ALARM: We are getting far too little vitamin D

The recommended dietary intake of vitamin D in the UK is 17 times lower that it should ideally be in order to provide sufficient protection against disease. That is what two teams of US scientists have concluded independently of each other.

For decades, the recommended daily intake level for vitamin D from dietary sources has been far too low. Now, researchers have issued a red flag warning over the low recommendations, claiming that they are unable to ensure adequate blood levels of vitamin D. In the United States, the current reference nutrient intake level for vitamin D is 15 micrograms/day. However, the figure should be 11-12 times greater, the worried scientists state. In the UK, the situation is far more critical. Here, the recommended intake level should be 17.5 times greater than the current 10 microgram/day recommendation.

It is hardly a coincidence that so many of us contract virus infections in the course of the winter. It is because we lack vitamin D, which we are unable to synthesize when the sun sits too low in the sky. Danish scientists have discovered how vitamin D activates the immune system, and a comprehensive meta-analysis shows how vitamin D supplements can prevent colds, flus, and related complications.