Milk

Nutrition Q&A [Moderated]
1

I know you guys field a lot of questions about milk, so I’m sorry if this has been answered already but I couldn’t find anything. To make a semi long story short, my wife’s vitamin d levels were deemed low after blood work being done. We both supplement a d3 and k2 vitamin with 5000 iu of vitamin d, and 50 mcg of k2 daily. Her doctor asked her when she typically takes them and with what. My wife told her she takes them with a glass of milk and breakfast typically eggs and toast. Her doctor recommended she skip the glass of milk with vitamins as milk coats the lining of the stomach and blocks absorption.

This sounded like quackery to me, but she followed docs advice, and her vitamin d levels were up to normal next time she had blood work done according to her doctor. This was about a year ago, so unfortunately I don’t have any numbers to give you as to what her levels were, but my question is if there is any evidence milk in fact block vitamin absorption.

2

No. In fact, the fat in the dairy should theoretically increase vitamin D absorption in addition to providing more vitamin D due to the fortification of most milk.

That all being said, low vitamin D is rarely due to reduced consumption or environmental sources.

3

That’s the answer I was hoping for. If not consumption, what is a typical cause of low vitamin d? She was pregnant then, and is again now is why I ask.

4

Vitamin D status is a complex marker of a number of processes going on in the body and, in general, a low level of vitamin D suggests disease processes over lack of consumption/sun light. Pregnancy poses a different issue with respect to vitamin D level interpretation, however. The current recommendations are to treat low vitamin D in this population with vitamin D supplements.