What Does Iu Mean. An international unit iu is an internationally accepted amount of a substance. Rather than measuring the mass or volume of a specific vitamin iu measures the potency and the biological effect.
The conversion of iu to mg varies depending on the nutrient. The mass or volume that constitutes one international unit varies based on which substance is being measured and the variance is based on the biological activity or effect for the purpose of easier comparison across substances. Iu refers to international unit refers to the measurement of biological activity of the vitamin.
Rickets vitamin d deficiency gale encyclopedia of medicine.
Iu refers to international unit refers to the measurement of biological activity of the vitamin. Rather than measuring the mass or volume of a specific vitamin iu measures the potency and the biological effect. 15mg of beta carotene 25 000iu of vitamin a activity. The volume or mass that makes up one international unit is dependent on the concentration or potency of the substance and therefore varies from substance to substance depending on what is being measured.