London, March 11 (IANS): Too high levels of vitamin D in the blood may increase your risk of dying from a stroke, warns a study.

In terms of public health, a lack of vitamin D has long been a focal point and several studies have shown that too low levels can prove detrimental to our health.

The new study, therefore, suggests that the level of vitamin D in our blood should neither be too high nor to low.

"If your vitamin D level is below 50 or over 100 nanomol per litre, there is a greater connection to deaths," said Peter Schwarz, professor at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

The researchers studied the level of vitamin D in 247,574 people and analysed their mortality rate over a seven-year period. In that time 16,645 patients had died.

"We have looked at what caused the death of patients, and when numbers are above 100, it appears that there is an increased risk of dying from a stroke or a coronary," Schwarz added.

"In other words, levels of vitamin D should not be too low, but neither should they be too high. Levels should be somewhere in between 50 and 100 nanomol per litre, and our study indicates that 70 is the most preferable level," Schwartz explained.

That having too much vitamin D in our blood can be bad for our health has never been proven before, and it may have great influence on our future intake of nutritional supplements.

The study appeared in the Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism.