Vitamin D: Explosive new player in heart health

I'm unsure, though we are embarking on a series of research studies to explore these questions.

In the meantime, supplementing vitamin D to restore normal blood levels (we aim for a blood level of 50 ng/ml) has become a crucial step in our heart disease reversal program. (Please note that, since it's such a new idea, your doctor may give you a puzzled look if you ask to have your vitamin D level checked. You might have to specify to him/her that you'd like a "25-OH-vitamin D3 level." Because most doctors are unfamiliar with this measure, they will often order the similar-sounding "1,25-diOH vitamin D3," a different measure that reflects kidney function but is useless to gauge vitamin D status.)

As powerful as it is, vitamin D should not relied on as a sole strategy in a program of heart disease prevention. Vitamin D supplementation can be a powerful addition to a broader program of heart disease prevention and reversal.

Beyond heart disease, vitamin D supplementation is showing other benefits including reduction of cancer of the colon, prostate, breast, and bladder; reversal of osteoporosis and, to a modest degree, arthritis; relief of winter "blues"; vitamin D may even provide benefits in multiple sclerosis.

I am endlessly excited about all the emerging possibilities for this previously neglected and under-utilized nutrient. Every day that goes by, I learn something new about the numerous health benefits of vitamin D.

I get my vitamin D from the Vitamin Shoppe, who sells both their own brand and Carlson's, both of which have yielded consistent and effective rises in blood vitamin D. (I have no relationship with either company.)