Colas, but not other types of sodas, are linked with decreased bone density in older women. And did you know that almost twice as many women die of lung cancer than breast cancer, but the leading cause of death for women is heart disease. Nitrates in leafy vegetables increase the production of nitric oxide, which relaxes the arteries and helps lower blood pressure.

Vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin, has proven to partake a great role in one's health. Popularly acquired through taking in enough sun or drinking enough milk, vitamin D is more than for healthy bones. It was found to conserve muscle strength and can be protection for certain diseases.

Vitamin D dissolves in and is stored in fat. Sources of vitamin D include sardines, salmon, fortified foods like milk, breakfast cereals, and vitamin supplements. It is also created in the skin when exposed to sun. It affects various processes including the regulation of calcium.

Benefits of Vitamin D

Vitamin D helps in the regulation of cell growth, immunity and energy metabolism

Vitamin D prevents leg / muscle weakness. Leg weakness is a symptom for vitamin D deficiency. Researches showed that persons who have high concentrations of vitamin D tend to have decreased susceptibility for muscle weakness.

Vitamin D decreases the risk of developing Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Studies found that the incidence of MS was lower in places near the equator thus abundant vitamin D.

For healthy bones! Vitamin D helps in the absorption of calcium from the food. Rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults, both described as softening of the bone is associated with Vitamin D deficiency.

Beyond bone protection, vitamin D has also been found to have promising effects to guard against diseases such as colon, breast and colon cancer.

It was found that children who had vitamin D supplementation were less susceptible to developing type 1 diabetes.

How much Vitamin D should you take?

The recommended amount of international units of vitamin D per day is between 200 to 600 IU, for children and adults up to age 50, 200 IU, up to 400 IU for adults aged 51-70 and 600 IU for adults over 70. However, most people do not even reach that range.

During summer, this amount is easily attained because the body can create 12,000 IU from just thirty minutes of sun exposure. Then again, it is hard to reach this recommended amount during winter times because people just acquire vitamin D from food. In addition, those who live further from the equator find it difficult to get enough vitamin D.

With the exceptions of people with the history of skin cancer or conditions related to sun exposure, moderate UVB exposure is a part of achieving the right amount of vitamin D in the blood.

It is worth mentioning that UV light is carcinogenic. Thus, protection from the sun is always necessary.

There is no need for prolonged sun exposure to stimulate abundant vitamin D production. Vitamin D experts say that for a mere 10 minutes of sun exposure a couple of times a week would produce thousands of units of Vitamin D.

The Sunshine Vitamin

Many dietary supplements are available in the market. Vitamin D is one of them. Although vitamin deficiency can be a concern, remember that too much of something is not also recommended.

The best advice would always come from your doctor. Consult your doctor and ask for recommendations on which brands to buy, if you choose dietary supplements, what other supplements he can recommend, and perhaps a meal plan that could maximize your vitamin intake.

Remember that the proper nutrition, right amount of exercise and enough rest is more important than dietary supplements.

Joyce Dietzel writes articles for-your-vitamins.com a website dedicated to vitamins -supplements -herbs- minerals

Many people are trying to improve their health. In fact, whenever you turn on the TV there seems to be another story about how unhealthy everyone is right now. Naturally, if you are trying to make yourself a bit healthier, then you have to go about it the right way. Of course there are a lot of companies that will sell you vitamins, supplements and minerals that they say will improve your health but you need to make sure that they are really useful or you will be wasting your money.

One of the main things that people buy when they are trying to improve their health is a supplement, but the question is, are vitamin supplements beneficial and are they best way to become healthier?

Asking yourself, are vitamin supplements beneficial, is not really the best question. If you are looking to make yourself healthier then you should be looking at everything and not just trying to take a few supplements to make yourself healthy. Diet is a good place to start and is an area of our health and fitness regiment that most people can make real improvements to heir body, weight and health with. In today's fast paced economy many consumers eat too much fat and sugar and too many refined products. Of course it would not be good to just not eat any of your favorite foods, instead it is more beneficial for you if you start to make small improvements and gradually build it up.

If you try to eat a good amount of fresh fruit, salads and vegetables with some good lean protein and some good fats like olive oil, then it could be a good start. If you really want to know how to improve your diet then you should talk to a qualified nutritionist. The best way to eat better can be different for different people so it is a good idea to find out what is the best diet modification for you.

Of course you may wonder and want to know are vitamin supplements beneficial to your diet as well. A good dietician will be able to tell you the answer to the question such as, are vitamin supplements beneficial to you and they should also be able to tell you which ones you need. Different people have different dietary requirements and it is best to get some advice form a health professional. Exercise is also important to your health and engaging or performing regular exercise is very beneficial to most people.

However, just as with starting a new diet you should ask your doctor to give you a health check before you start so that they can tell you what amount of exercise you should be doing. Getting healthy can be great fun but you should find out first, what is the best way for you to start.

Timothy Gorman is a successful Webmaster and publisher of VitaminSupplementsGuide.com. He provides more information on anti-aging supplements, dietary supplements, antioxidants and answers the question what's a good multivitamin that you can research in your pajamas on his website.