Product Description
Vitamins like C and E continue to be the darlings of many supplement lovers. But those vitamin superstars are being forced to share their throne with the long neglected vitamin D, which is finally getting the attention it may have always deserved.You are probably familiar with the role of vitamin D in promoting healthy bones, largely by promoting the absorption of calcium. If you have a vitamin D deficiency, particularly in your older years, it can lead to osteoporosis or osteomalacia [bone softening].There is scientific evidence that links low levels of vitamin D to an increased risk of: type 1 diabetes, muscle and bone pain, and, perhaps more serious, cancers of the breast, colon, prostate, ovaries, esophagus, and lymphatic system.If you want to lower your blood pressure, vitamin D may be just what the doctor ordered. If you are trying to reduce your risk of diabetes, or lower your chances of heart attacks, rheumatoid arthritis, or multiple sclerosis, then vitamin D should be at the front of the line in your daily multi-vitamin supplement regimen.Many vitamin D researchers are convinced the government's recommendations for adequate vitamin D intake are far below what your body really needs. Those guidelines call for 200 IU a day up to the age of 50, 400 IU from 51 to 70, and 600 IU over age 70.Some scientific studies show that to achieve blood levels of vitamin D that can protect you against chronic diseases, you need an optimal dose of 1,000 IU of vitamin D a day.Vitamin D3 more potent than vitamin D2.In the Journal Clinical Endocrinology Metabolism Armas LAG, et al. "Vitamin D2 is much less effective than vitamin D3 in humans." 2004;89:5387-5391.Twenty healthy male volunteers were randomly assigned to receive a single 50,000-IU dose of either vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) or vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol)...They found that the potency of vitamin D2 being only 10.6% that of vitamin D3. That means 100 IU of D3 is equivalent to 1000 IU of D2. Make sure that your multi-vitamin contains D3 not D2