“There are a lot of benefits to Vitamin D that have surfaced in the last 20 years,” notes Hector DeLuca, a University of Wisconsin biochemist who has been a pioneer in Vitamin D research.

Among the more intriguing findings is a recent review of 18 studies involving nearly 60,000 people that showed those who took Vitamin D supplements had a 7 per cent reduction in mortality from all causes compared with those who didn’t take the supplements.

In future, Vitamin D could also play a role in cancer treatment. One recent study found that lung cancer patients who either got a lot of sun or had a high intake of Vitamin D had three times the survival rate of their counterparts with lower Vitamin D levels.

Despite these encouraging results, “the data are still preliminary and not a level where you would make public policy,” Picciano says, noting that, “we still don’t have all the information to go to the next step.”

In the meantime, an increasing number of physicians use a simple blood test to check Vitamin D levels in all patients, a practice that DeLuca says “is the smart thing to do.”

Experts believe that 25 to 40 nanograms per milliliter is a reasonable target for Vitamin D blood levels. But population studies suggest, DeLuca says, “that if you can get to 60 to 70 nanograms per milliliter that maybe you can address some other health problems.”

Rates of colon cancer, for example, are about 50 per cent lower in sunny parts of the world and in regions like Norway, where there’s a high consumption of fatty fish rich in Vitamin D.

... contd.