Apart from being good for healthy and strong bones, vitamin D plays an important role in preventing various malignant tumors, heart and vascular system diseases, neurological diseases, reducing chronic fatigue and improving cognitive skills
Even though the first thought of vitamin D is its importance in
maintaining healthy and strong bones, the latest studies show that
it plays a much bigger role in our body than we have imagined. It
has been proven that vitamin D is important in preventing diabetes,
malignant tumors, especially of the large intestine, prostate and
breasts, and it is related to the improvement of cognitive skills
and reducing the risk of chronic fatigue, pain and heart and
vascular system diseases. Therefore, vitamin D deserves to be one
of the super-vitamins, which have numerous positive effects on
bodily functions and the quality of life, helping to reduce the
risks of disease and high mortality.
Vitamin D is made by the influence of sunrays, which stimulate
its creation in the skin, and then it is synthesized into
biologically active form in the liver and kidneys. Exposing the
face and hands to the sun for only 10 to 15 minutes a day is needed
to create enough vitamin D in children and adults. But having in
mind that sun can be dangerous and one should avoid too much
exposure, it is important to maintain a healthy and balanced diet,
rich in vitamin D. Doctors and nutritionists agree that a large
part of healthy population around the world lacks vitamin D (in
Europe, 52% of the population suffers from lack of vitamin D) and
that the increased daily intake of vitamin D could reduce the
incidence of many diseases, cut the costs of their treatment and
increase our lifespan and the quality of life.
The recommended daily intake of vitamin D depends on the number
of factors: health condition and dietary habits, age, sex, season,
geographical latitude, exposure to sun etc., but it should not be
less than 200 IU a day. The sources of vitamin D in food are very
limited and include several items like oily fish (salmon, sardines,
mackerel), egg yolk and liver, so doctors very often recommend
consumption of supplements or food-stuffs rich in vitamin D. The
experts especially recommend the intake of milk enriched with
vitamin D, because it can be best used (along with calcium) when
consumed in milk.
Zlatko Giljević, Ph. D.
internist, endocrinologist - diabetologist