Vitamin D plays a much larger role in regulating health, than simply promising strong bones. Researchers from around the globe have discovered that getting the recommended daily vitamin D intake could help reduce plaguing health risks such as MS and diabetes.

Ordinarily, a vitamin is an essential element the body cannot create on its own; however, it is possible for people to create all the vitamin D they need from a cholesterol-like precursor.

For adults, the recommended amount of international units (IU) of vitamin D per day should be between 200 to 600 IU, though most people don’t even come close to that. During the summer months that goal is easily reached, as the human body can generate up to 12,000 IU of vitamin D from only half an hour of sun exposure. However, during winter months, the daily intake people derive from food and sun exposure falls way below the recommended amount.

Further, people who live farther from the equator find it extremely difficult to get enough sun to maintain sufficient blood concentrations of the vitamin.

By running tests, researchers attempted to discover the myriad of benefits vitamin D has to offer.

They found that the vitamin helps regulate cell growth, immunity and energy metabolism. It also could possibly serve as a model for drugs that might tame a range of stubborn, hard to treat diseases.

Benefits of Vitamin D Include:

• Protection against multiple sclerosis (MS)
• Prevention of diabetes
• Signals colon, breast and prostate cells to stop growing and eventually succumb to programmed cell death

One common concern linked to not getting enough vitamin D is leg weakness. According to studies, people who had higher readings of vitamin D also had greater thigh strength. Researchers conducted deficiency studies and found that with a daily vitamin D intake of at least 400 IU, a woman’s risk of being injured in a fall was decreased by 20 percent.

Another group of researchers who linked vitamin D to immune benefits found that subjects given the lowest amount of vitamin D intake were 25 percent more likely to experience tooth-gum detachment than subjects given the highest intake of the vitamin.

Science News October 9, 2004;166(15)