How Important is Vitamin D for the Body?

Vitamin D is a nutrient necessary for good health and to maintain strong bones. The vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium (vital for bone) from food and supplements. Lack of vitamin D leads to weak bones, thin and frail. With age, millions of people suffering from or at risk for osteoporosis, a condition in which bones become fragile and may break if the person falls. It is one of the consequences of the lack of sufficient intake of calcium and vitamin D in the long term. In addition, vitamin D is very important for the body in many other ways: the muscles need this vitamin for movement, nerves need it to transmit messages from the brain to every part of the body and the immune system to fight the virus uses and bacteria that invade. A team of scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles, has determined how Vitamin D3 works with some body cells: helps clear the brain of amyloid beta, the major component of the plaques that are observed in the Alzheimer's disease.