Vitamin D for you

Vitamin D. What is it? When it was discovered it seemed to work like a vitamin, so a vitamin it became. Now? No, it may retain its name, but it is not a vitamin, but a hormone produced by the body and helps regulate calcium levels. This was determined at Murdoch University in Western Australia. David Mendosa writes about it here.

Now that it has been properly tagged and classified, how much should we be taking? This still needs to be answered. There have been some fairly well thought out suggestions, but this may be history. Some additional research is needed and there is no idea of when this will be concluded.

Old data suggests that exposure to the sun will normally supply all you need, but like so many other things, there is no definite time period that a person must be exposed to the sun. This article from the BBC is showing some recommendations for those in the northern-most climates, but even they cannot make a definitive determination.

The Institute of Medicine of The National Academies presently has these standards for Vitamin D intake at 200 international units (IU) for people under age 51, 400 IU for people 51 to 70, and 600 IU for people older than 70. Some are saying there will be an update in 2010 and are saying the IU should be much greater.

Is there a link between Vitamin D and type 2 diabetes? The link is tentative at best. as discussed in this article in WebMD. A definitive link is far from being conclusively established.

Vitamin D exists as D1, D2, and D3. D3 is the active form of vitamin D. Read more of the technical aspects here.