Nutritionally oriented physicians agree that the hottest topic over the last couple of years has been vitamin D.
At one time, we assumed there wasn’t much to be concerned about regarding vitamin D, since the body manufactures its own (when sunlight hits your skin) and because it’s present in some foods and included in virtually all multiple vitamins.
If you’re a regular reader of these health tips, you know that low levels of vitamin D increase the risk of several cancers (breast, colon, and ovary), Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, and susceptibility to fractures.
And in a recent article in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers from King’s College in London, based on DNA analysis, concluded that adequate amounts of vitamin D may actually slow aging and increase life span.
If you’d like to read more about D, click here to connect with the non-profit Vitamin D Council. This group of physicians and others have gathered data and urged more clinical studies to investigate vitamin D deficiency. There’s a wealth of good reading, much of it written for consumers.
Here’s a link to the Toronto Globe and Mail for what I think is the best overall article on this important topic.
In our next health tip, my observations and updated recommendations for vitamin D.