Exercise outdoors improves vitamin D levels and fitness.

Regular exercise, both moderate and vigorous, contributes to healthy hearts. Harvard researchers have found those who do vigorous exercise for three or more hours per week reduce their heart attack risk by 22%. This study also suggests it may be due in part to exposure to sunshine and the resulting increased vitamin D levels.

PositiveTip: Enjoy the double benefit of outdoor physical activity: Higher vitamin D levels and better fitness!

High Calcium Intake May Actually Increase Risk of Hip Fractures

A newly published Swedish study of over 61,000 women who were followed for more than 19 years provides the strongest evidence to date that high calcium intake is not beneficial for preventing bone fractures. The exceptions are women with very low amounts of calcium and vitamin D in their diet. Women in the top 25 percent of calcium intake showed no reduced risk of fractures or osteoporosis. Instead, they actually showed a 19 percent increase in hip fractures. The lowest fracture risk was found in women with total calcium intake of about 800 mg per day. 

It seems that most Americans have enough vitamin D in their blood.

More than 2/3 of the U.S. population had sufficient vitamin D, as defined by the 2010 Institute of Medicine's report (serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25OHD] between 50 and 125 nmol/L). About 25% were at risk of inadequacy (30-49 nmol/L). Interestingly, the National Center for Health Statistics found that many non-white groups have better skeletal status than white persons even though they had lower 25OHD values.

PositiveTip: Adequate exposure to sunlight and/or dietary sources of vitamin D are important to bone health.

Institute of Medicine discourages high levels of vitamin D intake.

After reviewing more than 1,000 studies and consulting numerous nutrition researchers and experts, the Institute of Medicine has concluded that most Americans do not need megadoses of vitamin D or calcium to maintain healthy bones. Furthermore, they stated that there is no strong evidence to support the idea that vitamin D causes many of the health outcomes claimed to be benefits of vitamin D supplementation.

PositiveTip: A balanced, healthy diet, plus adequate sunshine exposure will provide adequate levels of vitamin D.

Fracture risk in older Swedish men was elevated only with very low Vitamin D status.

A study in Sweden has examined Vitamin D levels in older men for 11 years.

Using gold-standard methods, these researchers found that when Vitamin D levels (25[OH]D) were below 16 ng/ml the risk of fracture rose. However, only 5% of men fell into this category, and only 3% of all fractures were attributable to low Vitamin D status. This and other studies suggest that a Vitamin D level (serum 25(OH)D) around 20 ng/ml is a safe threshold for bone health.

Slow thinking may be linked to low Vitamin D levels.

Evidence is accumulating that Vitamin D deficiency may be linked to adverse cognitive performance. Research just released by University of Manchester (England) investigators has found that men with higher blood levels of Vitamin D performed consistently better in simple and sensitive neuropsychological tests that assess a person's attention and speed of information processing.