by Holly Ridgeway

Created on: November 07, 2009   Last Updated: November 26, 2009

Are you vitamin D deficient? The answer is likely yes. Although vitamin D is considered an essential component of a healthy diet, very few individuals get enough of it. The reason? It is nearly impossible to obtain an adequate amount through natural means. For this reason, health professionals are increasingly recommending that people take vitamin D supplements to help fulfill the recommended daily requirements.

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble prohormone found naturally in fish, eggs, and mushrooms, but much of the vitamin D in the typical American diet comes from fortified food such as milk and cereal. However, dietary vitamin D only provides about 100 International Units (IUs) for the average American, which is far short of the 200-600 IUs currently recommended by the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine. The only other way to obtain vitamin D naturally is through sun exposure. But unfortunately, vitamin-rich UV rays are often difficult to catch in colder climates (those above 42 degrees north latitude), and extended sun exposure presents an obvious skin cancer risk. In other words, the natural cure for vitamin D deficiency could be worse than the deficiency itself.

Recent studies have shown that most Americans are indeed vitamin D deficient due to this lack of dietary sources and avoidance of UV rays. A report in the Archives of Internal Medicine published in March of 2009 indicates that the percentage of the population getting adequate amounts of vitamin D dropped dramatically from 45% in 1988 to only 23% in 1994. And many scientists and health professionals feel that the current intake recommendations are woefully outdated. These amounts were established in 1997, but research since then indicates that between 1,000 and 2,000 IUs of vitamin D is perhaps more advisable because of its role in the prevention of cancer, heart disease, and osteoporosis. In response to these studies, the Institute of Medicine has decided to revise its intake recommendations within the next two years.

This follows on the heels of a study by Sylvia Chistakos, Ph.D., a professor of biochemistry at the New Jersey Medical School, which contends that vitamin D plays a major role in inhibiting the growth of breast cancer cells. That study, combined with a reservoir of research regarding vitamin D's role in the absorption of calcium by the body, makes vitamin D deficiency an especially harmful risk for females. Breast cancer strikes 1 in 8 women, and females are 4 times

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>