Vitamin D levels should be checked

KELOWNA, British Columbia, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- People should have their vitamin D levels checked annually, just as they get a flu shot every year, a Canadian non-profit group official said.

Joseph Levy, executive director of the The Vitamin D Society, said vitamin D has long been known as the body's catalyst for proper calcium absorption, but vitamin D also plays a role in the prevention of more than 30 forms of cancer as well as heart disease, multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis and several other disorders.

"What's clear -- but still misunderstood -- is that vitamin D intake is not what's important. Rather, a person's vitamin D blood level is what is the key," Levy said. "The Vitamin D Council and most of the vitamin D community now recommends a target of 125 nmol/L -- 50 ng/ml -- and we support that," Levy said in a statement. "The only way to measure that is to have your vitamin D blood levels checked."

The Canadian Cancer Society recommends 1,000 international units of vitamin D daily.

"That number still doesn't mean anything unless your vitamin D blood levels are elevated to target levels," Levy said. "Just as people need to know their cholesterol levels, they need to know their vitamin D blood levels."