Want a Healthier Heart? A Daily Dose of Vitamin D Should Do the Trick

Researchers have found the sunshine vitamin plays a key role in heart health. uduhunt/shutterstock

The old saying goes, an apple a day keeps the doctor away. But a daily dose of vitamin D is really where it’s at when it comes to heart health.

For the first time, new research shows that a daily dose of vitamin D3 can improve heart function in people with chronic heart failure. These findings are a significant breakthrough and could make a huge difference in the care of heart failure patients.

Vitamin D3 levels are largely dependent upon exposure to sunlight, and can be low throughout the year. This is because, in the case of heart failure patients, they are often older and so spend less time in the sun. Older people also make less vitamin D3 in response to sunlight than younger people, and vitamin D3 production in the skin is also reduced by sunscreen.

Almost all patients with heart failure in Leeds were deficient in vitamin D and the more deficient they were, the worse the heart weakness was shown to be.