Knowing the latest research can give you a real advantage. Putting it into effect will ensure that you reap the health benefits.



Vitamin D is a very important vitamin which is essential in ensuring the body's health. As a fat-soluble vitamin it can be dissolved and stored by our body's fat deposits. Is the only vitamin that the body can produce with adequate exposure to sunlight as well as being obtained from foods. The form of this vitamin that comes from plants is called ergocalciferol (also referred to as Vitamin D2). From animals, it is called cholecalciferol or Vitamin D3. The Vitamin has many key benefits for the body. They include:

Calcium absorption - Vitamin D is a very important vitamin for building strong, healthy bones. In the intestine, Vitamin D helps the body take in the dietary calcium, the ingredient that enables hardness to our bones. With Vitamin D, whatever calcium we take into our body is used properly. Vitamin D also benefits the teeth and gums.

Disease prevention - Since we saw that Vitamin D helps in the absorption of calcium necessary to proper bone growth, it is also important to note that it helps prevent the bone-deficiency disease called rickets in children. Vitamin D also helps prevent osteoporosis, a debilitating bone disease.

According to research, Vitamin D has also shown to be very beneficial to the health of the muscles. In a 2003 study, reviewed in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, many patients who suffered from chronic musculoskeletal pain also had a Vitamin D deficiency.

There is also some exciting reports which show Vitamin D's ability to help prevent diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and possibly Type 1 diabetes. The results shown in the studies, published in 2004, are not conclusive, but researchers believe it holds promise! Vitamin D also helps boost immunity sand may prevent inflammation, which probably explains its role against rheumatoid arthritis.

Vitamin D's benefits against cancer - New research suggests that Vitamin D may be beneficial against certain cancers, such as prostate, colon and breast cancer. Blood tests conducted by researchers on the subject over a period of time showed that the lower the Vitamin D levels are, the higher the risk of cancer.

Vitamin D's most active form is capable of enabling important responses in the body. One of the most important is the regulation of how cells grow and multiply. When left uncontrolled, both these processes can result in cancer growths. Again, the evidence is still prelimative and more studies have to be conducted.

You'll find extra Vitamin D in foods like salmon, sardines and mackerel. It's also found in cod liver oil and fortified foods like milk and cereals.

Soon you will come to realise that something you have read here will have a beneficial impact on your health. Then you'll be glad you took the time to learn more about Vitamin D. Hopefully you will get enough Vitamin D through your diet, but I consider it so important in my own diet, that I supplement more with Solgar Vitamin D. Solgar is the brand I prefer.