Vitamin D is known as the “sunlight vitamin”, and for years the general consensus had been that we got all our vitamin D needs met by the natural sunlight we absorbed. That might have been true when we our species was outside hunting and gathering for survival or working long hours outsider on the farm, but many of us nowadays receive very little or often no Vitamin D from the sun. The other traditional source of vitamin D has been through Vitamin D fortified milk, but many people nowadays limit there milk consumption.
It was also believed over the last couple of decades that because Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin it would accumulate in the body and cause potential toxicity if taking what were once considered unnecessary dosages. Over the last few years because of a large amount of research that has been completed on vitamin D the general consensus on what is needed daily has dramatically changed.
When I first began to notice the dramatic increase in Vitamin D sales a couple of years ago most people where purchasing it for cardiovascular reasons. Many studies at that time began to be published about the cardiovascular benefits and doctors began to prescribe Vitamin D for that reason.
Over the last year or so a new wave of people has jumped on the Vitamin D bandwagon, those people that have been advised by their physicians to use Vitamin D for its immunity boosting benefits. The most common recommendations are for adults to take 2000IU daily and for children to take 400IU. The recommended dosage of Vitamin D seems to be continuing to evolve. I am currently using 2000IU each day myself and will post an update if a change in this dosage is warranted.
