Making health headlines almost daily, vitamin D seems to be the nutritional celebrity. Even with all the press it has been getting, Americans don't seem to be getting enough vitamin D in their diets. Here are five things about vitamin D to help you get to know it a little bit better.
- Vitamin D, not vitamin C, is known as the sunshine vitamin since your body produces vitamin D after exposure to ultraviolet rays from the sun.
- Ten to 15 minutes of daily sun, at nonpeak hours, is enough to satisfy the recommended daily dose of D. The recommend daily intake for vitamin D is 200–400 International Units (IU).
- Current levels of vitamin D are lower in Americans than they were two decades ago. Health researchers believe this decline is due to: increasing weight, declining milk consumption, and increasing use of sun protection.
- You can find vitamin D in a handful of food sources: fatty fish like salmon and mackerel, egg yolks, and foods fortified with the vitamin. Much milk in the US is fortified with vitamin D.
- Adequate vitamin D helps prevent osteoporosis, heart disease, and diabetes. It may even help prevent breast cancer.