Rheumatoid Arthritis Health Center

Vitamin D May Prevent Arthritis

How Much Is Enough? continued...

Like Holick, Saag says he believes vitamin D deficiency is an under-recognized health problem in the U.S. today.

"General population studies indicate that about one in three people are vitamin D deficient," he says. "This is a particular problem during the winter months, when sun exposure is minimal. This is another reason why people should think about supplementing their diets with a multivitamin."

But Holick says most people need to take 1000 IU of vitamin D each day. And he says even this amount may be inadequate in people who have no exposure to the sun.

"Most people get between 90% and 95% of their vitamin D from sun exposure, so if you eliminate that you are setting the entire country up for vitamin D deficiency," he says.

The director of the Vitamin D Research Lab at Boston University, Holick advocates a limited amount of sun exposure, without sunscreen, every day -- a message that the nation's top dermatology group abhors. In a recent press release, officials with the American Academy of Dermatology expressed "deep concern" that the public is being misled "about the very real danger of [unexposed] sun exposure -- the leading cause of skin cancer."

But Holick counters that it does not take much sun to get more than enough vitamin D -- only a few minutes of unprotected sun exposure at most for most people.