Do vitamin D supplements reduce risk of early death?
Ask the doctor
I've been taking vitamin D supplements for several years because my doctor said they might help me live longer. Am I wasting my money, or even causing myself harm?Many studies have found that people with very low blood levels of vitamin D die sooner. (Interestingly, those same studies report that people with relatively high levels of vitamin D might also have shorter life spans, but, for today, that's a tangent we won't pursue.) Our blood levels of vitamin D today probably are lower than they were for our forebears. That's because most vitamin D is produced when sunlight hits our skin, and our forebears were out in the sun a lot more than we are today.
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