Are you wearing sunscreen today? What’s your vitamin D status?

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As you head outdoors this weekend, are you heeding the advice to wear sunscreen? If so, here’s a reminder that even though your skin may be exposed to the  intense summer sun’s rays, your production of the sunshine vitamin is being blocked.  So even if you’re outside basking in the sun, don’t forget your vitamin D supplement.  If your skin is dark and you don’t wear sunscreen, if your sun exposure is only for a short time, supplements may be a wise idea for you as well.

Here’s the latest news on vitamin D published in the June issue of the British Medical Journal.  In analyzing eight European and American studies  involving more than 26,000 subjects, researchers from Mount Sinai Health System in the U.S. found a strong link between low blood levels of vitamin D and the risk of death   from cardiovascular diseases,  and death in from cancer, at least in older people with a history of cancer.

This just  adds to the growing list of disease-fighting effects of  vitamin D right through the life cycle.

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Do you take vitamin D supplements – even in the summer? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

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