1. ¹Department of Nutrition, National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Søborg, Denmark
2. ²Department of Human Nutrition, Faculty of Life Science, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark
3. ³Department of Biostatistics, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Correspondence: Dr R Andersen, Department of Nutrition, National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Mørkhøj Bygade 19, DK-2860 Søborg, Denmark. E-mail: rian@food.dtu.dk

Received 30 May 2008; Revised 10 February 2009; Accepted 3 March 2009; Published online 8 April 2009.

Abstract

Potential long-term negative effects of increased vitamin D consumption are not thoroughly examined. The aim of this study was to investigate possible negative effects of vitamin D supplementation on serum lipids and lipoproteins. A 1-year long randomised double-blinded placebo-controlled intervention study with two doses of vitamin D3 (10 and 20 g/day) was carried out among 89 women (18–53 years of age) and 84 men (18–64 years of age) of Pakistani origin living in Denmark with low vitamin D status. This study did not find changes in total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol/HDL-cholesterol ratio, VLDL-cholesterol and triacylglycerol after daily supplementation with 10 or 20 g vitamin D for 1 year. In conclusion, increasing the vitamin D intake by 10–20 g per day for 1 year is safe for Pakistani immigrants with regards to serum lipids and lipoproteins.