"It is high time that worldwide vitamin D nutritional policy, now at a crossroads, reflects current scientific knowledge about the vitamin's many benefits and develops a sound vision for the future," said Professor Emeritus of biochemistry and biomedical sciences at the University of California, Riverside, Anthony Norman.

Although sunlight is essential for the development of D3, the best sources of D2 are animal products and fatty fish and liver extracts like salmon or sardines and cod liver oil. There are also Vitamin D fortified foods, including juices, cereals and margarines.

the current recommended daily intakes (RDIs) for Vitamin D is between 200 and 600 international units (IU) per day. The new thoughts and findings are showing that an RDI of around 2000IU will greatly assist health and potentially reduce many of the diseases and conditiosn shown above.

"Currently, more than half the world's population gets insufficient amounts of this vitamin. At present about half of elderly North Americans and Western Europeans and probably also of the rest of the world are not receiving enough vitamin D to maintain healthy bone," said Norman.