Can enough vitamin D help you live longer? Seems like it can according to a new study from International Agency for Research on Cancer in France, published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.

Not taking any risks on overstatement, the authors write, “Intake of ordinary doses of vitamin D supplements seems to be associated with decreases in total mortality rates.” According to th authors this is the first study to show that one vitamin can have an outcome on mortality.

Vitamin D has been show to be helpful for a number of serious illness including cancer. The essential nutrient is fat-soluble and its most important role is maintaining blood levels of calcium by increasing absorption of calcium from food and reducing urinary calcium loss. The primary source of vitamin D is sunlight ? creating the yin and yang of getting enough without getting to much sun. Enter vitamin D supplements as an important way to get enough.

In the study, researchers reviewed data from 18 trials involving more than 57,311 people. Over a follow-up averaging 5.7 years, 4,777 of the people in the studies died. Those who took vitamin D supplements had a 7 percent lower risk of death compared with those who didn’t take the supplement.

Doses of vitamin D in the trials varied from 300 to 2,000 international units (IUs).

While the study once again affirms the importance of vitamin D in maintaining good health, it does not stand alone in that regard. As the authors say, more “remains to be investigated.”

Source
Archives of Internal Medicine