Human Intervention Study to Increase 25-hydroxyvitamin D Levels

The interventional study in parallel design will evaluate the effectiveness and potential of a daily consumption of wheat germ oil (UV treated vs. untreated) to increase plasma vitamin D levels in humans. Wheat germ oil is naturally rich in vitamin D precursors (ergosterol and 7-dehydrocholesterol), which are converted into vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 by a defined UV light irradiation for the present study. Half of the participants will consume UV-treated wheat germ oil (intervention) and the other part will consume traditional wheat germ oil (untreated, control). The subjects will consume 10 ml of wheat germ oil per day over an entire period of 6 weeks (no follow-up). On the basis of the planned human intervention study (randomized, single-blind, parallel design) it will be investigated to what extent a regular consumption of wheat germ oil (UV-treated) can contribute to the increase of plasma 25 (OH) D levels. The comparison is made against the intake of traditional (untreated) wheat germ oil (control). The study fits with the strategy of the Competence Cluster for Nutrition and Cardiovascular Health (nutriCARD), Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Germany (www.nutriCARD.de) and the study collaborators are active members of the nutriCARD cluster.