Breastfeeding is one of the most perfect forms of food for a baby though it has long been "understood" to be an inadequate source of vitamin D. 

How can that be? 

If you know that most women of childbearing age are vitamin D deficient, it starts to make sense that they wouldn't have the vitamin D available to pass on in their breast milk. 

Is it really that simple - if you give women enough vitamin D will they pass it on to the baby? 

Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) tackled this question with the hypothesis that if a breastfeeding mom receives much more than the standard 400 IU/day of vitamin D, she will be able to pass on an adequate amount of vitamin D to her infant. After a double-blind randomized controlled trial they found that a daily vitamin D supplement of 6400 IU did indeed allow the mothers to pass enough vitamin D through breast milk so that their babies did not need a vitamin D supplement! The average 25(OH)D level of the women who received 6400 IU/day was about 60 ng/ml.  The infants nutured this way had the equivalent of the 400 IU/day that is currently recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

You can give babies a supplement, but only 2-19% of the infants are given a supplement.  This suggests that over 80% of babies are not getting the recommended amount of vitamin D. 

You can expose babies to sunshine, but your pediatrician has probably told you to keep your baby out of direct sunlight for at least the first 6 months and to make sure they are covered with clothing or sunscreen when they do go outside. (We don't recommend this.)

This is a problem! Not enough D in breast milk, no supplementation, and no sun puts far too many babies at risk of vitamin D deficiency, and at increased risk of many future diseases that could be avoided. 

We are now working at MUSC to change the standard of care for the pregnant women--getting the serum levels to at least 40-60 ng/ml.  We need to take the next step:  make sure that the breast fed baby ALSO has enough vitamin D.  The easy way to do that is for the mom to take 6400 IU/day while she breast feeds the infant.

I think one of the most common misconceptions around vitamin D is that you can take it weekly or monthly and have the same benefit. I have written many of these newsletters, and read a lot of articles online. I have searched through the databases of research papers. I think this misconception stems from the fact that most of the research on vitamin D is about bone health. Even now, about 15-20 years after the first studies for immune function, there is probably 10 times the number of studies on bone health. And bone health only requires 25(OH)D - which has a 3 week half life!

Please note that for breastfeeding moms, it is very important that the vitamin D be taken daily. (GrassrootsHealth recommends daily intake for all conditions, however.)

As always, please share this news with women who are pregnant, or within that age range. You could change many lives!

Have a great week.