Vitamin D3

vitamin Verified

Specifically for Eczema

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Why it works for Eczema:

Immune modulation & antimicrobial defense. Vitamin D up-regulates antimicrobial peptides (especially cathelicidin/LL-37), which are often low in atopic skin and are important for controlling Staphylococcus aureus and other microbes that aggravate eczema. A controlled human study showed oral vitamin D increased cathelicidin expression in people with AD, supporting this mechanism. JAC Online

Skin-barrier support. Reviews describe vitamin D signaling as a regulator of epithelial/skin barrier integrity (tight junctions, lipid organization) and suggest links with filaggrin biology—both central to eczema’s pathophysiology. MDPI

Anti-inflammatory effects. Vitamin D receptor activity influences innate/adaptive immunity, generally reducing pro-inflammatory signaling relevant to eczema. (NIH overview of vitamin D’s immunologic roles.) Office of Dietary Supplements

How to use for Eczema:

Position in care. Major dermatology/allergy guidelines focus on moisturizers, topical anti-inflammatories, targeted biologics/JAK inhibitors, etc.; vitamin D is not a first-line therapy and is best considered an adjunct, particularly when deficiency is suspected. American Academy of Dermatology

1) Check (or at least consider) baseline vitamin D status.

The NIH considers serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) ≥20 ng/mL (≥50 nmol/L) adequate for most people; values <12 ng/mL (<30 nmol/L) indicate deficiency. Office of Dietary Supplements

2) Typical supplement doses used in eczema studies (oral cholecalciferol unless noted otherwise):

Children with winter-worsening eczema: 1,000 IU/day for 1 month improved severity vs placebo in an RCT in Mongolia. JAC Online
Mixed child/adult RCTs: Meta-analyses suggest benefits are more likely at >2,000 IU/day (short courses ~8–12 weeks), while ≤2,000 IU/day often showed no effect; heterogeneity is high. e-aair.org
Overall effect size: A 2024 systematic review/meta-analysis of 11 RCTs (n=686) found vitamin D supplementation reduced eczema severity (standardized mean difference −0.41; 95% CI −0.67 to −0.16). MDPI

3) How to take it.

Form: Vitamin D₃ (cholecalciferol).
With food: Absorption is better with a meal that contains fat. (General pharmacokinetic note from NIH fact sheet.) Office of Dietary Supplements
Duration: Most trials ran 4–12 weeks; reassess symptoms and (ideally) 25(OH)D if you’re continuing longer. e-aair.org
Don’t exceed the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) without medical supervision: for ages ≥9 years, 4,000 IU/day; lower ULs apply to younger children. Office of Dietary Supplements

4) What not to do.

Avoid topical vitamin D analogs (e.g., calcipotriene) for eczema unless directed by a specialist—these are formulated for psoriasis and can irritate atopic skin. (Guidelines emphasize standard eczema topicals instead.) American Academy of Dermatology

Scientific Evidence for Eczema:

Systematic reviews & meta-analyses

2024 systematic review/meta-analysis (children & adults): Pooled data found vitamin D supplementation reduced AD severity (standardized mean difference around −0.41), while calling for larger, longer RCTs. pdfs.semanticscholar.org
2021 JAAD meta-analysis (RCTs only): Found benefit on clinical scores vs placebo, though heterogeneity across trials exists. JAAD
2019 Nutrients meta-analysis: Reported lower vitamin D levels in AD and improvement with supplementation, especially in those deficient. MDPI
2025 review (Nutrients): Recent synthesis notes mixed/heterogeneous findings, with some RCTs positive and others neutral; benefits appear greater in deficient patients. pdfs.semanticscholar.org

Key randomized trials (examples)

Children, winter AD: 1,000 IU/day for 1 month improved AD vs placebo. (J Allergy Clin Immunol.) ScienceDirect
Children, adjunctive therapy: 1,600 IU/day for 12 weeks + hydrocortisone outperformed placebo + hydrocortisone (EASI change). Europe PMC
Adults: 4,000 IU/day for 3 weeks increased cathelicidin and improved clinical scores vs placebo (JEADV). ICHGCP
Mixed-age RCTs: 1,600 IU/day for 60 days showed SCORAD/TIS improvement vs placebo in one study; other small RCTs have varied results. JDD Online

Specific Warnings for Eczema:

Do not exceed the UL without medical supervision. Too much vitamin D can cause hypercalcemia, hypercalciuria, kidney problems, arrhythmias, and soft-tissue calcification. ULs: 4,000 IU/day for adults and for ages ≥9 y (lower for younger ages). Office of Dietary Supplements

Drug interactions:

Thiazide diuretics + vitamin D can raise calcium levels (hypercalcemia risk). Office of Dietary Supplements
Orlistat reduces vitamin-D absorption. Office of Dietary Supplements
Corticosteroids can impair vitamin-D metabolism. Office of Dietary Supplements
Statins may interact metabolically with high vitamin-D intakes. Office of Dietary Supplements

Medical conditions: Use with extra caution (and medical guidance) if you have kidney disease, hyperparathyroidism, granulomatous diseases (e.g., sarcoidosis), a history of kidney stones, or baseline hypercalcemia, as vitamin D can worsen calcium abnormalities. (Risk mechanisms and toxicity summarized in NIH fact sheet.) Office of Dietary Supplements

Pregnancy & children: Stay within age-appropriate ULs unless your clinician prescribes otherwise; evidence for prevention during pregnancy is mixed. OUP Academic

Back to Eczema

General Information (All Ailments)

Note: You are viewing ailment-specific information above. This section shows the general remedy information for all conditions.

What It Is

Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) is a fat-soluble vitamin that the human body can make on its own when UV-B sunlight hits the skin. It can also be consumed in food (e.g., egg yolks, oily fish, fortified milk) or taken as a supplement. After entering the body, D3 is converted in the liver to calcidiol (25-hydroxyvitamin D), and then in the kidneys to calcitriol — the hormonally active form of vitamin D. These conversions are tightly regulated because vitamin D behaves less like a “vitamin” and more like a hormone with genomic effects.

How It Works

The active form of vitamin D (calcitriol) binds to the vitamin D receptor (VDR), a nuclear receptor present in many cell types. Once bound, the vitamin D–VDR complex regulates the transcription of genes involved in calcium absorption, bone remodeling, immune signaling, and cellular differentiation. One of its clearest roles is to raise blood calcium by increasing absorption from the gut, reducing loss in the kidneys, and mobilizing calcium from bone when needed. Beyond mineral metabolism, vitamin D also modulates innate and adaptive immunity, reduces inflammatory signaling, and influences the differentiation of many tissues — which is why deficiency affects systems far beyond bones.

Why It’s Important

Vitamin D is essential for maintaining mineral balance and skeletal integrity; deficiency can lead to osteomalacia in adults and rickets in children, and even subclinical deficiency increases the rate of fractures and bone loss. Its immunomodulatory actions appear to reduce the incidence or severity of some infections, especially respiratory ones in deficient individuals. Observationally, low vitamin D status has been associated with higher rates of autoimmune disease, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, some cancers, depression, and all-cause mortality — though association does not prove that supplementation prevents those outcomes. Nevertheless, population-level insufficiency is common due to indoor lifestyles, sunscreen use, higher latitudes, winter seasons, darker skin pigmentation (which reduces cutaneous synthesis), aging skin, and obesity (which sequesters fat-soluble vitamins in adipose tissue).

Considerations

Vitamin D is fat-soluble, so excess can accumulate and cause toxicity (hypercalcemia, kidney stones, vascular calcification), though this is usually from chronic high-dose supplementation, not sunlight or diet. Personal need varies by latitude, season, skin tone, age, body fat, and kidney/liver function, so a single fixed dose is not universally appropriate. Measuring serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D is the standard way to assess status; targets differ by guideline, but values persistently below ~20 ng/mL are generally considered deficient, whereas most toxicity reports involve sustained levels above ~100 ng/mL. Because vitamin D raises calcium absorption, adequate vitamin K2 and magnesium status may help maintain safer calcium handling, while thiazide use, sarcoidosis, and certain granulomatous diseases can increase sensitivity to vitamin D. In pregnancy and lactation, requirements rise, but dosing should still be individualized rather than assumed.

Helps with these conditions

Vitamin D3 is most effective for general wellness support with emerging research . The effectiveness varies by condition based on clinical evidence and user experiences.

Common Cold 0% effective

Flu 0% effective

COVID-19 0% effective

Depression 0% effective

Eczema 0% effective

Menopause 0% effective

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Common Cold

0% effective

Immune regulation & antimicrobial peptides. Vitamin D (the active form 1,25-diOH-D) binds the Vitamin D Receptor in immune cells and epithelial ce...

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