Vitamin D

Vitamin D is the only vitamin that you can get from something other than food – namely from the sun!

We all know that too much sun exposure can be unhealthy for our skin, but no sunlight at all is equally unhealthy. It is very important that a large part of your skin is exposed to the sun for at least 15 minutes every day, in order to get the recommended daily allowance of this vitamin.

If you live in a part of the world that has a cold and dark winter, it is important that you supplement your diet with this vitamin.

Our body needs vit D to maintain healthy bones and teeth and to prevent certain types of cancer, like for example colon cancer and breast cancer. It is also needed for healthy growth in the early years of a child's life.

Vit D controls how much calcium is taken up from the food we eat. It helps absorb calcium and phosphorus from our food. And with the help of this vitamin, the body can use the calcium to aid our muscles to contract and also to send messages along the nerves.

This vitamin even helps your body to maintain a healthy immune system.

Foods with vitamin D: This vitamin can be found in fat fish such as salmon and in small amounts in fortified milk or yogurt. The main source where you should get this vitamin is the sun though.

All children and adults should supplement their diet with D vitamin in the winter months in the "snowy" parts of the world. And small children and the elderly should take a supplement year round.

The RDA is right now 800 IU, but it used to be 400 and some still say it is 400 IU. Many doctors though, like for example Dr. Mercola,
say you should take around 2000 IU to get all the health benefits this vitamin can give us. It is a little high though in my opinion, and some vitamins will also become toxic for you if you eat too much of them. So a regular Vit D3 supplement should do for most people.

A supplement is not needed if you live in a sunny climate and spend some time outside every day.

It would be wise to ask your own doctor before you start taking any new vitamin supplement.

During the winter months here in Finland, I normally take two 800 IU vit D3 tablets, so 1600 IU per day.

To learn about the deficiency signs associated with this vitamin, go to this page: Deficiency Signs and Overdose

Click here to go from Vitamin D to Nutrition Facts In Frutis & Vegetables

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