Whether you’re out enjoying the summer sun or hunkering down indoors during the winter months, it’s important to expose yourself to ample vitamin D. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin crucial for efficient calcium absorption, which in turn helps you build and maintain strong bones, decreasing your risk for osteoporosis, or bone disease, says Kelly Kennedy, RDN, a staff nutritionist at Everyday Health.
“There is a lot more research out there that looks into other potential benefits, which include fighting cancer and contributing to a person’s mental health,” Kennedy says. (1) “But the research isn’t quite there yet for the government to make a recommendation. Regardless, the benefits of vitamin D are huge and numerous.”
Vitamin D deficiency can be serious. Research shows that vitamin D is crucial for keeping bones healthy — warding off rickets, osteomalacia, and osteoporosis. (3)
Getting the right amount of vitamin D is necessary for other groups as well. Pregnant women, for instance, need vitamin D for bone health, immunity, and healthy cell division. If you’re breastfeeding, getting your fix of vitamin D is critical, too, as the vitamin can foster healthy bone development for your child and may ward off dangerous pregnancy-specific conditions like preeclampsia. (4)
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