How Much Vitamin D is Required to be Protective Against Deficiency During the Winter Months?

Summary

Vitamin D is essential to bone health. In Canada, it is obtained by sunlight exposure of the skin (between April and October) or by a few foods such as fatty fish, eggs or fortified milk and margarine. This study has 3 main goals which are to determine if Veteran's have enough vitamin D stored in their body, if adding a supplement of 2000 IU/d is enough to correct low vitamin D stores and, if specially formulated foods using an approved vitamin D supplement, are appropriate to maintain vitamin D stores in relation with functional and cognitive status. Initially, a 2000 IU supplement of vitamin D will be provided for 8 weeks. After this period, the participants will be randomly separated into 3 groups (Group A, B or C) for a period of 24 weeks. Group A will receive their usual menu. Group B will receive their usual menu with 1 portion of food containing 500 IU of added vitamin D. Group C will receive their usual menu with 1 portion of food containing 1000 IU of added vitamin D. Food intake will be assessed every 8 weeks and blood samples will be taken every 4 weeks to monitor change in blood concentration of vitamin D and other indicators of bone health. The investigators will document weight and height, hand grip strength, the mid-arm and mid-calf circumferences, the capacity to perform activities of daily living, the number of prescriptions and changes in health condition. The investigators will also take an X-ray the tibia and upper arm to document the amount and quality of bones in those regions. A total of 60 veterans of Ste-Anne's Hospital will participate in this study. Knowing more about vitamin D status and intake will help in confirming the required vitamin D recommendations for the elderly men living in long-term care institutions.

Conditions

• Vitamin D Deficiency

Interventions

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Vitamin D

A liquid cholecalciferol at a dosage of 500IU will be added to a specific food and provided to the participants once a day for 24 weeks.

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Vitamin D

A liquid cholecalciferol at a dosage of 1000IU will be added to a specific food and provided to the participants once a day for 24 weeks.

OTHER

placebo

No liquid cholecalciferol will be added to the food.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• McGill University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Hope A Weiler, PhD, RD · McGill University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

TRIPLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

70 Years

Sex

MALE

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2011-10-31

Primary Completion

2014-05-31

Completion

2014-05-31

Countries

• Canada