If The Vitamin D Solution gets the attention it deserves, it could have a greater benefit for public health than all the drugs on the market today, except perhaps antibiotics.
In this book, Dr.
Holick presents overwhelming scientific evidence that vitamin D plays a crucial role in the body's immune system, mood, brain and heart health, and weight and strength.
He also shows that vitamin D deficiency is epidemic in the northern hemisphere and is a central player in the prevalence of conditions like diabetes, cancer, stroke, fibromyalgia, osteoporosis, depression and many more.
Dr.
Holick's scientific credentials are impeccable, and even the mass media are beginning to climb on the bandwagon and talk about vitamin D supplements.
Sunshine is free, but a combination of lifestyle and scare tactics about skin cancer has made us shun its life-giving benefits.
One of the most sobering statistics in this very readable book is that for every one person who might die because of skin cancer due to over exposure to the sun, 55 people will die due to lack of vitamin D - the sunshine vitamin made by our skin.
He gives detailed recommendations about vitamin D supplementation as well as for how to strike an optimal balance for sun exposure with minimal risk.
The book is full of fascinating case studies and research reports that delight a medical nerd like me.
One of the most fascinating to my mind was the role of vitamin D in ensuring communication among cells.
One of the characteristics of cancer is the breakdown of this communication, allowing cells to go rogue.
Sounds like a metaphor for society...
I really think that everyone who works indoors all day needs to read this major wakeup call.