Why is it important to get enough vitamin D?

Your body needs vitamin D to absorb calcium. Calcium keeps your bones and muscles, including your heart, healthy and strong.

People who do not get enough vitamin D throughout life have an increased chance of having thin and brittle bones (osteoporosis) in their later years. Thin and brittle bones break easily and can lead to serious injuries. This is why it is important for you to get enough vitamin D as a child and as an adult. It helps keep your bones strong as you get older and protects against possible breaks.

Your body also uses vitamin D to help your muscles absorb calcium and work well. If your muscles don't get enough calcium, then they can cramp, hurt, or feel weak. You may have long-term (chronic) muscle aches and pains. Getting enough vitamin D helps prevent these problems.

Children who don't get enough vitamin D may not grow as much as others their age. They also have a chance of getting a rare disease called rickets, which causes weak bones.

Research suggests that low levels of vitamin D also may be linked to a number of other problems such as high blood pressure, cancer, and heart disease.

What is the recommended daily amount of vitamin D?

Recommendations vary, but experts recently have suggested that people need to get more vitamin D than listed in the dietary reference intakes (DRIs) guideline. The amount of vitamin D you need changes as you get older.

• Infants starting by age 2 months, children, and teens need 200 to 400 IU a day.^{1, 2}
• Adults up to age 50 need 400 to 800 IU a day.^{3, 2}
• Adults age 50 or older need 800 to 1,000 IU a day.^{3, 2}

How can you get enough vitamin D?

You can get enough vitamin D three ways-pills or drops, diet, and sunshine.

Pills or drops . There are different ways you can get vitamin D in pills:

• You can take a vitamin D pill that you can buy without a prescription.
• You can also get vitamin D by taking a multivitamin pill. Most multivitamins contain about 400 IU of vitamin D. But don't just take two multivitamins to get 800 IU. Taking more than one pill means that you will also get more of the other vitamins and minerals in the pill, and that can be harmful.
• Many calcium pills also contain vitamin D, but not enough to meet the recommended daily amount.

You can also take vitamin D drops that you can buy without a prescription. This may be a good choice for infants and for people who don't like to take pills.

Diet . Another way to get vitamin D is from the foods you eat. But most people don't get enough vitamin D through diet alone. That's because there aren't many foods rich in vitamin D. And you would have to eat a lot of them to get 800 to 1,000 IU a day.