Vitamin D

It may seem like a stretch to link vitamin D with a water blog,
but ongoing research is so compelling on the need for vitamin D,
that this nutrient is bound to affect your body's ability to use
water, use other nutrients, boost your immune system, and
protect you from premature death in countless ways.
Reported Monday in Science Daily, the lead author stated that
"half the world's population" is chronically deficient in vitamin
D. It is worse in Northern climates and 3rd-world countries.

Current recommendations for vitamin D supplementation are
for 200IU and 400IU for adults. Most serious researchers are
now saying that 2000 to 4000IU and more is better. Lack of
sun exposure is a major issue, especially in countries where
drug companies pushing sunblock have succeeded in scaring
people away from nature's intended source of this vital nutrient.
As an example, just 15 to 20 minutes of exposure to summer
sun can produce 10000IU or more through skin absorption.
This tells you that toxicity is really a non-issue.

And vitamin D is an unusual substance. It is needed for mineral
absorption, hormone production, and may be involved in hundreds
of processes at the cellular level. It is believed to have some direct
anti-cancer activity, but the mechanism is still unidentified.

What is clear is that a deficiency of vitamin D can have adverse
effects at virtually every level of human health. For a starting
place for more research on this subject, check out the website
vitamindcouncil.org
This is an excellent source of info. Here's an interesting tidbit:
The Chicago Blackhawks were the first professional sports team
to actually begin a routine supplementation for all its athletes
to bring vitamin D levels up to a healthy standard. The result?
In about 1 and 1/2 years, they came from relative obscurity to
win the Stanley Cup, the 'SuperBowl' of hockey. Just a coincidence?

More later,
Sam
nutriteam.com
steamdistiller.com