Beyond Genetics: The Misconception of Vitamin D and Calcium Benefits

Vitamin D is the world’s favorite supplement. Governments around the world recommend people take the supplement for at least six months out of the year. But do we really need these pills? Do they even work? And could they actually be harming us?

In this episode, two ZOE scientists - Professor Tim Spector and Dr Federica Amati reveal the truth about vitamin D.

Tim is scientific co-founder of ZOE and professor of epidemiology at King’s College London. Federica is head nutritionist at ZOE and author of the Sunday Times bestseller ‘Every Body Should Know This’.

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Timecodes:

00:00 The sunshine vitamin

01:50 Quickfire questions

04:05 What is vitamin D?

07:12 Is sunlight the best source of vitamin D?

09:40 Does vitamin D keep my bones strong?

15:34 Are vitamin D levels a marker of good health?

20:00 What counts as normal levels of vitamin D? 

24:42 Supplement controversy

29:10 Do calcium supplements help bones?

31:29 Can I take too much vitamin D?

37:50 Could vitamin D prevent these health conditions?

42:54 Tim’s sunscreen controversy

46:46 Vitamin D and immunity

Books by our ZOE Scientists:

• The Food For Life Cookbook
• Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati
• Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector

Mentioned in today’s episode:

• The VITAL Trial - Principal results of the VITamin D and OmegA-3 TriaL (VITAL) and updated meta-analyses of relevant vitamin D trials (2020), published in The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Cut-points for associations between vitamin D status and multiple musculoskeletal outcomes in middle-aged women (2016), published in Osteoporosis International
• Assessment of the genetic and clinical determinants of fracture risk: genome wide association and mendelian randomisation study (2018), published in British Medical Journal

Other ZOE Science & Nutrition episodes to try:

• What to eat to avoid osteoporosis with Prof. Tim Spector & Prof. Cyrus Cooper | Listen on Apple or Spotify
• Mushrooms as medicine: Uncovering the health secrets of fungi | Listen on Apple or Spotify

Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us know here.

Episode transcripts are available here.