At this time of year we are living in the dark days of winter in the Northern Hemisphere.  The amount of sunlight that shines on our uncovered skin is but a fraction that we experience during the summer months.  This lack of sunlight can have unwanted effects on men’s prostate health, because the vitamin D that our bodies make in response to the ultraviolet light in sunlight is greatly reduced.  Although it is called  vitamin D, it is really a hormone that interacts with more than two thousand genes in our bodies.  In terms of our health vitamin D has been shown to support the prevention of certain cancers including cancers of the prostate, breast, pancreas, and colon.  Many medical studies performed to date indicate that it is better to have more when it comes to the level of vitamin D in the blood.  For men prostate cancer is in third place behind heart attacks and lung cancer in terms of the number of disease initiated deaths.  Exposure to sunlight that allows our bodies to make our own vitamin D3 has been shown to reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer by more than 65% for men who had the highest exposure to sunlight.  In the winter months the lack of sunlight can be compensated by supplementing with vitamin D3 which is readily available.   This is good news for seniors who want to take preemptive aging steps to foster their prostate health.