Facts About Vitamin D

Everyone knows about Vitamin C and Vitamin E and Vitamin A. Those are some pretty popular vitamins. How come your mother never told you about that amazing Vitamin D? Well, she may have told you that it is necessary for strong bones and that’s why they fortify milk with it, but did she ever tell you that research has linked deficiencies in Vitamin D to a myriad of health issues which include obesity, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, infections, inflammation and even heart trouble? Probably not, but let’s give her the benefit of the doubt. She may not have known those things because some of them have only recently come to light, even within the last decade or so.

The reason so many of us are probably deficient in Vitamin D is because it is comes from a photocemical reaction in the skin when we are exposed to direct sunlight. That exposure needs to be DIRECT, meaning NO SUNSCREEN which limits the UV exposure which is the necessary element in sunlight we are talking about. Brittish researchers have concluded that perhaps two or three brief 10-15 minute periods in the direct sunlight per day would provide enough direct sunlight for the photochemical sysnthesis to take place.

We have heard so many horror stories about being exposed to direct sunlight that we don’t even buy shampoos that don’t have sunscreen in them. If you are unable to get enough sunlight you WILL be deficient in Vitamin D unless you take a supplement.

The recommended dosage is 200 IU (International Units) for children and adults through age 50, 400 IU for adults 51-70 and 600 IU for people age 71 and above. Researchers and medical professionals are saying that even these levels are too low so the US Institute of Medicine is currently reviewing these recommended levels.

Because of the increased risk of skin cancer from exposure to the sun, doctors and scientists alike are recommending supplementation rather than exposing yourself to potential dangers.

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