The Miracle Vitamin

New evidence shows that getting enough D may be the most important thing you can do for your health.

• Vitamins

More Time in the Sun

Editor's note: An error occurred in the print version of this story. On page 167 of the September 2006 Reader's Digest magazine, in the chart called "Current Guidelines: Are They Adequate?", the current recommended daily allowances for vitamin D were listed in milligrams (mg) when they should have been listed in micrograms (mcg). The International Units (IUs) listed were correct. The numbers have been corrected online. RD regrets the error.

You know the usual prescription for good health: a balanced diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, regular exercise, no smoking. Now add this: Spend a little more time in the sun.

Huh? That may sound like medical heresy. After all, we've been warned for decades about the dangers of the sun: wrinkles, age spots and the increasing threat of skin cancer. But new and impressive medical evidence suggests that sunlight is beneficial. The vitamin D it prompts our bodies to make may prevent cancer, protect against heart disease and ward off a long list of disorders such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes and gum disease. It is even showing promise as a treatment for heart disease and some cancers.

Long recognized as vitally important for bone building (it's needed for calcium absorption), vitamin D has now achieved superstar status among nutrients. While all doctors may not agree, many experts are confident enough of its wide-ranging powers to urge that we get much more of it, from the sun and from supplements, as even the best diet in the world may not give us enough.

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“ Give your heart to your work, but be a little more stingy with your time. Decide how many hours a week is reasonable to get your work done, add 10 percent in case you're wrong, then walk away. ”

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Following an overnight flight to meet my father at his latest military assignment, my mother, eight noisy and shoving siblings, and I arrived at Rhein-Main Air Base in Germany. "Do you have any weapons or illegal drugs in your possession?" the customs agent asked my weary mother. "Sir," she said while separating my brother and me, "if I had either of those items, I would have used them by now."

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