Vitamin D plays the important role of assisting with the metabolism of calcium and phosphorus -- minerals critical to bone health and development. Vitamin D is associated with the prevention of chronic diseases including osteoporosis, diabetes and some cancers. The recommended daily dosage of vitamin D for healthy adults is about 600 IU of vitamin D, according to the U.S. Institute of Medicine. Your body makes vitamin D in response to sunlight and absorbs it from the foods you eat, including fortified dairy products, egg yolks and salt water fish.
Fights Disease
Vitamin D may play an important role in fighting disease, according to information from the Harvard School of Public Health. A deficiency in vitamin D can increase your risk of chronic diseases such as multiple sclerosis and some cancers. A vitamin D deficiency also increases your risk of contracting infectious diseases including the flu and tuberculosis. Because you absorb most of your vitamin D from sunlight, scientists suspect the association with lower rates of disease might be due to other factors, such as not participating in outdoor activities.
Diabetes Prevention
Low levels of vitamin D in your bloodstream may increase your risk of developing diabetes, according to a study conducted by researchers from University of Melbourne in Australia and published in a 2010 issue of "Diabetes Care." This long-term study followed more than 5,000 individuals for five years. Those with vitamin D levels lower than average increased their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 57 percent compared to people with normal levels.
Fracture Prevention
Taking vitamin D supplements in the correct dosage can reduce the risk of fractures by at least 20 percent, according to an analysis of 20 scientific trials by the University of Zurich is Switzerland and published in the March 2009 issue of the "Archives of Internal Medicine." The analysis examined more than 80,000 fractures in individuals 65 years and older and found doses of 400 IU per day reduced the number of fractures in 29 percent of those living independently and 15 percent in those living in institutionalized settings.
Colon and Breast Cancer Prevention
Increasing the amount of vitamin D in the bloodstream of the world's population is projected to prevent about 58,000 new cases of breast cancer and 49,000 new cases of colorectal cancer per year, according to a study by researchers from the University of California San Diego. Reported in the July 2009 issue of the "Annals of Epidemiology," it would also prevent three-quarters of the annual deaths from these diseases in the United States and Canada.
References
- Mediline Plus; Low Vitamin D Levels Linked to Vitamin D Risk; Leigh Krietsch Boerner; April 2011
- Harvard School of Public Health: Vitamin D and Health
- Archives of Internal Medicine; Prevention of Nonvertebral Fractures with Oral Vitamin D and Dose Dependancy; H.A. Bischoff-Ferrari et al.; March 2009
- Annals of Epidemiology; Vitamin D for Cancer Prevention: A Global Perspective; C.F. Garland et al.; July 2009
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