Although I’m not a big advocate of supplements (I would rather
get my nutrients straight from the source when possible), I do
heed the advice of the new research on Vitamin D. Vitamin D’s
primary role in the body is to control calcium absorption, but a
new study shows vitamin D’s role in heart health. This June,
2008 study in the Archives of Internal Medicine showed that men
who were deficient in this vitamin had double the risk of a
heart attack. So what is a dangerously low level? In this study
it was anything under 30 ng/ml, but I shoot for 50 ng/ml. You
get get a simple blood test that will tell you where you stand.
For those of us living in the north, it becomes even harder to
absorb Vitamin D from the sunlight – which is our primary
source. We can also get Vitamin D from our food such as salmon,
mackerel and tuna or through cod liver oil. It is also a popular
additive in juice and dairy products at lesser amounts. It’s
probably a good idea for most of us to consider supplementation
of this vital vitamin