Vitamin D-Fortified Bread Is as Effective as Supplement in Improving Vitamin D Status: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Context: Bread can potentially be a suitable vehicle for fortification with vitamin D. Objective: This study was undertaken to evaluate the following: 1) the bioavailability of vitamin D from the fortified Iranian bread and 2) the possible effects of daily consumption of the fortified bread on certain health aspects. Design, Setting, and Participants: This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial conducted over 8 weeks in 90 healthy subjects aged 20–60 years. Intervention: Subjects were randomly allocated to one of three groups: 1) fortified bread (FP; 50 g bread fortified with 25 μg vitamin D3 plus placebo daily; n = 30); 2) supplement (SP; 50 g plain bread plus 25 μg vitamin D supplement daily; n = 30); and 3) control (CP; 50 g plain bread plus placebo daily; n = 30). Outcome Measures: Initial and final anthropometric and biochemical assessments were performed. Results: The within-group changes of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations were 39.0 ± 22.6 (P < .001), 28.9 ± 31.2 (P < .001...