Vitamin D, also known as calciferol, is a fat-soluble vitamin found in food, but also can be made in your body after exposure to ultraviolet rays from the sun. Vitamin D exists in several forms, each form acting differently, some actually relatively inactive in our body. The liver and kidney help convert vitamin D to its active hormone form.

There are two main types of vitamin D. Vitamin D2 i....

Despite government recommendations, parents in the United Kingdom are not aware of the importance of children and pregnant women supplementing with vitamin D, according to a warning published by two Scottish doctors in the British Medical Journal.Vitamin D is an essential nutrient, normally pro....

Vitamin D is mother nature's all natural substance, coming through in the  

The nutritionally important forms of Vitamin D in man are Calceferol (Vitamin D2) and Cholecalciferol (Vitamin D3) Calciferol may be derived by irradiation of the plant sterol, ergosterol, Cholecalciferol is the naturally occurring Performed Vitamin D which is found in animal fats and fish liver oils. It is also derived from exposure to UV rays of the sunlight which converts the cholesterol in the skin to vitamin D. V....

This article looks into the benefits and research history of Vitamin D which, the author says, isn't really a vitamin because it has to be metabolically activated before it can be made biologically active. This active form is called calctriol, the vitamin D receptor.

Benefits of Vitamin D

The sun has gotten a bad rap lately. We blame it for increased skin cancer rates due to a depleted ozone layer. We're advised to stay out of the sun and protect ourselves when exposed to its harmful UV rays. All of this is good advice, except that sunlight can also have positive effects on our  

Who is lacking Vitamin D? Thousands of elderly people are shut up in houses or nursing homes where they get very little sunshine. And unless they are drinking quantities of D-enriched milk or taking fish-liver oils, they are prime candidates for broken hips and other casualties. It's not just calcium they may 1ack, but the vitamin D, which makes the calcium available to the bones.

Who else? The children of toda....

Vitamin D or Cholecalciferol is an important fat soluble vitamin that can help lower your risk of osteoporosis and colorectal cancer. While you can get this vitamin from some foods the best way to get it is by getting out in the sun! your body can actually make this vitamin on its own with exposure to sunlight. Now this doesn't mean that you should go bake in the sun because then you increase your risk of s....

Insufficient intake of vitamin D may lead to decreased physical strength, increased muscle weakness and increased risk of disability in older women and men, according to a new study published in the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences.

Because vitamin D deficiency is widespread, the researchers have suggested that increasing vitamin D intake may help older adults dec....

We live in a culture that's obsessed with who or what's "the best." What's the best exercise? The best food? The best athlete, the best actor, the best deal, the best song, best album, best actress, best candidate, best television, best laptop, gaming system, comedian and on and on and on. So it comes as no surprise to find that researchers have endeavored to discover the best vitamin for the body. V....