OTHER NUTRIENTS WE'RE MISSING AND WHERE TO FIND THEM - VITAMIN D

If you eat large amounts of vitamin D-fortified foods like milk or cereals, you're probably okay. Vitamin D is also found in egg yolks and fish oil. But many women don't get enough vitamin D, and that can interfere with our bodies' ability to absorb calcium, says Dr. Bess Dawson - Hughes of Tufts University. Older women are especially prone to vitamin D deficiency, perhaps because they don't absorb the vitamin as well, but also because (a) they don't eat enough of it and (b) they don't go out in the sunlight as much. Sound strange? Our skin can actually synthesize vitamin D on its own with exposure to ultraviolet light. But these days, with many of us avoiding excessive sun exposure, we might be losing out on an important source of vitamin D. Women who live in northern climates are at especially high risk of vitamin D deficiency during the winter months. Dr. Dawson-Hughes stresses that vitamin D helps combat winter bone loss. If you aren't getting enough vitamin D, try a standard multivitamin with 100% of the recommended daily allowance for this vitamin. Do not take extra vitamin D—it can be toxic, because it builds up inside fat in the body.

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General health