Lately a number of articles have been published about the importance of getting enough of the ‘Sunshine Vitamin’ which is also known as vitamin D. When the weather is good and we have time to enjoy some sunshine our bodies are capable of using the ultraviolet light of the Sun’s radiation to make our very own vitamin D in the form that is most easily utilized by our bodies. It turns out that vitamin D is not just needed to keep building strong bones, but it assists in preventing a myriad of other diseases including cardiovascular disease and cancer. The verdict is in and vitamin D has been convicted of the charge of being a participant in and an accessory to maintaining good health. Currently up to 75% of the American public may not be getting enough vitamin D to maintain optimum health.

The amount of time spent in the sunshine that would enable us to make enough vitamin D is estimated to be about 10-15 minutes for several days a week. Even this short amount of time appears to be unattainable for a majority of folks, so the alternate paths are by means of vitamin rich vitamin foods or supplements. The path of food would require a person to eat one of the following amounts of food: over three and a half pounds of fresh farmed salmon, more than two pounds of sardines, or 150 egg yolks. These amounts of food are obviously unrealistic for most of us, so the third path of taking vitamin D supplements makes good sense. Supplements make extra good sense for seniors, because our ability to synthesize vitamin D from sunlight tends to decrease with age as do our kidneys’ ability to convert vitamin D into its active form. Fortunately vitamin D supplements in the active form are available in doses of 1,000-IU (International Units) suitable for daily use, in order to promote senior health.