Vitamin D: The Sunshine Vitamin

Sunlight is bad for you, right? Wrong! Sunlight can actually be very good for your health, and the darker your skin the more of it you need.

What makes sunlight good for your health is Vitamin D. When your skin is exposed to the UV light found in sunlight it produces Vitamin D, and there is mounting evidence that Vitamin D helps prevent many health problems, including various forms of cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes, and even common colds. Too much UV light can also increase the risk of skin cancer, which is why sunlight gets such a bad rap. So if you do decide to get more sun to get more Vitamin D, don't overdo it and burn yourself. For light skinned people, 20 minutes a day in the sun is more than enough to get all the Vitamin D you need. One major caveat is that sunlight only causes your skin to produce Vitamin D when the sun is above a certain angle, so during winter months the sun may never get high enough to cause your skin to produce Vitamin D at all if you live in say the United States or Europe.

For people like me that work in an office and sit in front of a computer all day, getting enough sun can be difficult. Another great way to get Vitamin D is by taking pills. Below is my dad's recommendation for Vitamin D pills - these are the ones that he and I take.

Here is the least expensive Vitamin D3 supplement I have yet seen. A year's supply for $11.25! One capsule per day (2400 IU), with food, should be about the right dose for most people. Those who have not been taking Vitamin D3 could take two capsules per day for a couple of weeks, then cut back to one capsule per day long term. Ideally, take an extra capsule once or twice per week to bring average intake to 3000 IU per day. This should achieve and maintain optimal Vitamin D blood levels for most people.

Healthy Origins, Vitamin D3, 2,400 IU, 360 Softgels
SRP: $24.99
Our Price: $11.25
http://www.iherb.com/store/ProductDetails.aspx?c=Herbs&pid=HOG-15308

Vitamin D is also added to various foods like milk and cereal, but usually not in high enough quantities to be of much use. For example, 1 glass of milk typically has about 100 IU of Vitamin D in it, so you would have to drink 30 glasses of milk to get the amount my dad recommends above!

I recently blogged about how resveratrol can help extend life span, but in terms of overall health I would say that Vitamin D is more important.

If you need any more convincing, watch this video of a presentation by Dr. Reinhold Vieth, a lead Vitamin D researcher. It is an hour long, but, to quote my dad, "Its the most complete coverage of Vitamin D I have yet seen, though recorded in 2005. Well worth watching! Send this to all your friends!" Hence this blog post :)

Update: A couple people have told me they are already taking the RDI ("recommended daily intake") of Vitamin D, or 400 IU per day. This is actually not enough: the 400 IU standard is way outdated, and as my dad noted above you probably need more like 3000+ IU per day. Watch the video for a thorough explanation of this.