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A 'Live Longer' Supernutrient
Published Jan 7, 2008
Be it sweater or swimsuit season, a daily dose of the "sunshine vitamin" may significantly shrink your risk of disease and death.
And although the stuff naturally occurs in your skin when exposed to the sun, you should faithfully pop a vitamin D supplement as well, because you need more D than Mother Nature -- or your diet -- can probably provide.
Vitamin D may be particularly helpful in thwarting cancer and arterial diseases. Why? It’s not entirely clear yet. But these conditions rely on cell proliferation to do their damage, and vitamin D may help slow down that process.
So how can you tap into the sunshine vitamin’s benefits? A bit of safe sun and some D-rich foods will boost your blood levels -- but only so much. To gain the life-extending effects researchers recently identified, you’ll need a daily supplement, too. Either form you find at your drugstore, vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) or vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol), will do the trick.
Source: www.RealAge.com
