5 reasons to get your daily dose of vitamin D
Vitamin D: 5 reasons it’s good for you
There’s solid evidence that vitamin D is important for your body. But about half of all Americans aren’t getting enough of it.
Vitamin D can prevent bone loss. Also, if you aren’t getting enough vitamin D, you may be increasing your risk for these 5 conditions:
- Diabetes
- High blood pressure
- Stroke
- Heart failure
- Some types of cancer
(Although studies show associations with these diseases, there is no proof that treatment with vitamin D lessens your risk, except that it helps decrease the risk of falls and fractures in older people.)
Our preventive care guidelines currently recommend 1,000 IU of vitamin D per day for women 18 and older and men 50 and older. Since vitamin D is actually a hormone, not a vitamin, it’s not found in many foods.
An easy and safe way for adults to increase daily intake of vitamin D is to take a supplement with 1,000 IU every day. For more on this and other vitamins, visit the natural medicines database.
