HealthTree Blog

Vitamin D is sometimes referred to as the “sunshine vitamin” because exposure to sunlight is the main catalyst for our bodies to manufacture Vitamin D. Vitamin D is essential to both women’s and men’s health.
Vitamin D allows the body to better absorb calcium, a mineral necessary for optimum bone health. Because Vitamin D can be found in citrus fruits and other foods, as well as in the sunshine, many products, such as fruit juices, now have added calcium. Consuming juices and foods with both calcium and Vitamin D provides added benefits as well making it easier to get enough of both essential nutrients.
Studies are currently being done to determine if Vitamin D can actually decrease the risk of getting certain types of cancer-one of which testicular cancer is. The outcome of these studies can be very important to the field of men’s health, as testicular cancer is one of the few cancers which are only indicative to men.
For those who are concerned about contracting skin cancer from sun exposure, it should be noted that it takes only fifteen minutes of exposure each day for the body to absorb enough Vitamin D from the sun for that day’s requirement. For maximum exposure benefits, sunscreen should not be worn during these 15 minutes; however, this time period is brief enough that the danger of skin cancer or sunburn is minimal, if present at all.
Vitamin D supplements are available, and can be taken. In fact, many people who take calcium supplements do go ahead and take a Vitamin tablet or capsule, or drink Vitamin D- and calcium-fortified juices along with calcium supplement.