“My guesstimation is that $4 trillion of health costs could be averted over a decade if adequate food fortification and/or supplementation program were to be implemented, which would save Americans $1,300 per person per year, or $3,900 per family of 3 annually. These savings won’t be achieved now that the Food & Nutrition Board has only taken baby steps to remedy a widespread deficiency in a sun-deprived population.” — Dr. Bill Sardi, vitamin D and sunshine advocate, as quoted in a statement on the Vitamin D Council’s web site.

Sardi is commenting on the Institute of Medicine Food and Nutrition Board’s Nov. 30 conclusion that vitamin D deficiency isn’t a problem in America and that vitamin D’s only proven benefit is for bone health — a conclusion blasted by vitamin D researchers and public health groups worldwide who point to thousands of papers outlining both the mechanism for and the extent to which vitamin D’s cell-growth regulation lowers the risk for most cancers, heart disease and many other disorders.

To read more visit www.vitaminDcouncil.org