Vitamin D for a longer healthier life!

According to the latest research people who take regular doses of vitamin D have a significantly lower risk of dying early than those who do not.

Other, earlier research has suggested that a deficiency of vitamin D possibly raises a persons' risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes, but these latest results indicate that the vitamin confers an even greater benefit.

The researchers involved suspect the vitamin may boost the immune system and block cancer cells from spreading.

Researchers Dr. Philippe Autier of the International Agency for Cancer Research in France and Dr. Sara Gandini of the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, say ordinary doses of vitamin D supplements appear to be associated with a decrease in the total mortality rate.

The researchers arrived at this conclusion by conducting a review of 18 separate trials involving nearly 60,000 patients.

The doses of vitamin D averaged 528 international units, which is within the range of most commercially available vitamin D supplements.

The meta-analysis revealed that nearly 5,000 of the participants in the studies died over an average follow-up period of 5.7 years but those who took vitamin D supplements had a 7 percent lower risk of death.

The specific causes of death in the studies were not considered and the study participants included mostly healthy middle-aged or elderly people.

The researchers say vitamin D is important for both healthy teeth and bones as well as nerve cells and appears to act as an important regulator of the immune system.

Foods naturally rich in vitamin D include cheese, eggs, fish such as salmon and sardines, fortified milk, breakfast cereals and margarine.

Vitamin D is known as the "sunshine" vitamin because the body produces it during exposure to sunlight.

The research is published in the current issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.