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Vitamin D is an essential nutrient, necessary for healthy bones, muscles and immune function.
Its also linked to improved mood and reduced inflammation.
The body manufactures vitamin D from sunlighthence, the nickname sunshine vitamin.
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Unfortunately, its difficult to get enough vitamin D from just sunlight.
Then there are the colder months when were covered with clothing and indoors more.
Add to that the confusion and debates over the years regarding how much vitamin D is needed.
The Food and Drug Administration currently lists 20 micrograms as the daily recommended intake for most people.
The Guideline Development Panel was made up of multidisciplinary clinical and research experts.
They combed through studies that had previously been done on vitamin D to construct these recommendations.
While these guidelines are for clinical practitioners, below weve broken down the basic recommendations theyre now making.
Theyre recommending 30 mcg per day based on the studies they evaluated.
This is in addition to lifestyle modifications, like diet, exercise and stress management.
The reason is that sufficient vitamin D intake may help prevent prediabetes from progressing into diabetes.
The average total intake from the available studies was 88 mcg/day.
The general recommendation is to take a smaller amount each day versus taking a larger amount less frequently.
In other words, dont load up on vitamin D supplements once a week or once a month.
National Institutes of Health.Vitamin D fact sheet for consumers.
U.S. Food & Drug Administration.Daily value on the nutrition and supplement facts label.
