I'm glad people are spreading the message about Vitamin D, even if it did take a "virus" to get noticed. Very grateful we have a doctor that stresses the importance of D. He calls for D to be checked in bloodwork. I've posted and shared often over the years about the important supplement.
Vitamin D deficiency has now been linked to breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, heart disease, depression, weight gain, and other maladies. These studies show that people with higher levels of vitamin D have a lower risk of disease, although they do not definitively prove that lack of vitamin D causes disease -- or that vitamin D supplements would lower risk.
The Vitamin D Council -- a scientist-led group promoting vitamin D deficiency awareness -- suggests vitamin D treatment might be found helpful in treating or preventing autism, autoimmune disease, cancer, chronic pain, depression, diabetes, heart disease, high bloodpressure, flu, neuromuscular diseases, and osteoporosis. However, there have been no definitive clinical trials.
Read full article Vitamin D FAQ: Why You Need Vitamin D (webmd.com)
In addition to its primary benefits, research suggests that vitamin D may also play a role in:
reducing your risk of multiple sclerosis, according to a 2006 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association
decreasing your chance of developing heart disease, according to 2008 findings published in CirculationTrusted Source
helping to reduce your likelihood of developing the flu, according to 2010 research published in the American Journal of Clinical NutritionTrusted Source
Read full article 3 Surprising Benefits of Vitamin D (healthline.com)
Overview
Vitamin D is necessary for building and maintaining healthy bones. That's because calcium, the primary component of bone, can only be absorbed by your body when vitamin D is present. Your body makes vitamin D when direct sunlight converts a chemical in your skin into an active form of the vitamin (calciferol).
Vitamin D isn't found in many foods, but you can get it from fortified milk, fortified cereal, and fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel and sardines.
The amount of vitamin D your skin makes depends on many factors, including the time of day, season, latitude and your skin pigmentation. Depending on where you live and your lifestyle, vitamin D production might decrease or be completely absent during the winter months. Sunscreen, while important, also can decrease vitamin D production.
Many older adults don't get regular exposure to sunlight and have trouble absorbing vitamin D, so taking a multivitamin with vitamin D will likely help improve bone health. The recommended daily amount of vitamin D is 400 international units (IU) for children up to age 12 months, 600 IU for ages 1 to 70 years, and 800 IU for people over 70 years.
Full Article Vitamin D - Mayo Clinic
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