I believe that Dr. Holick's book, The UV Advantage is an incredibly important read for anyone interested in preventing numerous health problems and bettering their health, but is even more essential for those who follow the "experts" recommendations to stay out of the sun.

It is quite disturbing that Dr. Holick, one of the world's foremost authorities on vitamin D, would be asked to resign when his recommendations are right on target. It is the widespread recommendation from the "experts" to avoid sun exposure that is causing harm. This myth has contributed to massive amounts of disease and illness in our society because we ALL need sunshine to stay healthy.

I've been saying for years now, vitamin D is an extremely important nutrient and you must optimize your levels if you want to improve your health. Unfortunately, many Americans do not get enough vitamin D, largely because of experts' recommendations to avoid all sun exposure.

That's why I was so interested in this Slate feature piece about the basic questions it tried to answer about vitamin D:

• What are the benefits?
• How much do you need?
• Why do you need sun exposure?

In a related note, Oliver Gillie, former science writer for the Sunday Times, has recently written an extensive piece on the epidemic of vitamin D deficiency.

It has long been known that vitamin D protects against bone loss, but it clearly has other functions as this article points out. Calcitriol is the activated form of vitamin D that has two hydroxyl groups to it that are added by your liver and your kidney. Calcitriol has been shown to induce cell differentiation and to control cell proliferation -- in simpler terms it protects against cancer. People with a low vitamin D level, whether because they have little sun exposure or because they have extensive pigmentation that limits sun-caused vitamin D synthesis in the skin, are less able to make calcitriol (activated vitamin D) in an amount sufficient to exert the controls over cell proliferation that are needed to reduce cancer.

So if you have any interest in preventing cancer and autoimmune diseases like MS and rheumatoid arthritis then get your vitamin D level checked. But be armed with the correct information. Nearly all physicians are not aware how to have this checked and how to interpret the normal reference ranges. So print this article on vitamin D testing for your records and also for your doctor so he or she can become aware of this vitally important nutrient.

Please remember that for most of us living in the US, this is the time to start finishing up your fish oil and to switch to a high-quality cod liver oil. Unless you have been getting lots of sun exposure. However, most of the patients are see are sitting indoors all week long and even in the middle of the summer they actually need vitamin D. But it is possible to overdose on vitamin D with cod liver oil so I would definitely encourage you to actually measure your vitamin D level though as that is the only way to know for sure when to switch.

It is a bit of a hassle and inconvenient but one of the wisest things you can do for your health is to monitor your vitamin D levels in your blood. We do it on everyone of the patients at the Optimal Wellness Center and it has made a tremendous difference in many of our patients.

Related Articles:

Breakthrough Updates You Need to Know on Vitamin D

Valuable Insights Into the Importance of Vitamin D and Sun

Why You Need to Have Your Vitamin D Level Tested Now

Why Vitamin D Protects You Against Cancer

RDAs of Vitamin D Far Too Low

Vitamin D Deficiency is Major Health Risk