masvida

By Dr. Madelyn Fernstrom While “strong bones” most often comes to mind when we think of vitamin D, recent studies demonstrate loads of additional health-promoting benefits, including contributions to the prevention of osteoporosis, high blood pressure, certain types of cancer, and some immune-system diseases. How do you know if you’re meeting your daily needs? Guidelines have recently been updated for both children and adults. While vitamin D needs vary with age and other factors, the only way you can know your vitamin D “number” is with a blood test – and a score of 30 or higher is the new goal. Vitamin D is not naturally found in foods, except for fatty fish (like salmon and tuna), and is added to all dairy products. Nature’s way for us to obtain vitamin D is from exposure to daily sun light, where our skin can help us meet our daily needs for this vitamin. Just 10-15 minutes a day (without sunscreen) is sufficient. To meet your needs, you might need a simple d...