Sources & benefits of vitamin D

Vitamin D is one of the most important nutrients that body need; it protects from rickets and bone deformities in children and adolescents as well as osteomalacia and muscle atrophy in adults.

We can obtain vitamin D from 2 sources:

• Sun rays: it's the main source of vitamin D, so doctors advise to be exposed (especially children) to morning sun rays for 10-15 minutes; three times weekly, with a slightly increased duration for people with dark skin.
• Dietary source: vitamin D is present within minimal levels in few types of food. So it's difficult to rely on foods as the main source for obtaining Vitamin D that body needs. Any way vitamin D is present in fatty fish (salmon, tuna, sardines, herring and mackerel) as well as egg yolk and liver.

Benefits of vitamin D aren't just limited to protecting us from rickets and osteomalacia; it also has many another benefits, which include:

• It protects from heart disease.
• Medical studies proved that daily administration of vitamin D supplementation reduces the risk of breast cancer and intestinal cancer.
• It protects the body from insulin resistance, which the main etiological factor for diabetes.
• It promotes the immune system.