What is Vitamin D3?
Introduction to Vitamin D3
By: Peter Egan Jr.
My mother, Nurse Practitioner and Health Columnist Pamela B. Egan has written extensively on the subject of Vitamin D3 and the myriad health benefits offered by this super-nutrient.
Vitamin D3, also known as cholecalciferol, is the most bio-available form of Vitamin D. This extremely important nutrient is essential for skin, bone and immune health.
The presence of a Vitamin D3 deficiency in an individual can lead to numerous health ailments including Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Obesity, Diabetes, Cancer, Fibromyalgia, neuro-degenerative diseases, osteoporosis, and clinical depression. Scientists and researchers are also now finding out that Vitamin D3 deficiency may also increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Vitamin D3 can be obtained from certain foods, however arguably the best and most bio-available version of the nutrient is absorbed into the body through sunlight making direct contact with skin. Some health experts have even gone so far as to recommend nude sunbathing for fifteen minutes a day as a means of obtaining sufficient amounts of the vitamin in its most potent form.
In addition to foods and sunlight, perhaps the easiest way to ingest sufficient amounts of D3 is via supplementation. A number of high-quality Vitamin D3 Supplements exist to help one ingest enough of the nutrient on a regular basis, including when weather prohibits one from sunbathing.
I have included some links at the bottom of this post to additional educational Vitamin D3 resources.
More on Vitamin D3:
* Vitamin D3: The Miracle of Sunshine
