Vitamin D levels are assessed through blood work and are often not checked with routine blood work, so ask your doctor to check your blood levels of 25(OH)D3!
Vitamin D can help lower the risk of developing colon, breast, ovarian and prostate cancers.
It is difficult to obtain the levels of Vitamin D we need through whole foods, especially in the winter. So how much Vitamin D should you be taking? Every person is a unique being with different nutritional needs; however as a rough guideline adults should be consuming approximately 3000-4000 IU in supplement Vitamin D form (buy Vitamin D3 for better absorption in 1000 IU capsules or drops) in the winter and 2000 IU in the summer, when we are exposed to additional sunlight.
Ten to fifteen minutes in the sun (without sunscreen because it inhibits the absorption of Vitamin D) is a natural way to increase your Vitamin D levels as well. Expose yourself to the sun before the hours of 11 am or after 3 pm to reduce any possible sun damage (the sun is at its hottest from 11am-2pm).
Foods that contain high levels of Vitamin D are the following: salmon, sardines, eggs, cod, shrimp, tuna, cod liver oil, mackerel and mushrooms.