Two new studies point out the importance of vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin, for your health.
The studies, both of meta-analyses that included data on more than a million people and published yesterday in the prestigious BMJ, linked people with low vitamin D to increased mortality from cancer, heart disease, and … you name it. Of course “more research is needed” to know for sure if lack of Vitamin D is actually the problem, and also to let us know the right dose of Vitamin D to take.

My doctor has me on a Vitamin D3 (not D2, mind you) because a blood test showed I did not have enough Vitamin D. Ask your doctor to include a test for Vitamin D in your next blood test—over half of the population doesn’t have enough Vitamin D. Now if you have fair skin like me, you aren’t supposed to be out in the sun without sunscreen and a hat, so Vitamin D3 supplements are a must. Otherwise a walk in the sun for only 30 minutes twice a week is supposed to provide you with enough Vitamin D.