How much sun exposure are YOU getting nowadays? It’s true that humans make vitamin D3 in our skin from exposure to sunshine, but this ability is greatly reduced by several factors: we wear clothing and sun-blocking creams; some of us take medications, or have darker skin pigmentation; some of us are older in age and have health challenges. Even air pollution can reduce our bodies’ vitamin D production.

When it comes to vitamin D, we can’t rely solely on dietary sources to meet our daily requirements, either. Vitamin D-rich foods such as liver, fatty fish and fortified liquid milk products are not as popular as they once were. Plants can’t make vitamin D, so vegans get no vitamin D from their diets.

Considering all this, supplementing Pure Lab’s Vitamin D3 daily is an easier and safer way to provide a consistent dosage to your body.

The role of vitamin D in bone health is well-documented, with deficiency causing the bone disease rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults. It’s also important for calcium deposition into bones. In fact, vitamin D deficiency has been linked to higher rates of osteoporosis and bone fracture in northern countries, like Canada.

But there are also vitamin D3 receptors present and active in a variety of other tissues. These receptors are like “locks”, that can only be unlocked by a “key” shaped like the vitamin D molecule. We find these receptors in heart muscle cells and arterial muscle cells. This suggests that vitamin D3 plays a significant role in proper cardiovascular function and blood pressure.

In addition, vitamin D3 supports immune function by increasing the production of antimicrobial proteins that provide a natural defense against disease-causing bacteria and viruses. Vitamin D also appears to keep the immune system from making mistakes—such as attacking food particles and other substances like our own tissues as if they were foreign, dangerous objects. For instance, Rheumatoid arthritis and Multiple Sclerosis are two auto-immune conditions that have been associated with low vitamin D status.

These are just a few of the essential functions attributed to adequate vitamin D.