Importance of the "Sunshine Vitamin"

The "sunshine vitamin" might be more important than most of us thought.

We've known for some time that many of us walk around not having enough vitamin D in our bodies. Part of the reason is because we don't get as much sunshine as we used to, and part of the reason is that our diet isn't as good as it should be. But for years most experts thought that lack of vitamin D only meant poor bone health.

Now we know vitamin D is much more important and a new discovery is showing just how "super" this vitamin really is and how damaging not having enough of it can be. Scientist have just found that vitamin D plays a role in over 200 genes in our bodies. And these genes are ones that control everything from cancer to diabetes to multiple sclerosis.

The problem is that many of us don't have enough of this vitamin. The easiest way to get vitamin D is from sunshine but you also have to balance that with your risk of skin cancer. Most experts say 15 minutes of sun a day is enough to resupply your vitamin D needs. Also, making sure fortified foods, like cereal, milk, yogurt and tuna are included in your diet can help.

The important point is to get enough of this important vitamin to stay healthy and if your diet isn't doing it, you might want to think about taking a supplement to boost those levels.