Vitamin D3 - sometimes called the “sunshine vitamin” -- is important for overall health as well as strong and healthy bones.

 

It’s also been shown to be an important factor in ensuring muscles, heart, lungs and brain function.

 

The human body can make its own Vitamin D from sunlight. It also can be obtained from supplements -- and a very small amount comes from food.

 

The Vitamin D absorbed from sunlight -- and the Vitamin D from supplements -- must be converted by the body a number of times before it can be used.

 

Once converted within the body, it’s used to manage the amount of calcium in your blood, bones and gut and to help all body cells to communicate properly.

 

The link between Vitamin D and strong healthy bones was discovered many years ago when researchers realized sunlight, which allows you to produce Vitamin D, or taking cod liver oil, which contains Vitamin D, helped to prevent a bone condition called rickets in children.

 

Today, Vitamin D is seen as a vital part of good health and is important for many functions beyond bone health.

 

Recent research is now showing that Vitamin D may be important in preventing and treating a number of serious long term health problems.

 

For example, a lack of Vitamin D has also been linked to conditions such as cancer, asthma, type-II diabetes,

high blood pressure, depression, Alzheimer’s and autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s and type-I diabetes.