Want to get vitamin D? Try vitamin or morning sun.

This morning, I swallowed a little transparent capsule that had left the blister I keep next to the coffee machine. I do not know what is in this little pill, but I had breakfast every day for over two years and I will continue taking it for at least two years.

Like almost 26,000 other women and men, I am part of vitamin D and omega-3 assay, also known as the VITAL study. Every day we take identical pills, but half of us get 2,000 IU of vitamin D and the rest of us taking a placebo. We also take another capsule containing either one gram of omega-3 fatty acids or placebo. We do not know which groups are - and neither do the researchers.

I volunteered for the study because I had read many promising reports on vitamin D and had a lot of questions: What prevents heart attacks and strokes? Does it reduce the risk of cancer? Is it prevent bone fractures? The VITAL study was designed to answer three. At the end of 2017, we will know that vitamin D and who got the placebo, and whether the vitamin D group had lower rates of health problems than the placebo group. We will also have similar information on the effects of omega-3 fatty acids capsules, and the effects of vitamin D in combination with them.

Why VITAL is vital  
So far, several small studies have failed to demonstrate conclusively that taking vitamin D prevents heart disease or cancer, and in 2014 the prevention services of the United States Working Group determined that there is sufficient evidence to recommend vitamin D supplements to prevent any of these conditions.

Although vitamin D is essential for bone health, published controlled clinical trial in the Archives of Internal Medicine this week found that supplements of vitamin D bone build postmenopausal women with vitamin D levels in the blood below 30 ng / ml The threshold is generally considered necessary for good health. In this study, researchers from the University of Wisconsin randomly assigned 260 women into three groups: one was either 800 IU daily and placebo twice a month; required a placebo each day, 50 000 IU vitamin D twice a month; the third received a placebo daily and twice per month. The study lasted one year. The researchers found that neither the vitamin D dose has a significant effect on bone mass, falls and fractures.

The Wisconsin study may not have used adequate amounts of vitamin D or lasted long enough doses, said Dr. JoAnn Manson, chief of the division of preventive medicine at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital. Ms. Manson is also a principal investigator of the VITAL study. "VITAL is large enough to show profits even small to moderate supplementation of vitamin D," she said. VITAL study added that the dose of 2000 IU per day ensures that the vast majority of group participants vitamin D should levels of vitamin D in the blood greater than 30 ng / ml, whereas virtually none sufficiently high levels in the blood to cause adverse effects.  

In addition, Vital five years is sufficient to determine whether 2000 IU of vitamin D protects against falls and fractures, as well as cardiovascular disease and time to cancer. Other large long-term studies with similar doses of vitamin D are also conducted in Finland, the UK and Australia.

Shining light on vitamin D deficiency  
While you wait for the responses of major studios, you can also try to get some sun - a tactic that seems almost subversive these days. A commentary published online in June in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition notes that vitamin D is not actually a vitamin but a hormone made in our skin with the help of sunlight. They say many people have blood levels below 30 ng / ml and do not get enough exposure to the sun, and the sun's health benefits have been tarnished by decades of dire warnings that we unnecessarily us -mêmes be slathering sunscreen or stay indoors during the hours of sunshine. The researchers say it is possible to absorb enough to achieve adequate levels of vitamin D without increasing the risk of cancer of the skin to sunlight. (However, they do not guarantee that you will be free of wrinkles, age spots and other effects of sun exposure.)

(Their advice may not be of great help for the UK, however. Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition his government has just declared that because of the sun on the British Isles is as unreliable as a source of vitamin D, all citizens are invited to take a daily vitamin D supplement of 10 micrograms. - equivalent to 400 IU)

Endocrinologist Michael Holick, director of health care clinic bone at Boston Medical Center, was one of the authors of the comment. Dr. Holick has made many discoveries that explain how vitamin D is produced and how it works in our bodies. He explains that several factors determine the amount of vitamin D that we do, including age, skin pigmentation, latitude in which we live, and angle of the sun in the sky.  

It offers a simple recipe for the production of vitamin D: Go to the sun 10:00 to 3:00 p.m. at least 10% of the exposed skin. Steer clear enough to absorb the sun, but not enough to be burned. (This method is reliable for most regions of the United States, but only during the summer months. In other seasons, the body produces little or no vitamin D from sunlight at high latitudes of 37 degrees north of the United States).

An application for all seasons
If this all sounds a bit dubious, you can download dminder - an app for smartphones and tablets based on the research of Dr. Holick. Dminder calculates the amount of light that can absorb without the risk of skin cancer. You enter information about your age, height, weight and skin type in the application and give access to your GPS device. The application will let you know if the sun is suitable for the production of vitamin D and calculate how much IU of vitamin D you do when you are away. It will also alert you when it's time to run for shade. You can download this application from the App Store or Google Play. Just search "dminder."

What to do with vitamin D? 
Whether to choose supplements or sunlight for vitamin D share could be worth discussing with your doctor. Whatever you decide, it is always important to get the recommended daily dose of vitamin D 400 IU for children; 600 IU for children and adults through age 70; and 800 IU for people 71 years and older.
By: Beverly merz