 ng/ml

115-128 nmol/L

Notice that the Normal Vitamin D level is reported in two ways: ng/ml or nmol/l. Translated, these mean ‘nanograms per millileter’ and ‘nanomoles per liter’. Don’t get confused with these differences, they are exactly the same.

Much as if you reported your driving speed in miles per hour or kilometers per hour. Each just uses a different measuring ‘tool’. Also notice that the lowest optimal number is almost double the lowest normal Vitamin D level. That is a HUGE difference.

The Bone Mineral Research Center at Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, NY reports, “…optimal vitamin D status is achieved with a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentration greater than 75 nmol/L.” They didn’t specifically state an upper number, but they did state that even those with Vitamin D levels greater than 220 nmol/L still had no signs of toxicity.

In 'Circulating 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Levels Indicative of Vitamin D Sufficiency: Implications for Establishing a New Effective Dietary Intake Recommendation for Vitamin D', the author states,

"...vitamin D deficiency should be defined as less than 80 nmol/L (32 ng/ml) circulating 25(OH)D. I have arbitrarily set the toxic level at
250 nmol (100 ng/ml), which is a conservative estimate,
because true vitamin D toxicity is well beyond this…"

Yet another article, 'Review of the concept of vitamin D 'sufficiency and insufficiency', the authors use this guideline. This study also uses 25(OH)D levels:

Desirable: greater than 40 ng/ml or 100 nmol/l

Hypovitaminosis D: 20- 40 ng/ml or 50 - 100 nmol/l

Insufficient: 10 - 20 ng/ml or 25 -50 mmol/l

Deficient: below 10 ng/ml or 25 nmol/l<

So, according to a variety of scientists, an optimal Vitamin D level, or what should be a Normal Vitamin D Level is between 75nmol/L - 250 nmol/L with very little risk of toxicity for healthy people.

One thing to remember is that your doctor is used to reporting only ‘abnormal’ laboratory results to patients and they generally don’t give out exact numbers, except in the case of cholesterol, because most patients don’t know what the numbers mean.

But for those who want to be Understanding Blood Test Results, you need to ask your doctor for the exact number and have him tell you the units measured as nanograms per millileter or nanomoles per liter. That way there is no confusion.

What do you do if you have a Low Vitamin D serum level?

You should ALWAYS discuss Vitamin D Therapy with your doctor in case there are reasons why you should not take these supplements and to keep him on board for your yearly Vitamin D serum level checks.

But most likely, he will not know what the current Vitamin D research says about Vitamin D supplementation. So keep reading to find out – you might want to print out a copy of this page and the Vitamin D Dosage page, save a copy for yourself and give a copy to your doctor.

Next --->
Vitamin D Deficiency Treatment

Frequently Asked Questions About Vitamin D
How Much Should I Be Taking?	What About Overdose?
What Does Vitamin D Do?	What Causes Deficiency?
Don't Take That Prescription!?	What Foods Have Vitamin D?

Normal Vitamin D Level Resources

5000 IU Vitamin D 3 Supplements- Vitamin D3 is really the ONLY vitamin d that you should be taking. Get Vitamin D 3 in a clinically relevant dose for adults

Sunshine Mist Vitamin D Spray- This Vitamin D3 is GREAT for kids. Just a spray a day is all it takes.

The Vitamin D Solution: A 3-Step Strategy to Cure Our Most Common Health Problem - Take a look at this EYE OPENING book. This fascinating account of the health benefits of Vitamin D will keep you turning pages far into the night!

Still Have a Question
About Vitamin D
Ask it Here

See Already Answered Questions about Vitamin D Blood Levels

Click below to see already answered questions about Vitamin D Blood Levels.

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Know What's a Normal Vitamin D Level so You’ll Know More than Your Doctor