I know I've been harping on the need for vitamin D supplements for a while now, but the evidence just keeps mounting that this is one of the most important supplements to take on a regular basis, and it doesn't seem to be getting the attention it deserves.
The current issue of The Archives of Internal Medicine now reports that very low levels of vitamin D are linked to an increased risk of death.
Did that get your attention? It sure did mine.
We already know that vitamin D helps protect against certain cancers, contributes to strong bones, improves mood and increases physical performance in older people. It may also help fight diabetes and Crohn's Disease. Now we find out it may help lower your risk of an early death!
In this study, a research team analyzed a large sample of approximately 13,000 men and women and compared the risk of death between those with the lowest levels of vitamin D in their blood and those with the highest. They found a 26% increase of death
from any cause whatsoever for those in the lowest quartile of vitamin D levels compared with those in the highest quartile.
Study after study has shown that we just don't get optimal levels of vitamin D. We've become a nation of sun phobics, slathering on 45 SPF every time we go outdoors thus significantly reducing our ability to make this important vitamin (which is actually a hormone more than it is a vitamin anyway). It's found in very few foods in any appreciable amount, except perhaps for cod liver oil, a supplement most of us aren't exactly scarfing down by the gallon.
The best advice:
take supplements , even during the summer. We're just not getting enough of this important nutrient.
I strongly recommend a minimum of 1000 IUs of vitamin D daily as a supplement, and truth be told I'd much rather you take 2000IUs. In that amount (and very possibly higher) it is absolutely safe. The best form is vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol).
For the rest of this month I will add one bottle of
Carlson's vitamin D with absolutely every
vitamin order .
The current issue of The Archives of Internal Medicine now reports that very low levels of vitamin D are linked to an increased risk of death.
Did that get your attention? It sure did mine.
We already know that vitamin D helps protect against certain cancers, contributes to strong bones, improves mood and increases physical performance in older people. It may also help fight diabetes and Crohn's Disease. Now we find out it may help lower your risk of an early death!
In this study, a research team analyzed a large sample of approximately 13,000 men and women and compared the risk of death between those with the lowest levels of vitamin D in their blood and those with the highest. They found a 26% increase of death from any cause whatsoever for those in the lowest quartile of vitamin D levels compared with those in the highest quartile.
Study after study has shown that we just don't get optimal levels of vitamin D. We've become a nation of sun phobics, slathering on 45 SPF every time we go outdoors thus significantly reducing our ability to make this important vitamin (which is actually a hormone more than it is a vitamin anyway). It's found in very few foods in any appreciable amount, except perhaps for cod liver oil, a supplement most of us aren't exactly scarfing down by the gallon.
The best advice: take supplements , even during the summer. We're just not getting enough of this important nutrient.
I strongly recommend a minimum of 1000 IUs of vitamin D daily as a supplement, and truth be told I'd much rather you take 2000IUs. In that amount (and very possibly higher) it is absolutely safe. The best form is vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol).
For the rest of this month I will add one bottle of Carlson's vitamin D with absolutely every vitamin order .