Vitamin D – The winter vitamin
Those of us that live in the northern hemispheres are unable to get enough vitamin D in the winter, this is true even for those that live, as I do, in sunshine provinces like Alberta. For years we have been told that 400IU, the amount in most multiple vitamin supplements, is enough. However current thinking is that most adults will benefit by adding on another 1000IU. (The maximum daily amount is 2000IU – DO NOT GO OVER THIS).
It may even be the wonder vitamin that prolongs your life.
It reduces your risk of breast and colon cancer. Out-of-control cell growth can lead to cancer. Vitamin D controls the rate that cells reproduce, and enables your DNA spell checker gene calledP53. This gene checks your cells and Kills the cancer cells.
Experts now believe this is why women who live in sunny climates and thus have plenty of D (your body makes it when sunlight hits your skin) are less likely to develop breast cancer.
Vitamin D has also been linked to lower chances of developing ovarian and lung cancers — and better odds of beating colon cancer: Recent research found that colon cancer patients with the highest Vitamin D levels are the most likely to survive.
It deters diabetes and other serious diseases. When researchers looked at the link between sun exposure and type 1 diabetes in children, they found fewer cases of diabetes in kids who live closer to the sunny equator (and therefore make more vitamin D). And because D improves your ability to produce and use insulin, it may also help protect against type 2 diabetes.
Vitamin, which is thought to be an immune system ally, may help prevent autoimmune diseases too, including multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Vitamin D helps to keep your heart healthy by controlling inflammation and moderating your blood pressure, this keeps your arteries young.
It is impossible to get enough of this vitamin naturally even though sunshine creates vitamin D in your body. In the northern hemisphere from the fall through to the spring the sunshine isn’t strong enough meaning that people who live in the United States, Canada and Europe need to ensure that they supplement their diet.
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