Vitamin D Supplements Could Help Lower Blood Pressure in Obese People

Vitamin D supplements might lower blood pressure in seniors who are obese, reducing their heart health risk, a new study says.

But taking more than the recommended daily dose will not provide additional health benefits, researchers report in the Journal of the Endocrine Society.

“Our study found vitamin D supplementation may decrease blood pressure in specific subgroups such older people, people with obesity and possibly those with low vitamin D levels,” said researcher Dr. Ghada El-Hajj Fuleihan of the American University of Beirut Medical Center in Beirut, Lebanon.

Studies have linked vitamin D deficiency to an increased risk of high blood pressure, researchers said in background notes. However, there’s not solid evidence whether taking vitamin D supplements can help lower blood pressure.

The recommended daily dose of vitamin D is 600 IU, or about 15 micrograms, researchers said.

For the study, researchers tracked the health of 221 seniors with obesity who took either 600 IU or 3,750 IU of daily vitamin D supplements for a year.

The supplements did lower their blood pressure, results show, but higher doses did not provide additional benefits.

“High vitamin D doses compared to the Institutes of Medicine’s recommended daily dose did not provide additional health benefits,” El-Hajj Fuleihan said in a news release.