I went in for my yearly mammogram and physical. Everything went well but I found out from my blood test my vitamin D was low. I asked to be tested this year because I had been hearing so much about it lately in the news. The doctor is recommending I take a 1000 IU daily supplement of Vitamin D. It is equivalent to drinking 10 glasses of fortified milk a day. The normal recommended daily dose is 400 IU but many experts now believe that 400 IU is too low. Vitamin D is known to help with calcium absorption but they are also looking into the vitamin's role in boosting the immune system and protecting against cancers, including prostate,breast and ovarian. People living in Northern states have a difficult time getting the vitamin D they need due to the lack of sunshine. In fact any state above 35 degrees latitude doesn't get enough sun from Nov-Feb to allow the skin to produce any vitamin D at all. This includes most of the US except for the southernmost states. To make things more difficult the sunscreen people wear to protect themselves from skin cancer also prevents the absorption of Vitamin D. They are now recommending that people go 10-15 minutes in the sun without protection before slathering on their sunscreen. The rules are constantly changing.