How much Vitamin D do you need?

We need vitamin D....lots and lots of vitamin D. And we, and our kids, are not getting enough of it. And so we need to target higher daily doses of vitamin D - instead of 200 IU, experts now say we need 400 IU daily. And we are not coming close to meeting that target. Why? Cause most adults and kids don't drink enough vitamin D fortified milk (or even soy milk) and we don't eat enough oily fishes like tuna, sardines and mackerel and we are not eating cereals fortified with this vitamin. We're also using sunblock which is a good thing for skin cancer - but not such a good thing for our bones or for lowering our risk of diabetes, cancer and heart disease.

Now you can buy vitamin D drops for young children and if breast fed (bottled baby formulas have vitamin D) - they now need 400 IU daily. Older kids past age 1 can drink up to 4 cups of milk daily - but for health reasons it needs to be 1% or preferably, fat free milk (otherwise we are putting them at risk for too many fat calories and obesity). That being said, most kids are drinking too many unhealthy drinks like sugary sodas and fruit punches and blended coffee drinks and smoothies - they are not having fat free lattes. So maybe a vitamin D supplement is in order for teens and young

Courtesy: The Obesity Connection